There are a total of 5,897 apartment units in Kingston.
1,197 of them are already subsidized in some way through grants or other funding sources.
Examples: Broadway East Town Homes, Ulster Gardens, The Lace Mill, Rondout Gardens
That leaves 4,700 families renting in the free market, with no protections against price increases or unfair evictions.
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, City of Kingston Mayor Steve Noble, and the city’s Common Council are all on record in support of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which would give Kingston the option of providing rent stabilization laws on apartment complexes and buildings with six or more units. Thanks for that!
However…
There are only about 1,250 apartment units in Kingston that would be protected under the ETPA.
Examples: Stony Run Apartments, Dutch Village, Orchard Hills,
There still would be over 3,000 Kingston apartments that would be completely unprotected against rent hikes and unfair eviction practices.
Evictions in Kingston are at their highest level since 2010, and in Ulster County, evictions are at their highest level ever. Without protections for existing tenants, many new developments and initiatives run the risk of accelerating rent increases and displacement, making it hard for Kingston renters to feel included in the future of the city. It creates a sense of alienation for many citizens, that only property owners and landlords get to truly benefit from the quality of life that we have in Kingston.
A bill called Good Cause Evictions, introduced by Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar, would go a long way toward fixing that. It would guarantee that if tenants are in an apartment now, they have the right to renew the lease at a small 3.5% increase every year. It would guarantee that you can only get evicted for “good” causes, like non-payment of rent or destruction of property. If the tenant decides to move away, the landlord is free to set whatever rent they want. The bill is designed to help people stay in their homes.
The only exception is for small buildings under four units where the “mom and pop landlord” actually lives in one of the units. The bill won’t hurt mom and pop landlords at all; it will actually create an advantage for them.
If you believe that housing is a human right, then good cause evictions are a huge step in that direction.
Real estate industry lobbyists are spending millions of dollars to lie to the public and say that good cause eviction law will hurt tenants. It won’t. It will only hurt people that want to extract as much profit as possible from housing. If you believe that housing is a human right, then good cause evictions is a huge step in that direction.
Call Kevin Cahill. Call Steve Noble. Call your alderpeople, and tell them:
We need good cause evictions in Kingston now!
Contact info:
Assemblyman Kevin Cahill
Call: (845) 338-9610
Mayor Steve Noble
Call: (845) 334-3902
Alderman At-Large, James L. Noble, Jr.
(845) 331-4696 | [email protected]
First Ward, Jeffrey Ventura Morell
(845) 663-2665 | [email protected]
Second Ward, Douglas Koop
(845) 706-5053 | [email protected]
Third Ward Majority Leader, Reynolds Scott-Childress
(845) 616-3687 | [email protected]
Fourth Ward, Rita Worthington
(845) 430-2819 | [email protected]
Fifth Ward, William Carey
(845) 339-1361 | [email protected]
Sixth Ward, Tony Davis
(845) 340-8461 | [email protected]
Seventh Ward, Patrick O’Reilly
(845) 339-0862 | [email protected]
Eighth Ward, Steven Schabot
(845) 338-5060 | [email protected]
Ninth Ward, Andrea Shaut
(914) 466-8092 | [email protected]
This is a great resource, how can we get this up in Poughkeepsie?