Last night the Assembly released the final vote for the J51 bill (giving tax breaks to landlords). There were some major corrections and the big one for us is that Assemblymember Rhoda Jacobs voted NO, just like she promised us! Assemblymembers Nick Perry and Karim Camara voted yes, and unfortunately the bill passed 139 to 7. I am getting a lot of emails from housing advocates and organizations all over the city congratulating the Flatbush Tenant Coalition for getting Rhoda Jacobs to vote no. Congratulations to you all! This is a step in the right direction for our 2013 fight for tenant rights.
On a related front, in the next few days Governor Cuomo will be announcing a proposal to change some of DHCR’s regulations, including MCI’s. No one seems to know exactly what the proposals will be, but we have to get ready to respond and put pressure on the Governor & our electeds to make the regulations as strong as possible for tenants. I will send more details as soon as they are available, but for now please take a look at this NY Daily news article about the changes (thanks to Gloria Campbell for sending it to me): http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-rules-protect-tenants-rent-hikes-article-1.1250179
Flatbush Tenant Coalition 