News from STATE SENATOR Liz Krueger
New York State Senate, 26th District

COMMUNITY BULLETIN - May 2002

Message from Liz . . .
For the next few months, I will use these bulletins to share with you some of the disturbing lessons I am learning about the way our state government operates. I believe that it is important for all New Yorkers to know the specific ways in which the culture in Albany undermines serious deliberation over the issues facing our city and state.

This month, I want to share with you the wonders of the Senate committee process. Ideally, Senate committees would offer the opportunity for legislators with particular policy expertise to apply that knowledge to evaluating and improving proposed legislation. That is what (at least sometimes) happens in the federal legislature and many other state legislatures. In New York, however, committees exist in name only. There is no accurate schedule of committee meetings, which are frequently called with no notice "from the floor" - meaning that committee members face the choice of missing committee votes or missing votes on the floor of the Senate. Often the Chair is the only Republican who attends the meeting, with all other Republicans casting their votes by proxy. Only the Chair can place a bill on the committee agenda.

Bills are also usually "considered" at lightning speed, with committee meetings often lasting only a few minutes unless someone like myself slows down the process by trying to ask questions about the legislation being voted on. And of course, there are no recorded minutes of committee meetings to report these farcical proceedings. Exposure to Albany realities such as this only confirm my commitment to changing the Albany system and advocating for new ideas such as initiative and referendum, discussed in greater detail below.

"The Senator is In"
Rotating Office Hours In the District
Turtle Bay Upper East Side
Date: Saturday, May 18th, 2002 Date: Saturday, May 25th, 2002
Time: 11:00am-1:30pm Time: 11:00am - 1:30pm
Place: NW Corner 53rd St. & 1st Ave. Place: 86th Street b/w 1st & 2nd Aves.
(next to Madison Diner) (in front of Gristedes Supermarket)
Raindate: Sunday, May 19th Raindate: Sunday, May 26th
(same time & place) (same time & place)

District Office: 211 East 43rd Street, Room 1300, New York NY 10017 (212) 490-9535 Fax: (212) 490-2151
Albany Office: Room 302, Legislative Office Bldg., Albany NY 12247 (518) 455-2297 Fax: (518) 426-6874

Upcoming Event
Town Hall Meeting on Housing
Co-sponsored by State Senator Liz Krueger, Assemblymember Pete Grannis, New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition, East Side Tenants Coalition, and the Met Council on Housing
Wednesday, May 29th, 7-9 PM
Hunter College, Room 714 West Building
Enter SW corner of Lexington and East 68th Street

Community Spotlight
Calling for a Meeting with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA):
I recently joined other East Side elected officials in writing to MTA Chair Peter Kalikow and MTA New York City Transit President Lawrence Reuter requesting a meeting to discuss a number of issues related to articulated buses, scheduling. bus routes, and bus layovers on the East Side. I am hopeful that such a meeting can be set up for early June, and will make sure that it includes representatives of Community Board 8 and the East 79th Street Neighborhood Association.

Supporting Landmark Designation for Cinema I II, Manhattan House, and the Beekman Theatre:
I recently wrote to Sherida Paulsen, Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, to support consideration of landmarks designation for Cinema I II at 1001 Third Avenue, Manhattan House at 200 East 66th Street, and the Beekman Theater and Block at 1242-1258 Second Avenue. Each of these fine examples of modern architecture marks a significant development in the architectural history of New York City. Cinema I II, built in 1962, was the first duplex theater in the United States, and marks a significant development in the evolution of movie theater design.

The Manhattan House, constructed in 1950, is New York City's first white brick apartment building, and was honored in 1952 by the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The Beekman Theater and Block, located across the street from Manhattan House, and built in 1952 to complement Manhattan House both in form and function, serves as one of the few remaining art-film houses in New York City. I strongly support efforts to preserve architecturally significant structures such as these, which contribute so much to the history and character of the Upper East Side.

Free Prostate Education and Screening:
Free, professional and private prostate cancer screenings are available at Settlement Health, 212 East 106th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues on Thursday June 13th at 5:30 PM. In addition to screenings, you can learn ways to prevent prostate cancer, and receive a free gift package from the Prostate Health Center. This program is sponsored by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Settlement Health and the American Cancer Society. For more information, please call (212) 241-0045.

Current Schedule of Upcoming Rent Guidelines Board Meetings:
The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) has rescheduled its preliminary vote on allowable rent increases for rent stabilized apartments, which had originally been scheduled for May 6. On May 7, Mayor Bloomberg appointed Adriene Holder as a tenant representative on the Board. I am pleased that the Mayor has filled this extremely important position, and that the RGB is delaying the vote to allow time for Ms. Holder to prepare for the vote. I strongly oppose any increases this year, on the basis that the RGB's own study has indicated a reduction in operating costs over the past year. For information on the date of the rescheduled preliminary vote, call the RGB at 385-2934. Below is a schedule of other upcoming Rent Guidelines Board Meetings and Hearings:

Please note: Schedule subject to change. Call the RGB at 385-2934 to confirm.

