Author: Anna Bain

Updates!

Posted on by Anna Bain

IT’S HOLIDAY TIME….Please join us on Tuesday, December 10th as we raise a glass to toast the holiday season at Le Pain Quotidien. Festivities will be from 6 pm to 8 pm . This event is open to all Gateway Plaza residents. Wine, soft drinks and light fare will be served.

SAVE THE DATE
The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 16th. More information to follow.

UPDATE ON RENT STABILIZATION
We continue to work closely with our elected officials and Battery Park City Authority on the extension of Gateway’s rent stabilization program. Though GPTA does not have “a seat at the negotiating table,” we can report that we have an active and continuing dialogue with our elected officials who are advocating with both BPCA and the landlord towards our desired goal.We will keep you advised of all developments.

JOIN OR RENEW MEMBERSHIP TO GPTA
As we approach the end of 2019, this is a good time to join GPTA or renew your membership for 2020.  

Press Release: Gateway Plaza Tenants Association, Elected Officials and Community Leaders Rally to Demand Rent Stabilization for All Gateway Plaza Tenants

Posted on by Anna Bain

Downloads: Press Release, Fact Sheet

NEW YORK, NY (Jun. 2, 2019) — The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association, along with residents and community leaders, rallied with Congressman Jerrold Nadler, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYS Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou and NYC Council Member Margaret Chin, to demand the extension of rent stabilization protections for all Gateway Plaza tenants,

In advance of the June 2020 pending expiration of rent protections at Gateway Plaza, the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association has been mobilizing tenants to urge the LeFrak Organization to complete its negotiations with Battery Park City Authority to renew the contractual rent protection agreement in place since 1987.

Gateway Plaza was the first residential building in Battery Park City. Completed in1983, Gateway was originally envisioned as affordable housing for all tenants in the six-building, 1,700-unit development. In exchange, Gateway ownership has received a substantial discount on its annual ground lease payments for more than 30 years.

Gateway Plaza has always served as a haven for the middle-class families, young people and seniors who chose to make Battery Park City their home. In the aftermath of the terror attacks of 9/11, an overwhelming majority of Gateway Plaza residents returned to rebuild their community, spurring on the wildly successful revival of Battery Park City.

The rent stabilization agreement in effect from 1987 to mid-2009 covered all Gateway Plaza tenants. The current agreement, negotiated by the Battery Park City Authority and elected officials in 2009, secured rent stabilization through 2020 only for then-current residents.

Tenants who moved in after the date of the 2009 agreement, pay market-rate rents and are not covered by the stabilization protections afforded under the agreement. Since the current agreement was signed, rents in lower Manhattan have far exceeded the rate of inflation, and these tenants have reported significant annual rent increases that quickly render their homes unaffordable.

Gateway residents are demanding that the new rent stabilization agreement cover all tenants and that renewal rent increases be in accordance the NYC Rent Guideline Board guidelines.  Further, the term of the new agreement should be extended through 2040 when the Gateway Plaza ground lease agreement with Battery Park City expires.  If the term of the ground lease is extended, the rent protections should be extended for the same term.

“Our city is in a housing crisis,” said Congressman Jerrold Nadler.  “Affordability is an issue that affects many middle-class New Yorkers, and the issue at Gateway Plaza is a prime example of middle-class families in New York City getting squeezed out of their neighborhoods.  As the Battery Park City Authority and Gateway’s owner, the LeFrak Organization enter into discussions to renew their agreement, our priority must be the extension of rent stabilization protections to every current tenant at Gateway, not just to legacy tenants who have lived here in 2009.  I am committed to working with my colleagues in government in the City and State level to ensure that Gateway Plaza remains an affordable community where residents can continue to live and bring up their families.”

“New Yorkers are increasingly feeling the squeeze on rents that keep going nowhere but up,” said NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer. “That’s why I’m proud to stand alongside the residents of the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association in Battery Park City to echo their demands for fair rental agreements for all of the development’s residents. We must build communities where working New Yorkers can find a place to call home and can make it in New York.”

