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March 3, 2006

Testimony for the Record of
The Honorable Nydia M. Velázquez
Joint Hearings of Committee on Housing & Buildings
and State & Federal Legislation Committee
New York City Council

 

Chairwoman Baez, Chairman Dilan, and Members of the Council, thank you for the opportunity to submit testimony in support of the rent control resolutions before the Committees. Given the housing crisis facing residents of New York City, it is critical that the Council take action to protect existing affordable housing.

According to the most recent triennial Housing and Vacancy Survey (HVS), the proportion of low-income renters paying at least half their incomes toward rent has grown from 55 to 65 percent between 1993 and 2002. Furthermore, the median income for renter households fell by 5.6 percent between 2001 and 2004, while tenants experienced an 8.7 percent increase in rent between 2002 and 2005. In 1970, the average tenant household paid 20 percent of their income in rent. Today they pay over 31 percent - the highest rent burdens ever recorded. According to the US Census Bureau NYC now ranks 11th in a nationwide survey of housing costs and 37th in median income.

Overcrowding has risen 5 percent to 11 percent, and increasingly more New Yorkers are squeezing into fewer units because they cannot make ends meet. Between 1990 and 2005 the City's population grew by about 15 percent, while during the same period the City's housing stock grew by less than 10 percent. Last year, over 38,000 City residents were forced to stay in shelters, including nearly 9,000 families with over 15,000 children,

On top of all this, the federal budget for housing, again, shortchanges critical programs, jeopardizing public housing and Section 8 vouchers while waiting lists continue to grow. Now is not the time to further threaten affordable housing by losing ground on rent control.

According to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, between 1994 and 2004 at least 44,778 units were lost because of changes in the law engineered by the state legislature. As the Council considers State Resolution 1 calling for a repeal of the Urstadt Law and a restoration of home rule over local rent and eviction protections, I urge you to consider the ramifications of inaction. The lives of too many families depend on better governance of rent control for the Council to miss this opportunity to exert local control.

Given the importance of HVS data, I also call on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to see that the raw Census data for the 2005 HVS is used to reconstruct the rent control status variable so that it can be compared with previous HVS data. HPD should also set up and consult with a User Advisory Committee before it decides on changes in the HVS in order to ensure adequate vetting of this important issue.

Again, I appreciate the opportunity to submit testimony and urge the Council to protect affordable housing by supporting these important rent control resolutions.