GATEWAY TENANTS ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL MEETING and BOARD ELECTIONS
FEBRUARY 29, 7 PM
Via Zoom
Click here to join meeting: GTA Meeting Link Webinar ID: 815 5608 0276
The Gateway Tenants Association will be hosting our annual meeting via Zoom on Thur., Feb 29th at 7pm. We will be joined by elected officials and guests who will talk about issues that affect Gateway. Scheduled to attend: Congressman Daniel Goldman, State Senator Brian Kavanaugh, State Assemblyman Charles Fall, Council Member Christopher Marte, Battery Park City Authority President and Chief Executive Officer, Raju Mann.
At this meeting, the election of the next GTA Board will take place.
MARKET RATE REPRESENTATION NEEDED ON THE GTA BOARD
WE ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY MINDED RESIDENTS WHO WANT TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES THAT CONCERNS THEM TO RUN FOR THE BOARD.
If you want to put your name on the ballot, please provide a paragraph on why you want to serve and send it to gatewayplazata@gmail.cm by February 26th. A list of the candidates will be sent before the meeting but we will accept nominations at the meeting as well.
Updates from the GTA Board will be presented followed by a Q and A. If you have any questions and would like to submit beforehand, send to gatewayplazata@gmail.com
THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS
PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR GTA MEMBERSHIP
We invite all Gateway resident to join GTA. Our very existence depends upon the participation of the tenant population.
The larger our membership, the greater our power and influence.
Let your voice be heard and join others toward the betterment of our community!
Dues are just $25 per household per calendar year so join NOW. You have to be a member to vote.
Click here to JOIN NOW!
MARKET RENT SURVEY
MARKET RENT SURVEY
(previously reported in January newsletter)
During fall 2023, GTA conducted a survey of tenants’ experiences with renewal lease rent increases, focusing on the body of tenants who are not covered by the Quasi Rent Stabilization (QRS) Agreement. We received 171 responses. To place rent increases in the context of the overall economy, the annual rate of inflation for 2023, as measured by the Urban Consumer Price Index, was 4.1%.
Over three-quarters of the rent increases stated in tenants’ renewal offers were greater than the rate of inflation – specifically, 77% of survey respondents’ renewal offers were greater than 5%. Most renewal offers were substantially greater than the rate of inflation, as summarized in the following table:
Share of Respondents Renewal offer increase amount
77% greater than 5%
65% greater than 10%
47% greater than 15%
32% greater than 20%
On the good news side of things, tenants who tried to negotiate renewal increases were often successful in achieving lower increases, sometimes significantly lower. Roughly two-thirds of respondents reported that they tried to negotiate renewal rents, and of those, roughly half reported being successful in achieving a renewal rent lower than what had been proposed by management.
Lessons that can be drawn from the survey include:
Don’t just accept the renewal rent increase contained in your lease renewal offer – try to negotiate. One successful negotiation approach has been to present management with evidence that similar apartments are being offered at rates lower than what is being requested of the tenant at renewal. You can see what Gateway is currently offering for rent at its website, gatewayny.com.
In the absence of legal or contractual limits on renewal rent increases, tenants are at the mercy of unpredictable market forces that take little account of how long a tenant has made an apartment their home or how timely the tenant has been in rent payment. If the landlord believes a new tenant would pay 20% or more in rent than a current tenant is paying, the landlord is likely to demand a 20% or higher rent increase at lease renewal.
The renewal rent increase experience of Gateway tenants demonstrates the importance of enacting Good Cause Eviction legislation that has been repeatedly introduced in the New York Legislature, but which has not passed. This legislation would limit rent increases to an amount tied to the rate of inflation. For example, NYS Senate bill S3082 introduced in the 2021-2022 Session would limit rent increases to the greater of 3% or 1.5 times the rate of inflation. If you believe these protections are important, please contact our State Senator, Brian Kavanagh (https://www.nysenate.gov/senators/brian-kavanagh), our Assembly Member, Charles Fall (https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Charles-D-Fall) and Governor Kathy Hochul (https://www.governor.ny.gov), and urge them to enact Good Cause Eviction legislation.
UNOFFICIAL NAME CHANGE
Since the complex is now known as “Gateway” rather than “Gateway Plaza,” we are calling the organization” Gateway Tenants Association” or “GTA”.
Our contact information and social media will remain the same.
The website will continue as gpta.org,
The email address as gatewayplazata@gmail.com.
The Twitter handle will remain @GPTA_BPC and Facebook as Gateway Plaza Tenants Association.