Watch video of Brooklyn's District 45 City Council Member Jumaane D. William address residents and media outside of The Great Hall at Cooper Union during a rally outside the Rent Guideline Board hearing yesterday, June 17, 2010.
The Rent Guidelines Board is mandated by law to establish rent adjustments for all rent stabilized apartments in New York City, and hold an annual series of meetings to discuss how large the increases will be.
Also on hand yesterday were representatives from pols representing various neighborhoods such as the Upper West Side, Brooklyn, Battery Park and elsewhere; activists, tenant association leaders and were all on hand. TV and other media were also present.
Williams raised a valid question to the panel inside during his public comment, and again outside. Should the RGB discussion begin at how much to increase rent, or should they first consider if a rent increase is necessary given all other factors? The board has never approved a rent freeze since it was established in 1969.
As Curbed matter-of-factly noted: "Why does the annual circus have zero buzz this year? Because the RGB didn't vote to freeze rent hikes when the world nearly collapsed, [last year] so obviously the mysterious board never will."
DNAinfo has more from the afternoon.
Here's The New York Times' topic page on Rent Stabilization and Rent Control, which includes a wealth of information on the topic from both Times' sources and others. The final vote of the RGB will happen next Thursday when they meet again at The Great Hall at Cooper Union from 5:30pm to 9:30pm.
» Follow NYC The Blog on Facebook and Twitter. Photo and video credit: Paolo Mastrangelo/NYC The Blog
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