Counting Down To Rent Control Reform

Albany Times Union:

By Stephanie Lee

Democrat senators want rent control reform … and they want it in the next 63 days and 13 minutes, give or take.

A group of senators unveiled this morning an LCD clock that will count down to the end of June 15 — the day when current rent laws expire. Sens. Adriano Espillat, Bill Perkins and Daniel Squadron (not pictured), along with Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, are calling for the Senate to pass a bill that extends and strengthens those laws so landlords can’t charge high rents and otherwise exploit loopholes that allow them to deregulate their units.

The Assembly passed that legislation on Monday, but Senate Republicans have been less than receptive to the idea. They’ve passed a property tax cap, an issue of greater concern to their suburban and upstate constituents.

“Not only is the rent too damn high, the clock is ticking,” Espillat said.

The clock is mounted on a poster that reads “Keep 2,000,000 New Yorkers in their homes.” That’s the estimated number of tenants living in rent-stabilized apartments.

The clock cost $300 and was paid for with campaign money, a spokesman tells us. It’ll be stationed outside the Democratic conference’s room, under staffers’ watchful eyes.

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