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.
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.
Looking for feedback from Downtown Connection riders, the Downtown Alliance will be conducting an online survey from November 2018 through March 2019. The goal is to better understand how riders use the service so they can continue to improve the free service. You may take the 1-minute survey HERE. Please share with your neighbors.
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.
The Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) is an innovative, solutions-oriented task force that ensures NYC communities are safe from harmful illegal and unregulated industries that one agency and one set of enforcement tools alone can’t address.
If you see Airbnb or other illegal short-term rental activity in your building, you can file a complaint via the intake form.
Thanks to all of you who attended our annual meeting last week and voted in the Board election! We will be posting a meeting update this week, but meanwhile we wanted to let you know that the following have been elected to the new Board — which takes over in November:
Honey Berk, Sarah Cassell, Audrey Comisky, Larry Emert, Robin Forst, Jeff Galloway, Pat Gray, Howard Grossman, Rosalie Joseph, Bruce Katz, Steve Kessler, David Levine, Shannon McCue, Ninfa Segarra, and Karlene Wiese.
Below is the text of a sample letter that can be used to email or mail our elected officials to help motivate them to make rent stabilization at Gateway Plaza a real priority. You can also download a copy of the rent stabilization letter as an MS Word document.
[Date]
[Your name]
Gateway Plaza
[Your building] South End Avenue
Apartment [Your apartment]
New York, NY 10280
[Elected Official]
[Address]
New York, NY [Zip code]
Dear [Elected Official]:
I have been a resident of Gateway Plaza for [number] years and am concerned about maintaining affordable rents in Lower Manhattan. As such, I am writing to ask for your support in securing a rent stabilization agreement for all Gateway Plaza residents. For the past 10 years, rents in lower Manhattan have far exceeded the rate of inflation and many residents are feeling the pressure, so we need your support!
Completed in 1981, Gateway Plaza was the first residential building constructed in Battery Park City and was originally built as affordable housing. In exchange, Gateway Plaza was given a substantial discount on its ground rent payment. In 2009, the Battery Park City Authority and our elected officials were successful in securing rent stabilization through 2020 for tenants who were already living in the complex. Tenants who moved in after that date that did so at market-rate rents and without the protections afforded under the 2009 agreement. These market rate tenants have reported significant annual rent increases since 2009.
As the current trend is unsustainable for many residents of New York City, we are seeking rent stabilization for ALL Gateway residents, not just those covered under the previous agreement.
On the heels of the recent Citizens’ Budget Commission study documenting the severity of New York City’s rent burden, along with the priority that the De Blasio administration has made of the preservation of affordable housing, we kindly ask for your active support and advocacy on this matter.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Join Gateway Plaza Tenants Association in Keeping Gateway Plaza Affordable for All Tenants!
Here’s How to Get Involved:
COME TO THE GPTA ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Wednesday, October 17th
P.S. 276
55 Battery Place – ONLY A 5-MINUTE WALK!
6pm Doors Open – Meeting ends promptly at 8pm
The meeting is open to ALL GATEWAY RESIDENTS and will provide an update by the GPTA Board.
CONTACT OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS!
GPTA is seeking rent stabilization for ALL Gateway residents, NOT JUST THOSE COVERED PREVIOUSLY……….. but we need your help. PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL to your elected officials to ensure that Gateway Plaza is affordable for the entire Gateway community!
Either use the sample letter we have written, or feel free to compose your own. (Clicking on the link will download a MS Word document that you can customize, then copy into an email.) The text of the letter can also be found in the post below this one.
Reps can be contacted here:
SIGN OUR ONLINE PETITION
To help our elected officials understand how important their support is to us, we have created on online petition that is quick and easy to sign. Please take a minute to click on the link and add your name: Gateway Plaza Rent Stabilization Petition
EVEN IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING, PLEASE SEND THE EMAILS AND SIGN THE PETITION!
Battery Park City is featured in the latest NY Times “Living In” piece,
and GPTA President Karlene Wiese has a quote!
