Op-Ed
An open letter to NYC
predatory landlords
BY JIM MARKOWICH
To the New York City real estate tycoons who are lamenting
the new rent laws in New York State: It’s really
not so bad.
I know, I know. It’s hard to be chipper when you look ahead
and you see your return on investment tanking on the whole
predatory-equity gamble.
Rent regulation was always an obstacle to windfall profi ts,
but you were making progress — chipping away at it since
the 1990s. More and more apartments were pried loose from
regulation through the loopholes that gave you legal leverage
against it, courtesy of successive state Legislatures that appreciated
your money.
In recent years, you were tempted to up the ante, and get rid
of rent regulation completely: Buy up those old buildings at
way more than market value — what small landlord wouldn’t
jump to sell to you? Remove the rent-regulated tenants…or
deny their existence — that could be attributed later to a clerical
error, if need be. Put in granite countertops and hardwood
fl ooring. Find a handful of young people willing to shell out
$5,000 a month to share each fi fth-fl oor walk-up that you
would convert to two or more bedrooms.
You knew it would be risky. But your spreadsheets showed
great upside potential. (You pride yourself on risk tolerance,
anyway.) It helped that some big-name banks were more than
willing to repeatedly give you the loans you needed.
All in all, it was such a great plan.
You even got some buildings started, until remaining tenants
started making a fuss over all the demolition-related lead
dust, calling 311 like it was some big inconvenience to them
and their poor, little kids.
And what’s worse — now there are these new rent laws, all
in favor of rent-regulated tenants! Who are these new senators
and assemblymembers? Are they really willing to listen
to tenants, rather than to corporate lobbyists? What’s gotten
into Cuomo?
So, yes. It’s tough to acknowledge that these predatory-equity
plans turned out to be bad investments after all. You may
have to put those plans for a third Mercedes on hold. Maybe
you’ll have to settle for a vacation in Europe instead of Tahiti
next year.
But what can you do to mitigate the losses? These tenement
buildings with two remaining regulated tenants paying you a
grand a month are bleeding your cash fl ow. It’s not going to
be easy to fi nd someone willing to take them off your hands,
either, like it would have been in 2015. And you’ll be damned
if you’re going to invest in gut renovations now. What good
are I.A.I.’s (individual apartment improvements) if they don’t
raise the rent to the point where apartments get deregulated?
It’s such a mess that you may have to just wake up from the
dream — sell and cut your losses. But no developer worth his
wine cellar is going to overpay for them like you did when you
were caught up in the speculative frenzy. So you’ll have to
look for some civic do-gooder — some preservation buyer or
a community land trust, or sell directly to the tenants for pennies
on the dollar. The PR value of a move like that would be
substantial. If the state attorney general decides to investigate
and punish more predatory-equity practitioners, something
like that could weigh in your favor.
Markowich, an East Villager since 1976, is a member
of Tenants Taking Control, a group started by former tenants
of Raphael Toledano that works with Cooper Square Committee
and local politicians “to end predatory equity and reestablish
safe, affordable housing in New York City.” A Cooper
Union graduate, he works as a computer programer.
Letters ers to the Edi
Editor
Assemblymember Richard Gottfried voted against the
bill to remove religious exemptions for vaccinations.
The politician told WNYC before the vote, “I’m wrestling
with it. I have always been a very strong proponent of
maximizing vaccination. But I’m concerned about taking
away that First Amendment protection” of religious
freedoms.
Vaxx vote
outrage
To The Editor:
I suspect that after all these
years of his being only a political
employee, state Senator
Richard Gottfried thinks
he can vote against vaccination
and no one will notice or
care. Wrong.
Only really ignorant people
vote against vaccinating children
when the facts are that
they are way, way safer being
vaccinated than being left
open to infections and infecting
others. And Gottfried is
chairperson of the Assembly
Committee on Health.
Won’t someone progressive
run against Gottfried, who has
never had a job other than being
on the public dole? There
must be someone!
Carolynn R. Meinhardt
Pleading for
bus justice
To The Editor:
Re “Save our bus loop” (oped,
by Barbara Ruether, June
20):
It’s so disturbing that residents
who rely on this bus for
transport, whether for day-today
travel, work or medical appointments,
have to plead for
justice in the local paper. But
at least we do have The Villager
to be an important place
for getting out the plea, so eloquently
stated by Ruether.
Electeds, please fi ght to preserve
the 14A Abington bus
loop. The people are counting
on you.
Alison Greenberg
Beyond
biomethane
To The Editor:
Re “M.T.A. drive for renewable
gas buses” (news article,
June 20):
It’s a potential positive resource,
but the hazards of biomethane
do need tending to,
especially since all pipelines
are prone to leakage and methane
is quite problematic, in
that regard.
It’s similar to concerns with
electric vehicles, where estimated
benefi ts often don’t take
the cleanliness of the electricsupply
grid into account. And
don’t neglect biodiesel, not
from Midwest-cropped soybeans,
but from W.V.O. (waste
vegetable oil), which major
urban areas generate in abundance.
Heating boilers and vehicles
can be modifi ed to run
on 100-percent BD (biodiesel),
with controlled storage and
distribution obviating much of
the greenhouse gases.
John Nettleton
Baldwin is
hilarious
To The Editor:
Re “Baldwin gets serious
at Judson” (news article, June
13):A
lec Baldwin is going to tell
us about gentrifi cation in the
Village when he is part of the
problem? The only thing more
hilarious would be to have
someone from N.Y.U. on the
panel. Oh. ...
Karen Kramer
Setting some
things straight
To The Editor:
Re “Woody Guthrie and the
Fred Trump blues” (arts article,
May 16) and “Times are achanging’…
for protest artists”
(arts article, May 30):
In the fi rst article, the writer
states Bob Dylan got his start
at the Gaslight Cafe. Wrong!
He fi rst played at Cafe Wha?
behind Fred Neil. And Bob often
came into my restaurant
with Fred to have a mug of coffee.
He also later came with his
manager Albert Grossman to
watch the people playing electric
before he went electric.
On one memorable evening,
after I had closed down for the
night, Bob spent some time on
our piano working out a tune
with John Sebastian. Lights
out, place closed, just some
light from the street outside.
And the second article is
completely bogus! Your reporter
neglects to mention that
Woody Guthrie was a communist!
And, as such, he was anti
landlord! Not to take away
from Woody’s immense talent
as a songwriter.
I knew Woody’s children,
Nora and Arlo. They were regulars
at the Night Owl Cafe.
Nora went out with one of
the musicians in the band The
Strangers in 1965.
This article is a cheap shot
at our president — and as a
left-leaning paper, expected!
Joseph Marra
E-mail letters, maximum
250 words, to news@thevillager.
com or fax to 212-229-
2790 or mail to The Villager,
Letters to the Editor, 1 Metro-
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NY 11201. Please include
phone number for confi rmation.
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grammar, clarity and libel.
Anonymous letters will not be
published.
Schneps Media TVG June 27, 2019 13
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