Tuesday, June 4 Department of City Planning Public meeting
9:30am-12:30pm Spector Hall Presentation by RGB
22 Reade Street


Wednesday, June 12 The Great Hall at Cooper Union Public Hearing
10am-10pm 7 East 7th Street at 3rd Avenue
Opportunity for Public Testimony - call RGB at 385-2934 to sign up to testify


Tuesday, June 18 U.S. Customs House Auditorium Final Vote
5:30-9:30PM 1 Bowling Green

Housing Maintenance Code Violations now Available On-Line:
New York City residents can now access the records of Housing Maintenance Code violations for privately-owned residential apartment buildings at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development website - http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd. This website provides access to records of any outstanding violations at a particular address.

Information on Adopting Children from New York City:
The New York City Administration for Children's Services has established a website to help match parents with children waiting for adoption. The website, which includes photos and stories of children waiting for placement with permanent families, also provides information on the adoption process. It can be accessed at http://www.nyc.gov/adopt. You can also call the Parent Recruitment Hotline at (212) 676-WISH (9474) Monday -Friday from 9AM-5PM for information on adoption.

Spotlight on Policy
Initiative and Referendum

Last month I voted in favor of a bill that would allow voters to approve changes in law through direct votes on ballot measures called Initiatives and Referendums. I believe that these reforms are particularly important for New York State, given the undemocratic and dysfunctional system that exists in Albany.

It is no secret that we do not have a legislative process that encourages real discussion of the issues facing this state. But even worse than this, I have learned that the culture in Albany considers such discussion to be unnecessary. I support initiative and referendum in the hope that involving the public more directly in the lawmaking process will force the Governor and Legislature to take their duties more seriously than they do at present and to be more responsive to the people they represent.

While I do have concerns about some of the laws passed in other states through initiative and referendum, exposure to the current dysfunctional system in Albany leads me to believe that we need to find ways to open the political process to more meaningful participation. Initiative and referendum have the potential to encourage serious democratic engagement and meaningful public debate on issues of importance to New York State.

This specific bill would place a number of limitations on the scope of potential ballot measures, including limiting the number to four per election. Measures appropriating money or delegating state authority to a private entity or corporation are also prohibited. Supporters of proposed initiatives will be required to collect signatures from voters equaling approximately 5% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election (approximately 250,000 signatures).

Since the Governor also supports this measure, the issue of whether initiative and referendum will become a reality in New York is now in the hands of the Assembly. I hope that they will give serious consideration to this important reform. I also believe state campaign finance reform is crucial to ensuring that the model for initiative and referendum is not held captive by big money interests. Hopefully, campaign finance reform will be passed by the legislature with or before passage of initiative and referendum. If not, perhaps campaign finance reform should be the first initiative placed before the voters.

Affordable Housing


As many of you know, rent regulation laws in New York City will expire if they are not renewed by next year. I have joined a number of my colleagues in calling for early renewal of the rent laws this year, as it is likely to be easier to get the laws renewed before the gubernatorial election. Legislation extending rent protections until 2008 has passed the State Assembly, and I have requested co-sponsorship of S.7112, the Senate version of that legislation from Senator Frank Padavan, the Senate sponsor.

Extending rent regulations is essential, but it only addresses a small part of the overall crisis in affordable housing facing New York City. Loopholes created during earlier renewals of rent regulation are rapidly depleting the number of units in New York City covered by any rent regulations. Furthermore, when apartments are deregulated, tenants lose much more than the protection from exorbitant rent increases. Tenants living in deregulated units often also lose the ability to force landlords to make necessary repairs and provide safe and clean buildings. Since landlords of unregulated apartments are under no obligation to renew leases, they can easily rid themselves of tenants who assert their rights to habitable apartments by refusing to renew their leases. Over time, the effects of deregulation will be a further decline in the quality of New York City's housing stock.

One major loophole I am working to close this year is vacancy decontrol, which deregulates any vacant apartment with a rent of $2000 or more. The original justification of this provision was that apartments renting for more that $2000 were "luxury" apartments and therefore did not require regulation, which is certainly a questionable assumption given the incredibly high housing costs in New York City. Furthermore, this loophole has given landlords a strong incentive to find ways to push rents in vacant apartments over the $2000 level, which can often be accomplished through a combination of "vacancy increases" also authorized in previous revisions of the rent protection laws, and renovations on vacant apartments.

A recent study by New York State Tenants and Neighbors indicated that approximately 84,000 housing units have become deregulated over the course of the last decade as a result of vacancy decontrol. A bill repealing vacancy decontrol has also passed the State Assembly, and I have requested co-sponsorship of the Senate version (S.7118). In addition, I have introduced my own Senate bills to accomplish both renewal of rent regulation and repeal of vacancy decontrol.

While I strongly believe that preserving and strengthening our rent protection laws is an essential part of addressing the crisis of affordable housing facing New York City, I also believe that these efforts must be part of a broader strategy that also includes construction of new low and moderate income housing. I am currently working with other Senators in exploring the development of an official state affordable housing policy strategy. Such a strategy must involve both public and private construction of new housing, and include a significant effort to encourage private construction through financing and tax incentives. It must also draw on lessons learned from previous programs such as the Mitchell-Lama program. Based on this experience, I believe we should develop programs that encourage developers to make a permanent commitment to low and moderate income housing rather than programs that expire at some future date and simply create a new housing crisis many years down the road. The development of such a comprehensive strategy is one of my major goals for the months ahead.