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Rent Rises Spark Landlord-Tenant Outcry In Queens


In Queens, where thousands of tenants in stabilized apartments will feel the pinch there were calls for a rollback of the rent increases.
No sooner had the ink dried on the Board decision than Congressman Anthony D. Weiner, a Democrat from Queens and Brooklyn, called for a one-year freeze in rent prices.
"New Yorkers need a chance to catch up to the high cost of living in New York City," Weiner said in a letter to newly-appointed Board Chairman Steve Sinacori, a Queens resident.
"As the representative of one of the grayest districts in the nation," Weiner wrote, "I know too well that many of my constituents live on fixed incomes. The high cost of health care combined with the steady increases in housing costs have conspired to force many seniors to make excruciating decisions about which of their basic needs they will fill."
The proposed rent increases range from three percent for one-year leases and five percent for two-year renewals. The action set the stage for public debate until a final vote on the measure on June 13.
Landlord groups blasted the Boards decision. They called the rent hikes "wholly inadequate."
Joseph Pistilli, who heads the Pistilli Realty Corp. in Long Island City, called landlords "vulnerable" and felt the rent increases were too low.
"The policy is antiquated," he said. "But I believe at the same time there should be tenant protection."
Pistilli manages and maintains 3,000 units in the five boroughs, including 2,000 in Astoria.
Chairman Sinacori, in his first Board meeting since winning appointment by Mayor Rudy Giuliani, called the decision on the rent increase "a decision that strikes a balance. Its a compromise, one we looked at in a logical manner."
Sinacori, an attorney with a background in real estate and government, said that the Board includes two tenant representatives and two landlord representatives.
"Both sides are fairly represented," he said.
Meanwhile, tenants are being mobilized throughout the borough to protest the proposed rent hikes. One community group, Woodside On The Move, is planning a rally at P.S. 12 on May 31 and is recruiting tenants to attend the June 13 meeting of the Rent Guidelines Board in Manhattan.
"We have many angry tenants here," said Abraham DeLaCruz, housing advocate with Woodside On The Move. "The last time we conducted a demonstration more than 300 tenants showed up."
The rent increases are expected to enliven the New York/New Jersey Regional Housing Summit scheduled for May 19 at York College in Jamaica. The session will include Congresssmembers Gregory W. Meeks, Charles B. Rangel, Eva Clayton, former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; Donald M. Payne, Major R. Owens and Edolphus Towns. All are New York Democrats.
"Affordable housing and home ownership for African-Americans has become a national epidemic," said Meeks. "There are approximately 2.5 million African-American low-income families currently awaiting affordable housing. These families are forced to live in sub-standard living conditions, illegally converted apartments, absentee landlords, and rat infested properties."