NYC NOW - October 17, 2023: Evening Roundup

Episode Date: October 17, 2023

A new report by the nonprofit Community Service Society finds that more than half of all tenants are considered "rent-burdened.” Plus, Maimonides Medical Center is evicting dozens of current and former employees from buildings that once served as employee housing. And finally, WNYC’s Michael Hill and Jon Campbell discuss what New Yorkers can expect to see on the ballot on Election Day next month.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. I'm Jenae Pierre. A new report paints a grim picture for New York City renters. The nonprofit community service society finds that more than half of all tenants are considered rent-burdened, meaning they spend at least 30% of their income on rent. The group's policy analyst, Aksana Maranova, says it's even worse for one-third of New York who give at least half their income to their landlords. That basically means that every single family that's in this situation

is on the brink of addiction in any given month, and that's staggering. She says the findings show the need for stronger tenant protections and limits on rent increases. But landlord groups say those restrictions prevent new development and lead to worsening housing conditions. Stick around. There's more after the break. Mamadie's Medical Center in Brooklyn is evicting dozens of current and former employees from buildings that once served as employee housing.

The move comes after Mamanides sold the buildings to a private developer as part of a $68 million real estate deal back in 2018. WMYC's Caroline Lewis visited the home of one of the tenants facing eviction. The bathroom didn't work. I had to change all those things there.

As soon as I enter the apartment, 66-year-old Victor Quignones and his daughter, Barbara, start listing everything Victor has fixed during his 15 years here. Kenyones was planning to stay here indefinitely. When he first moved into this one bedroom, he was an employee at Maimonides, where he says he worked maintaining hospital buildings

for over 40 years. As a non-profit hospital, Maimonides is able to provide inexpensive employee housing that's exempt from some state regulations. The hospital housed tenants like Quinones on a month-to-month basis, without a formal lease. They didn't give me no paper to sign.

They gave me the apartment just like that. Kinyane says when he retired in 2018, he was told he could stay, although his rent would go up $300, from $950 a month to $1,250. Later that year, Maimonides sold some of its buildings, including this one, to a private developer called Iris Holdings Group. The hospital sent out notices about the sale, but once again told Victor and other tenants they could remain in their apartments, at least for the time being. The location near Maimonides makes it easy for Barbara to visit her dad on her lunch break. She now works at the hospital as an office manager. We were all born there. I was born there. My brother was born there. My niece was born there.

Like I said, my dad's been working there for 42 years. I've been working there now for eight years. My brother used to work there. But now, Victor Quignones is preparing to go up against his former employer in court. Last November, Quignones received a notice saying he had to be out of his apartment in 90 days. Maimonides is also suing him and other tenants for thousands of dollars in back rent. even though Quignones says he's always paid on time. Much of stuff here.

Inelection notice. Let me check over that. Quignones and 20 other tenants are fighting the evictions in court, with the help of lawyers like Megan Walsh from the Legal Aid Society. When the new owners purchased the building, they created this new agreement with the Monadies. That's where the rent setting came in. Rather than simply turning the buildings over,

Maimonides signed a master lease with the new. owners, Iris Holdings. It allowed the hospital to continue renting out the apartments still occupied by current and former employees. That agreement covered 140 apartments across seven buildings, and the hospital told tenants their traditionally low rents would start rising over time. But hospital spokesperson, Suzanne Tamaro, says this arrangement was only supposed to last two years, and it was extended due to the pandemic. That's why Quignones didn't have to move out right away, and why he and others now face eviction. Tamara says that only the holdouts are being removed.

Most of the 140 apartments have already been vacated. Here's Walsh again from legal aid. And the city's not only aware of it, but they're supporting and encouraging it, which makes it even worse. The new building owners signed a deal with New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 2021 to provide affordable housing in exchange for a tax break.

