NYT: Rangel Gets Sweetheart Deal On Four Harlem Apartments

By John Bresnahan

(The Politico)  Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has a sweetheart deal on four luxury apartments in Harlem, according to the New York Times. The revelation could raise ethics problems for the veteran Democratic lawmaker.

"The records showed that the congressman paid $1,329 monthly for his two-bedroom apartment, which is about half the $2,600 market-rate rent the development now charges new tenants. For the adjacent one-bedroom, he also paid $1,329. The one-bedrooms are now rented for $1,865 and up," the newspaper reported.

"He paid $606 a month for the adjacent studio apartment, while market rents for studios there are now $1,300. He pays $630 for the 10th-floor office, and federal election records show that he splits the cost between his Congressional re-election fund, which has raised more than $3.6 million this election cycle, and his National Leadership PAC, a committee he controls, which raised more than $1.6 million."

Rangel clearly wasn't happy answering questions about the apartments from the Times.

"Mr. Rangel, 78, declined to answer questions during a telephone interview, saying that his housing was a private matter that did not affect his representation of his constituents.

“'Why should I help you embarrass me?'” he said, before abruptly hanging up," the Times' reported.

Members of Congress, like other top federal officials, are prohibited from received any gift or gratuity, including a below market rent on an apartment.