Gov. Cuomo Expected To Restore 50,000 Rent-Protection Apartments
As many as 50,000 apartments in the city could be returned to the city’s rent-protection rolls due to an order from Gov. Cuomo.
Cuomo is expected to announce on Wednesday the end of a special tax break that will affect landlords of 4,149 buildings throughout the city. Recent court rulings have found that the apartments were illegally deregulated by landlords who received J-51 tax abatements. Notices have been sent to landlords who received the benefits between 1994 and 2015 and also registered their apartments as being exempt from rent-stabilization upon vacancy, the New York Post reports.
The J-51 exemption permits landlords to charge higher rents than they would be able to on regulated apartments as well as the ability to impose larger rent hikes on a yearly basis. The 50,000 rent-protected apartments will certainly help with the city’s need for more affordable housing, but will likely not make too much of a dent. Back in November, a listing for 14 affordable micro-units at 335 East 27th St received 60,000 applicants. [NYP]