“Gateway Plaza has long been a beacon of hope for middle-class residents in an increasingly unaffordable city, said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “New Yorkers deserve to live free of worry that their rent will suddenly increase and become impossible to pay. I support the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association’s request for LeFrak Organization to work with the Battery Park City Authority to renew and expand rent stabilization protection to all Gateway Plaza residents.”

“Battery Park City is as vibrant and successful as it is today largely due to the residents at Gateway Plaza,” said Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou. “The tenants at Gateway Plaza helped build our community and revitalized our neighborhood that was once a landfill. Even after September 11th, these tenants came back to rebuild and reestablish our community. Their dedication cannot go unrecognized. There should be no question that the residents at Gateway Plaza deserve to stay in the community they helped to develop. The current arbitrary rent increases are unacceptable. Not only do they eliminate the last remaining affordable housing stock we have in Battery Park City, these increases push out community members and especially destabilize the many senior residents who live on a fixed income at Gateway Plaza. I urge LeFrak and the Battery Park City Authority to resolve their negotiations immediately and include provisions to preserve and expand affordability in Gateway Plaza. Going forward, we must also continue to fight to expand the affordable housing stock in Battery Park City which remains as one of the most expensive places to live in New York.”

“As the Council Member representing Battery Park City, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association to ensure their building remains a haven for the middle-class families, young people and seniors who choose to make this neighborhood their home,” said Council Member Margaret S. Chin. “For more than 30 years, the rent protection agreement between the LeFrak Organization and the Battery Park City Authority has been a vital tool in the effort to keep the neighborhood’s first residential building affordable. Today I am joining the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association to demand that the building be made affordable for all residents.”

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Gateway Plaza Rent Stabilization History

Posted on by Anna Bain

As most of you know, if you’ve lived in Gateway Plaza since June 2009, you are protected by a rent stabilization agreement. That agreement expires in June 2020. What you may not know is that before 2009 – going all the way back to 1987 – EVERYONE at Gateway was protected by a rent stabilization agreement.

The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association (GPTA) is working with the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and our elected officials to secure a renewal AND expansion of the rent stabilization agreement: We want the agreement expanded to cover ALL Gateway residents and we want the agreement extended until at least 2040.

The rent stabilization agreement is the result of the settlement of a lawsuit brought by GPTA in the mid-1980s against BPCA and the LeFrak Organization. The tenants alleged in that lawsuit that because Gateway was developed and constructed with public funds under the New York State Mitchell Lama program, BPCA was under an obligation to regulate the rents and to maintain Gateway as affordable housing. LeFrak acknowledged that Gateway’s rents should be regulated by a governmental authority, but claimed that the proper regulator was HUD, the federal housing agency. This was back during the Reagan Administration, when HUD took a hands-off approach to regulation. 

GPTA, BPCA and LeFrak settled the lawsuit in 1987 by making an agreement that required all rent increases to be governed by the NYC Rent Stabilization Guidelines, while permitting the initial rents for a lease to be whatever the market would allow. This meant that if you could afford to live in Gateway when you moved in, you could probably afford to stay in Gateway for many years. The 1987 agreement covered all Gateway residents, no matter when they moved in.

The 1987 agreement had an original expiration date of 1993, but was extended several times until 2009. In 2009, however, the agreement was limited to cover only tenants who lived here as of the effective date of the agreement, which was June 20, 2009. 

As the 2009 agreement is coming up on its 2020 expiration date, GPTA is working on another renewal: We want an extension to at least 2040, which is the current end date for LeFrak’s ground lease – and we want the agreement to once again cover ALL Gateway residents, no matter when they move in.

Media Advisory: Gateway Plaza Tenants Association, Elected Officials and Community Leaders to Hold Rally to Demand Rent Stabilization for All Gateway Plaza Tenants

Posted on by Anna Bain

WHO:            NYS Congressman Jerry Nadler, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, NYS Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, NYC Council Member Margaret Chin

WHAT:         Rally for Rent Stabilization at Gateway Plaza, Battery Park City

WHEN:         June 2, 2019; 5:00pm

WHERE:       Volleyball Court, Esplanade Plaza, Battery Park City (south of North Cove)

In advance of the June 2020 impending expiration of rent protections at Gateway Plaza, the Gateway Plaza Tenants Association is mobilizing tenants to urge the LeFrak Organization to complete its negotiations with Battery Park City Authority to renew the contractual rent protection agreement in place since 1987.

