Council Members responsible 2 crises II

PART II COUNCIL MEMBERS RESPONSIBLE FOR 2 CRISES.

Why the new name Affordability Act?

Is it fair to hold Council Members, CMS, partly responsible for our city’s “affordability crisis”?

Yes! Because CMS non actions of purposely ignoring a major crisis are chiefly responsible for the “high cost of living” in NYC that led NYC to the “affordability crisis?”

In PART I,* we detailed why CMS should be held accountable for our city’s small business crisis and the record number of forced closing of good businesses as a result. When there was a real lifeline bill to stop the closings of established businesses waiting to be voted on, their years of silence and non-actions to seriously address an obvious landlord controlled destructive commercial lease renewal process causing record numbers of good business owners to close their businesses, was reason enough for holding them accountable. Greatly justifying this accountability was the betrayal of many new CMS whose first sponsorship upon being sworn into office was in support and promotion of a lobby created status quo bill, Commercial Rent Stabilization Act, CRS. A sham bill, that gave no right to business owners to renew their leases, no real rights in the negotiations process and had a guideline where the rents only go UP but never down from 20 years of hyper rent increases. Without question the CRS bill was the most anti-immigrant, anti-jobs, and anti-small business legislation ever introduced in the City Council.

By CMS refusal to: grant honest hearings to find the best legislation to save their own business owners and worker’s jobs when their leases expire, and by being complicit to the real estate lobby’s collusion with the Speaker’s Office to deny economic justice and rights to small business owners, every CMS shares in the responsibility of the forced closing of their own long established businesses. Good businesses paying good wages and still growing but being forced to close only because, they had no rights in the commercial lease renewal process and their landlords refusing to negotiate fair lease terms. Why would a progressive CMS hand over their own elected responsibility for the welfare, vitality, prosperity, and futures of their own merchants and workers to the real estate lobby and their landlords? Yes, every CMS who willingly sponsored the lobby’s status quo CRS bill, while purposely rejecting the only real lifeline legislation, the then Jobs Survival Act, must be held fully responsible for the forced closings and rent gouging of their own merchants. All those closings happened on their watch, their time in office, their failed opportunity to pass the affordability creating JOBS SURVIVAL ACT!

To cover up both the “root cause” of the small business crisis and the many negative consequences to society from the destructive commercial lease renewal process, the lobby, REBNY, used their political influence to orchestrate a charade of government agencies pretending to care about the welfare of the city’s small business owners. The lobby shills: BIDS, Chambers, SBS, EDC, fake coalitions (United for Small Businesses NYC) and loyalist CMS were successful in their lobby’s disinformation and misinformation campaign given to the merchants and public. And many CMS hid behind this misinformation; that is shameful.

No New Yorker would ever imagine that the outcome of their local businesses’ commercial leases expiring would impact them in any meaningful way or that it would be the foundation of our city’s “affordability crisis.” But this process has impacted every New York’s quality of life, along with every business owners’ and worker’s futures.

When the full truth of the negative consequences to society of the unregulated landlord controlled commercial lease renew process is exposed to New Yorkers, it will show that this process has EVERYTHING to do with the rising costs for New Yorkers!

A strong case can be made that the over decade long collusion of the real estate lobby, REBNY, with the Speaker’s Office to rig the system to stop any vote on the then Jobs Survival Act and keep the status quo for the landlords in the commercial lease renewal process laid the foundation for our city’s “affordability crisis”.

The out of control sky high rents being demanded by landlords were the catalyst to propel our city’s “Affordability Crisis”

How important is the COMMERCIAL LEASE RENEWAL PROCESS: to the survival and potential profitability for business owners, the potential for growth and job creation, giving the character and spirit of a neighborhood, providing job security and opportunity for workers, promote stability and vitality of a neighborhood’s economy, and achieving the American Dream for 210K plus business owners? IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE COMMERCIAL LEASE RENEWAL PROCESS BE FAIR AND PROTECT ALL PARTIES’S INVESTMENTS EQUALLY. A process with the goal of having both parties make a reasonable profit on their investment.

