An ongoing stalemate between New York City real estate developers and building trade unions is complicating state budget negotiations in Albany, where Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers appear increasingly likely to blow past a key deadline without having a final spending plan in place.as part of a fiscal plan they hope could spur development that boosts the supply of available units and drives down rents.
Zachary Steinberg, REBNY’s senior vice president of policy, didn’t respond directly to that criticism when asked for comment. Instead, he touted the one agreement REBNY struck with a union on a wage-floor dealThe agreement, Steinberg said in a statement, is “evidence of our commitment to ensuring that good construction wages and benefits are part of any new program that spurs the creation of mixed income rental housing.”.
Meanwhile, lawmakers are discussing proposals that could allow owners of rent-stabilized apartments to raise rents based on renovations, after far-reaching legislation enacted in 2019 curtailed their ability to do so. The laws prohibited owners from removing apartments from rent-stabilization, jacking up rents on vacant apartments and passing hefty renovation costs onto tenants — a process that was ripe for fraud.
Speaking with reporters last week, the governor defended her record on tenants’ rights and seemed to crack the door open, ever so slightly, to the possibility of negotiating a compromise. “We can swallow a moderate increase in the IAI formula as long as there’s no point at which a landlord can reset the rent at market rate on vacancy,” McKee said.