Tenant Activists Call For Espada To Get His Housing Committee In Order
With elections looming, tensions mount over inaction on vacancy decontrol, Urstadt repeal
Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:19:00
On Feb. 1, State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. gaveled in a meeting of the Senate Housing Committee, allowed for a brief statement from State Sen. Daniel Squadron, referred a bill to the Senate Finance Committee and gaveled out.
“Thank you very much for attending our first meeting of this Housing Committee,” Espada said.
No witnesses. No debates. Blink (including on the announced webcast), and you could have missed it.
For over a year, tenant activists and housing groups have watched bill after bill sail through the Assembly, only to come to a screeching halt in the Senate. Most of the blame is falling squarely on Espada.
Democratic leaders first appointed Espada as Housing chair after the Amigo stand-off in early 2009, passing over State Sen. Liz Krueger, who was seen as a fierce advocate for rent regulation. Since then, dozens of pro-tenant bills have been held up in his committee, including vacancy decontrol, Mitchell-Lama reform and a repeal of the Urstadt law. Even less radical legislation, like closing loopholes that allow property owners to increase rent after making major capital improvements, have stalled.
That could turn out to be a liability for the conference as a whole, with several politically potent groups threatening to withhold support from Democrats this year if nothing is done to advance housing reforms.
“We can’t wait until 2011,” said Michael McKee, formerly treasurer of Tenants PAC and now executive director of Housing Here and Now. “They have to do these bills this year.”
McKee warned it would be difficult to convince housing activists in New York City to campaign for Senate Democrats in battleground districts this year without concrete action on housing reform.
Meanwhile, two days after Espada’s lightning-quick Housing Committee meeting, Senate Finance Chair Carl Kruger convened an epic budget hearing with no fewer than 14 witnesses from all corners of the housing and development world.
This is no accident, according to some sources close to Espada. Since becoming Housing chair, Espada’s one goal has been to maintain the status quo, sources charge. In a sense, he has sloughed off the responsibility of the committee to Kruger, who has promised the real estate industry that he would flag any housing bills that could favor tenants over landlords and reroute them through the Finance Committee.
Espada was not made available for comment.
A spokesperson for Kruger simply replied, “Nonsense.”
Espada, meanwhile, continues to portray himself to donors as gatekeeper of housing policy in the Senate, which has netted the Bronx Democrat tens of thousands in contributions from real estate interests, according to recent campaign filings. While his majority leader title is generally viewed as ceremonial, his chairmanship—especially under new rules adopted by the Senate after the coup he helped instigate—gives him major influence over which legislation comes to the floor.
In recent weeks, Espada has vowed to ITAL City Limits ITAL to unveil a major housing bill that he says will freeze rents for hundreds of rent-regulated apartments across the state. But tenant groups are suspicious of the yet-to-be-unveiled bill, given what they see as Espada’s closeness with real estate interests.
“There’s no question Pedro Espada is in the pockets of landlords,” said Mario Mazzoni, lead organizer at the Metropolitan Council on Housing. “He’s made various promises to the tenant community and then stabbed us in the back.”
Landlord groups argue that tenant activists are turning the issue of Espada’s chairmanship into a political issue in an effort to push their far-left agenda through a divided Legislature, despite not having enough votes to pass most of the bills in question.
“Most of those types of groups are more interested in politics than housing,” said Frank Ricci, legislative director for the Rent Stabilization Association. “I think the senator deserves a lot of credit.”
Ricci said that Espada has been diligent in his role as housing chair, convening a three-hour public forum at New York University last year with various representatives from the housing community.
But with Espada under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, some theorize that Espada could begin to move housing legislation through his committee at a faster pace if an indictment appears in the works—especially if the Working Families Party views him as a viable target and is able to help recruit a viable challenger.
Ever since the failed Senate coup last summer, political observers of all stripes have learned not to underestimate Espada’s intense desire for self-preservation. In the heat of the coup, Espada hinted that one explanation for his temporary defection was the Democrats’ push to overturn the rent stabilization laws.
“Espada’s a pretty wily guy,” said one tenant activist. “He could double-cross the real estate people. Who knows what the guy will do?”