It offered new leases to all. all the existing tenants in the buildings, except for the tenants linked to Maimonides. City spokesperson William Fowler says the department was under the impression that Maimonides' tenants would be offered new employee housing, but the city was unaware former workers would be left out. Quignones says he feels forgotten. They left us over here. Senior citizen, they left us over here. He says he would be willing to sign a proper lease for an apartment in his building, but he

was never given the chance. That's WNYC's Caroline Lewis. Election Day is less than a month away. There aren't any statewide or citywide races on the ballot this year. But in New York City, voters will decide their local councilperson, and depending on where you live, some judicial races. Voters all across the state will have two opportunities to change the state constitution. And in both instances, the proposals focus on how the government borrows money. For more next month's election, my colleague Michael Hill talked with WNYC's Albany reporter, John Campbell. Let's start with ballot proposal one. This one has to do with the amount of debt schools take on. What are voters going to decide here? Yeah, that's right. And stick with me here because both of these proposals really get into the weeds.

Proposal 1 is focused entirely on school districts in small cities. We're talking places like Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Newburgh, there's dozens of other cities. Most of them are upstate. And under the state constitution, the amount of debt those districts can take on is all based on the value of the taxable property in their city. So for small cities, they can take out debt worth 5% of that amount. That's half the percentage. Most other school districts can take out places like suburban districts, rural districts. They have a 10% debt limit. New York City school budget. It's baked into the city budget and the city has a 10% limit too.

So what voters are being asked to approve is a constitutional amendment that removes that smaller 5% limit for the small city districts. And if they do approve it, there's a bill awaiting Governor Hockel's signature that would give those districts the same 10% limit that's set under state law. John, put that in practical terms for us. What effect does that lower debt limit have on the small city school districts? I talked to Robert Brydenstein about that. He's the longtime executive director of the New York State Association of Small City School Districts. He said that limit comes into play when those districts are borrowing money to upgrade their buildings, repair their buildings by technology. If there's a district that has to, say, modernize their school buildings, they run up against that debt ceiling very quickly.

Instead of doing roofs and security and technology upgrades, maybe they'll just do the roofs this project. and delay it until the next project. And there is a way for small city districts to get around that limit. They have to get 60% of the voters in their district to approve. But that's a pretty tough hill to climb. And a lot of districts don't even try because they don't want to risk having their entire project rejected. John, you said a few times this proposal only has to do with small city districts. So why are New York City voters helping to decide it?

That's because this lower debt limit, It's been in the Constitution, the state constitution, I should say, since the 1950s. And that's back when these small city districts were run by their local city governments. And that's no longer the case. And in order to change the Constitution, you need approval from voters statewide. So that means New York City voters get a say in that. I spoke to Brian Fessler. He's the director of government relations for the New York State School Boards Association.

and he says his case to New York City voters is? If you are supportive of education, like the vast majority of the residents in the state are, then this is an issue of providing equity for school districts all across the state. Now, we should note this isn't the first time this proposal has been on the ballot. Voters had a chance to weigh in on this 20 years ago back in 2003, and they narrowly defeated it. All right, John, we've covered proposal number one. And what about ballot proposal number two?

What will voters decide here? So this is one that comes up every 10 years. And again, it's a question about debt and how much debt cities can take on for projects or upgrades. So again, stick with me. The Constitution lays out limits on borrowing for every county in New York. It's anywhere from 7 to 10% of their taxable property. But it includes a carve-out for sewage treatment. facilities. And basically, if a city has to borrow to repair a sewage treatment plant or even

build a new one, that doesn't count against their debt limit so long as they get approval from the state controller. And the idea behind that is pretty simple. It's sewage treatment plants are very critical infrastructure in any city, any town, any village. And you wouldn't want to make it harder for a local government to repair or replace them if that's indeed what needs to happen. So that carve out, that exemption for sewage facilities is up for renewal again. If voters approve of this amendment, it'll be extended through 2034. Is there any opposition to either of these proposals? Michael, at this point, there really doesn't seem to be, at least any organized opposition.

I checked in with the State Republican Party and the Empire Center. It's a think tank based in Albany. They're both on the fiscally conservative ends of. things and neither of them seem to have any major issue with either of these proposals. That said, when I did talk to Brian Fessler of the School Board's Association, he noted that voters really can have a visceral reaction to the word debt. So the school groups that support this, they're not taking anything for granted. They know they've got some work to do to try to get their message out to voters.

That's WMYC's Albany reporter John Campbell, talking with my colleague Michael Hill. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. Catch us every weekday three times a day. I'm Junae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.