Taxing Gym Memberships is NOT Good Public Policy
February 25, 2009
In these tough economic times we are all trying to tighten spending and increase revenue, including New York State, as we negotiate this difficult budget. Everyone agrees that sacrifices need to be made across the board and these sacrifices are glaringly evident in Governor Paterson’s 2009-10 Executive Budget. While I understand the need to create revenue, I don’t agree that one of the answers to this problem is to impose a new tax on health club memberships and services.
At the same time that the Governor proposes this tax he has more famously put forward a new tax on sugared drinks, purportedly to fight against obesity. For several months, I have been flooded with letters from constituents who are confused about this contradiction and I agree with them.
We can’t on one hand penalize people for drinking too many empty calories in a soda and on the other penalize them for trying to be healthier on the tread mill at their local sports club. It doesn’t make any sense. As the budget negotiations in Albany continue I will fight for a budget which takes our current economic troubles into account while at the same time ensuring that New Yorkers are not unfairly burdened.
I have written Governor Paterson to let him know of my opposition to the tax on gym memberships. That letter can be found in the Publications section of my website.
Join me for the Lenox Hill Democratic Club’s Membership Recruitment Event
February 23, 2009
One of the most common questions I get asked is what regular people can do to get more involved in local politics. There are lots of different ways to get involved, and most involve joining - joining your community board, your PTA, a block association, or your local political club. On the Upper East Side, the Lenox Hill Democratic Club has long been an important organization fighting for progressive politics and responsive government in our community.
So if you’ve ever wanted to get more engaged in local politics, now is the time to get your feet wet. I hope you will join me at the Lenox Hill Democratic Club Membership Recruitment Event this Thursday, February 26th at Rathbone’s (1702 Second Avenue @ 88th Street) from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. I will be attending along with Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Comptroller William Thompson, Jr., Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senators Liz Krueger and Jose Serrano, and Council Members Jessica Lappin and Dan Garodnick.
This is a great opportunity to talk politics and meet new people. All are welcome and there will be free food and drinks. To RSVP or if you have any questions, please email LHDCevents@ymail.com.
Get involved and be a part of change in 2009!
Opposition to Eastwood Submetering Scheme
February 9, 2009
It was standing room only as Eastwood residents packed the Chapel of the Good Shepard Church for an emergency community organizing meeting last Saturday.
Last fall the residents of the Eastwood complex on Roosevelt Island were informed by their management company, Urban American, that management was applying to the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) for the building to be converted to submetered electricity. Submetering, as opposed to mastermetering, is when tenants are billed individually for their unit’s electrical usage rather than the landlord.
From the get-go, I was skeptical that a 33-year-old building with a baseboard electric heating system, energy-inefficient appliances, faulty thermostats, and a host of other issues, could establish a submetering scheme that wouldn’t result in a de facto massive rent increase that prices families out of their homes. However laudable the environmental goals of submetering, it doesn’t always make sense. In order for submetering to result in cost-savings and energy conservation, tenants need to be able to have the tools to conserve electricity. This is simply not possible in a building like Eastwood.
It was for these reasons that I requested two months of sample billing be sent to residents prior to the start of actual billing. What we have seen since those bills began to arrive last week is alarming. Bills totalling $600, $700, $800, $900, and even $1000 are not uncommon - for all unit sizes.
This morning, the New York Times published an article about this issue and in it Douglas Eisenberg, CEO of Urban American is quoted as saying the following:
“I think that changing one’s habits is a difficult thing to do, and this really takes people being proactive about saving energy[…] A lot of these residents have lived in this building a long time. They haven’t been responsible for their electric bills. Now they are. I think at the end of the day, I feel pretty good that we’re doing the right thing here.”