--
ABOVE: State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada has vowed to unveil a major housing bill that he says will freeze rents for hundreds of rent-regulated apartments across the state. Photo by Andrew Schwartz
“Thank you very much for attending our first meeting of this Housing Committee,” Espada said.
No witnesses. No debates. Blink (including on the announced webcast), and you could have missed it.
For over a year, tenant activists and housing groups have watched bill after bill sail through the Assembly, only to come to a screeching halt in the Senate. Most of the blame is falling squarely on Espada. Democratic leaders first appointed Espada as Housing chair after the Amigo stand-off in early 2009, passing over State Sen. Liz Krueger, who was seen as a fierce advocate for rent regulation. Since then, dozens of pro-tenant bills have been held up in his committee, including vacancy decontrol, Mitchell-Lama reform and a repeal of the Urstadt law. Even less radical legislation, like closing loopholes that allow property owners to increase rent after making major capital improvements, have stalled.
That could turn out to be a liability for the conference as a whole, with several politically potent groups threatening to withhold support from Democrats this year if nothing is done to advance housing reforms.
“We can’t wait until 2011,” said Michael McKee, formerly treasurer of Tenants PAC and now executive director of Housing Here and Now. “They have to do these bills this year.”
McKee warned it would be difficult to convince housing activists in New York City to campaign for Senate Democrats in battleground districts this year without concrete action on housing reform.
Meanwhile, two days after Espada’s lightning-quick Housing Committee meeting, Senate Finance Chair Carl Kruger convened an epic budget hearing with no fewer than 14 witnesses from all corners of the housing and development world.
This is no accident, according to some sources close to Espada. Since becoming Housing chair, Espada’s one goal has been to maintain the status quo, sources charge. In a sense, he has sloughed off the responsibility of the committee to Kruger, who has promised the real estate industry that he would flag any housing bills that could favor tenants over landlords and reroute them through the Finance Committee.
Espada was not made available for comment.
A spokesperson for Kruger simply replied, “Nonsense.”
Espada, meanwhile, continues to portray himself to donors as gatekeeper of housing policy in the Senate, which has netted the Bronx Democrat tens of thousands in contributions from real estate interests, according to recent campaign filings. While his majority leader title is generally viewed as ceremonial, his chairmanship—especially under new rules adopted by the Senate after the coup he helped instigate—gives him major influence over which legislation comes to the floor.
In recent weeks, Espada has vowed to ITAL City Limits ITAL to unveil a major housing bill that he says will freeze rents for hundreds of rent-regulated apartments across the state. But tenant groups are suspicious of the yet-to-be-unveiled bill, given what they see as Espada’s closeness with real estate interests.
“There’s no question Pedro Espada is in the pockets of landlords,” said Mario Mazzoni, lead organizer at the Metropolitan Council on Housing. “He’s made various promises to the tenant community and then stabbed us in the back.”
Landlord groups argue that tenant activists are turning the issue of Espada’s chairmanship into a political issue in an effort to push their far-left agenda through a divided Legislature, despite not having enough votes to pass most of the bills in question.
“Most of those types of groups are more interested in politics than housing,” said Frank Ricci, legislative director for the Rent Stabilization Association. “I think the senator deserves a lot of credit.”
Ricci said that Espada has been diligent in his role as housing chair, convening a three-hour public forum at New York University last year with various representatives from the housing community.
But with Espada under investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, some theorize that Espada could begin to move housing legislation through his committee at a faster pace if an indictment appears in the works—especially if the Working Families Party views him as a viable target and is able to help recruit a viable challenger.
Ever since the failed Senate coup last summer, political observers of all stripes have learned not to underestimate Espada’s intense desire for self-preservation. In the heat of the coup, Espada hinted that one explanation for his temporary defection was the Democrats’ push to overturn the rent stabilization laws.
“Espada’s a pretty wily guy,” said one tenant activist. “He could double-cross the real estate people. Who knows what the guy will do?”
--
ABOVE: State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada has vowed to unveil a major housing bill that he says will freeze rents for hundreds of rent-regulated apartments across the state. Photo by Andrew Schwartz