The first residential building in Battery Park City, completed in 1983, Gateway Plaza was originally envisioned as affordable housing for all tenants in the 6-building, 1,700-unit development. In exchange, Gateway Plaza has received a substantial discount on its annual ground lease payments.

Gateway Plaza has always served as a haven for the middle-class families, young people and seniors who choose to make Battery Park City their home. In the aftermath of the terror attacks of 9/11, an overwhelming majority of Gateway Plaza residents returned to rebuild their community, spurring on the wildly successful revival of Battery Park City.

The rent stabilization agreement in effect from 1987 to mid-2009 covered all Gateway Plaza tenants. The current expiring agreement, negotiated by the Battery Park City Authority and elected officials in 2009, secured rent stabilization through 2020 only for then-current residents.

Tenants who moved in after the date of the 2009 agreement pay market-rate rents and are not covered by the stabilization protections afforded under the agreement. Since the expiring agreement was signed, rents in lower Manhattan have far exceeded the rate of inflation, and these tenants have reported significant annual rent increases that quickly render their homes unaffordable.

GATEWAY TENANTS DEMAND

New rent stabilization agreement that covers all Gateway Plaza Tenants,
to ensure continuation of a stable community

Term of the new agreement to extend through 2040, when the Gateway Plaza ground lease agreement with Battery Park City Authority expires.

Renewal rent increases in accordance with NYC Rent Guidelines Board rates,
based upon rent actually paid by the tenant in prior lease.

About Gateway Plaza Tenants Association: The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association was created in 1984 to respond to tenant-related issues at Gateway Plaza, the largest residential complex in Battery Park City. Over the last three decades, GPTA has accomplished a variety of goals, including negotiating long-term rent-stabilization agreements with the landlord, thereby preserving Gateway as a family-friendly residential community for people with diverse incomes.

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For more information, please email honeyberk [at] gmail.com.

GPTA Board Delivers Donated Clothing

Posted on by Anna Bain
GPTA Board Members loading up donated clothing.

In the spirit of giving that characterizes the Gateway community, some of our GPTA Board Members gathered a couple of days after Christmas to deliver donated winter clothing to the Bowery Mission. The clothing had been collected for a few weeks in boxes in the 600 building lobby — so if you were one of the generous residents who donated, take comfort and knowing your items found a new home.

Rent Stabilization Agreement FAQ

Posted on by Anna Bain

Q:        I’ve heard that the Gateway Plaza rent stabilization agreement expires in 2020 – what does that mean?

A:        The rent stabilization agreement, which covers all Gateway residents who lived here as f June 30, 2009, expires June 30, 2020. GPTA is working closely with the Battery Park City Authority and our elected officials to negotiate an extension of the rent stabilization agreement. However, if the agreement expires without extension, here is how it works: for any rent stabilized leases expiring between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2020, the tenant is entitled to a 1-year renewal with rent increases determined by the rent stabilization guidelines (currently 1.5%). So, for example, if your lease expired October 31, 2018, you were given a 1-year renewal, with a 1.5% increase in rent; your renewed lease will expire October 31, 2019. At that time, you’ll be entitled to another 1-year renewal to October 31, 2020. At that point, unless the rent stabilization agreement is extended, any renewal would be determined by whatever the landlord requires – it could be 1.50%; it could be 20% or more. Notice that, even though the rent stabilization agreement expires on June 30, 2020, that doesn’t mean that your lease will expire on that date – your lease will expire one year from the date of your last renewal.

Gateway Management Office Hours

Posted on by Anna Bain

In the event that you did not receive the recent email from Gateway Management, we are posting here as a courtesy their stated office hours:

MONDAY 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
TUESDAY 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
WEDNESDAY 9:00 am to 7:00 pm
THURSDAY 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
FRIDAY 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
SATURDAY and SUNDAY CLOSED

Further, they provided links to the resident portal and online rent payment provider, ClickPay.