Mayor, New Assembly Speaker Vow To Protect Rent Stabilized Apartments In NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio is working with the new state assembly speaker to protect and strengthen rent laws in the city.
As WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, the Ebbetts Field apartments are in the center of a lot of development, but de Blasio wants to make sure tenants there don't get squeezed out of the housing market.
"The meaning that we're focused on today is opportunity and inclusion and a city for all; a city where everyone can live," the mayor said.
De Blasio was joined by new Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at the former site of the Brooklyn Dodgers stadium so the speaker could better understand what rent stabilized tenants are facing.
Heastie said toughening up the state's rent stabilization laws will be the Assembly's number one priority.
"You know post-budget, I don't if there's a bigger issue for the Assembly to deal with and as a state to deal with," he said.
Heastie made the promise after touring the 1,500-unit Ebbetts Field apartment complex in Crown Heights with the mayor, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.
President of the tenants association, Beverly Newsome, said for starters, they need legal help to fight big management companies, Miller reported.
"If people are moving in and they're not aware they're in rent stabilization, they are being taken advantage of," she said.