Rents Set to Almost Double at ENY Mitchell-Lama
Many tenants at an East New York housing complex have been evicted or forced to move because their rents have gone through the roof, reports the Daily News. Rents at Linden Plaza, a five-building Mitchell-Lama development with 319 residential units, have gone up by $300 so far in the past year or so, and will…
Many tenants at an East New York housing complex have been evicted or forced to move because their rents have gone through the roof, reports the Daily News. Rents at Linden Plaza, a five-building Mitchell-Lama development with 319 residential units, have gone up by $300 so far in the past year or so, and will increase again next year so that the price for a one-bedroom will have gone from $664 to $1,132. The increases are paying for a capital improvements program at the complex. Some of the disgruntled tenants were counting on Section 8 vouchers to cover the increase but claim that bureaucratic delays thwarted them. Bob Vaccarello, president of RY Management, which oversees Linden Plaza, said that “anybody who was eligible did get a voucher,” adding that some tenants simply missed deadlines or failed to provide enough information. A city spokesman said that the rents are lower than what residents would pay if the owners left the Mitchell-Lama subsidy program, but this is a cold comfort to some. The Daily News spoke with tenant Carol Thompson, 53, who lost her job last year and has received no word regarding her voucher application. She has borrowed money from relatives to make rent, but doesn’t know what to do in the long term. “I just can’t afford it,” she said. “They’re sucking people dry.” GMAP P*Shark
Rent Hike Shocks Tenants [NY Daily News]
Image from PropertyShark
What is truly outrageous is that we are now paying (through the section 8 vouchers) for above market rents in East New York. The owners of those heavily subsidized complexes and local politicians are in cahoots, on the back of both the working poor and the taxpayers. The owners are making out like bandits, charging $1,132 for a 1 br in ENY.
I totally agree…how can these capital improvements be so punitively priced? There is something going on here, or I would hate to imagine this is some kind of extreme incompetence.
There needs to be better outreach and communications regarding vouchers. This is something that the respective councilmember should have been on top of and assisting with long before people were facing eviction. There is a lot of fear and misinformation with regard to the application for vouchers.
At one ML building in Mahattan, some skeevy community lawyer was telling people not to fill out vouchers — and they got screwed. It really is a shame.
Like it’s any different in the private sector.
***Bid half off peak comps***
Oh wait, never mind I was thinking this was Starrett City.
They probably held off on rent hikes (and improvements) when they were trying to sell the entire complex for a profit. Now that they can’t, they’re trying to make it profitable in a way that will only backfire, because, yeah, there are nicer apartments available at that price range and people that could afford the old rents and who were stable tenants may be forced to move.
who would pay $1100 for a 1-bedroom in east new york?
93%? You don’t get that kind of increase in a market rate luxury building. That comment by the city official shows yet again how out of touch the administration is. At 1132$ a month for a 1 bedroom in ENY they better have granite countertops and top of the line appliances. But I’ll bet they have old formica (chipped and peeling) and a 25 year old fridge from Sears.
Anyone have a view on the validity of the capital improvements? The rent hikes do seem suspiciously extreme.
I wish the tenants well & hope they are able to stay in their homes or find better alterntives.