When Tanya Delucca and her 16-year-old daughter, Michelle, went to St. Paul’s Church in Corona on Feb. 4, they were going not to pray, but to protest.
The Deluccas were one of hundreds of families in LeFrak City whose rents increased more than $10 per room per month, starting this month — and many say the spike is more than they can afford. More than 200 people turned up at St. Paul’s last week to voice their displeasure about the changes and discuss what they can do to stop further hikes.
“I am a single mother,” said Delucca, who lives in a three-bedroom apartment and now must pay nearly $34 more than in the past. “How am I going to pay for any rent increase?”
The rent hike was instituted to help cover the cost of renovations, which took place last year. The 20 buildings in LeFrak City, each of which houses some 250 apartments, were all outfitted with new elevators. The LeFrak Organization, which owns the complex, filed a Major Capital Improvements application with the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal, in hopes of gaining permission to pass on some of the costs to tenants. So far, the city has approved the request for just one building, the London, but it may sanction rent hikes for the other buildings in the coming weeks.
Rent in the London building is going up $11.31 per room per month, though senior citizens and disabled persons qualifying for rent increase exemptions won’t have to pay more. LeFrak declined to comment and also wouldn’t say how much the renovations cost.
This isn’t the first time LeFrak has raised rents, but residents say the amount of increase is much higher than previous hikes. “In the past, LeFrak would pass on three- or four-dollar rent increases, so people shrugged it off,” said Lester Youngblood, president of the LeFrak City Tenants Association. “But now, its almost twelve dollars per room. Imagine what your hike would be if you had a three- or four-bedroom apartment. … People are just stunned.”
State Sen. Hiram Monserrate (D-East Elmhurst), who was present at Thursday’s protest, said that although the city has approved the rent increase for the London building, it’s still worth fighting. “This is a chance for us to protest possible increases in the other buildings too,” he said.
Robert Jean Michel of the DHCR urged tenants to pay attention to their mail, telling them to look out for the rent increase notification. “Tenants must react to the increase and bring it to our attention,” Michel said. “Otherwise the DHCR will approve the landlord’s MCI application, thinking no one was against it.”
“LeFrak pursues MCIs very aggressively,” said Susan Gibson O’Gara, the supervising attorney at the borough’s Legal Aid Society. “Don’t ignore it.” Ryan Napoli, an attorney who works with the Bronx Defenders, said LeFrak City is well within its legal rights to ask for an MCI and impose a rent increase, but he urged tenants to be proactive in opposing future hikes. Tenants who receive rent increase notifications can challenge them by filling out a form with the DHCR within 45 days. If they get nowhere with the DHCR, they can appeal their cases to state Supreme Court.
This piece originally appeared in the Queens Chronicle