I am fairly offended by these remarks, as I am sure Eastwood tenants are. If I ran every appliance in my apartment 24-hours a day for a month, I doubt I could match most of the electric bills that Eastwood residents are facing. Electric baseboard heating is simply the most inefficient system you can have in a building like this. And what’s worse is that Douglas Eisenberg knows this. His company has been paying this electric bill since they bought the building, and now they don’t want to do that anymore. Blaming the tenants and accusing them of being wasteful is a low-ball move and it’s not fooling anyone.
I have only seen two bills so far, out of hundreds, where the rent reduction covers what was approved by the PSC, and most tenants are many hundreds of dollars away from that mark. If you are an Eastwood tenant and you have not yet faxed me a copy of your sample bill, please do so. My fax number is 917-432-2983.
One piece of good news to report is that through my negotiations with the NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), the rent reduction schedule will be improved slightly. DHCR is responsible for setting the amounts for Section 8 tenants based on a strict interpretation of federal HUD regulations. (And the rent reductions for Section 8 tenants were applied to all tenants.) However, the initial calculations by DHCR assumed a lower dollar per kilowatt/hour amount than what tenants are actually going to be charged by Con Edison (14 cents per kwh as opposed to 18 cents per kwh). The new rent reduction rates can be accessed by clicking here, and while they do not solve the problems tenants are facing, I am pleased that DHCR has taken the step to review their calculations in order to ensure that tenants are at least given what they are entitled to under the law.
Despite this small victory, I do not believe that Eastwood is an appropriate candidate for submetering, under any rent reduction scheme. Having now viewed the sample bills, I, along with my colleagues (Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Jose Serrano, and Council Member Jessica Lappin) wrote to the Public Service Commission and petitioned for the Eastwood submetering application to have a re-hearing so that a number of factors that may have been initially overlooked may be examined more closely.
***UPDATE*** The Public Service Commission has granted my request for a stay of submetering and the landlord’s application is now in a re-hearing process. Tenants at Eastwood have until April 1st to submit comments to the PSC on the application itself. Please contact my office for more information at 212-860-4906.
10-Bill Package to Protect the Rights of Tenants Passes Assembly
February 4, 2009
Anyone who rents in New York City knows that the rent laws are broken and our City’s affordable housing stock is in crisis. Over the past decade we have watched as speculation in multi-family housing resulted in the harassment and eviction of families from their homes.
I’m proud to say that earlier this week, the Assembly acted to update and strengthen New York’s rent laws. For your information, these ten bills are listed below. The bill package is now headed to the Senate.
A.2005 (Rosenthal) - Repeals vacancy decontrol laws that allow landlords to deregulate apartments. The bill also re-regulates thousands of units that are renting for less than $5000/month.
A.1686 (Lopez) - Reduces the maximum amount a landlord can increase the rent on a vacated apartment from 20% to 10%.
A.860 (Bing) - Adjusts income decontrol thresholds to more accurately reclect present day realities and tie income decontrol thresholds to inflation in the NYC metropolitan area.
A.1687 (Lopez) - Require former Section 8 properties to be automatically subject to rent regulation.
A.1685 (Lopez) - Limit a landlord’s ability to recover an apartment for personal use to one unit per property.
A.1688 ( Lopez) - Repeals the Urstadt Law, allowing New York City to make its own rent laws.
A.857 (Bing) - Maintains the rents for tenants at their same levels when a building leaves the Mitchell-Lama program and enters rent stabilization.
A.1928 (O’Donnell) - Extends the length of time during which major capital improvement (MCI) expenses are recovered by landlords so that the costs to tenants are more spread out. Also, prohibits rent surcharges for MCIs after the costs of the improvement have already been recovered.
A.2002 (Silver) - Creates civil penalties for tenant harassment and raises penalties on landlords that violate DHCR housing codes.
A.465 (Jeffries) - Protects tenants with preferential rental agreements from exorbirant rent increases.
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My community office is here to help you.
315 East 65 Street
New York, NY 10065
Tel 212-860-4906
Fax 917-432-2983
Email KellnerM@assembly.state.ny.us