But, the real estate lobby, REBNY, does not want its members to accept reasonable profits when they can have “windfall profits.” They have corrupted the Democratic leadership to rig the system to make sure this process remains solely in the landlord’s hands. The integrity of the City Council has been shattered by their mockery of democracy when sanctioning a lobby to highjack democracy in order to continue having only the landlords in full control over the destructive and grossly unfair commercial lease renewal process. A blatant unprecedented violation of ethics, Council rules and travesty of democracy by allowing a lobby to create their own legislation with the clear intent to block any vote on the then Jobs Survival Act, or any legislation giving rights to business owners, and then replace it in the Council. Which is exactly what they succeeded in doing thanks to the silence and betrayal of many CMS.

The City Council Members must be held responsible for their role played in this successful conspiracy schemed by a lobby to deny a real, and the only, lifeline to save business owners when their leases expire and they have no rights.

The outcome of allowing a lobby to stop a vote by the full Council ( an opportunity presented four times) on the Jobs Survival Act, or any legislation giving rights to business owners, has had more influence and responsibility for causing a greater loss of good businesses, greater loss of good paying jobs, dramatic rise in the cost of goods and services, rise in the cost of living for all New Yorkers, rise in the property taxes, cause the most unstable business environment in the nation, preventing the potentials of business growth and job creation, produced the greatest turnover failure rate for new businesses, resulted in less tax revenue collected by businesses, resulted in more empty stores for longer periods on every main street in NYC, produced record court eviction warrants of businesses, put in grave jeopardy the survival of every business owner when their leases expire and destroyed the American Dream for more New Yorkers than any other recent economic event. The covid crisis only greatly sped up what was already happening to businesses in NYC for many years.

How the lobby controlled destructive commercial lease renewal process laid the foundation for the affordability crisis.

What CMS have willfully hidden from their constituents is the key role the commercial lease renewal process plays in the city’s high “cost of living.” What is the price New Yorkers have had to pay, day after day, year after year, due to their CMS allowing landlords to control the vital commercial lease renewal process?

The CMS betrayal of our city’s businesses on behalf of the real estate lobby’s interests is chiefly responsible for the huge rise in the “cost of living” for all New Yorkers. For more than a decade, the number one cause for increased prices has been due to the insane commercial rent increases the small business owner is forced to pay. But who really ends up paying for this “rent gouging?” It’s the customers through higher prices.

The business owners work harder to make less but the bulk of their rents are paid by the customers through higher prices. If the unchecked sky-high rents spreads citywide then every business is affected and must also raise their prices. The wrecked commercial rental market in NYC impacts every commercial leaseholder: wholesalers, distributors, professional businesses, arts, service industries and mom and pop merchants all must pass their rents on as higher costs of goods and services.

Added to the higher costs to do business in NYC (highest in the nation utilities/insurance/security and parking, etc.) is the disgraceful policy of having many business tenants pay the landlord’s property taxes in order to remain in business. Council Members eagerly give tax breaks to big real estate deals but turn their heads from the destruction and economic hardship caused to their own merchants, workers and customers who have to pay for these tax breaks to big property owners and developers. CMS tout their records on affordable housing. But what is actually affordable if you lose your job? Again, another injustice acceptable to Council Members when good paying jobs are lost due to only one cause, landlord greed.

The conspiracy of the real estate lobby with the Democratic leadership to prevent any legislation that gives rights to business owners in the commercial lease renewal process was the source of NYC becoming one of the most expensive cities in America for working families to live in.

Council Members have it all wrong by supporting an anti-working family economic policy controlled by big real estate.

A strong case can be made that the TWO RENTS, commercial and residential, together have greatly resulted in making NYC one of the most expensive cities in America to live in. The landlord controlled commercial lease renewal process caused the huge commercial rent increases which resulted in higher prices, lost jobs, stopping growth and creating far too many empty storefronts.

What Council Members fail to understand or appreciate is the vital role 210K plus businesses play in generating revenue for our city’s budget. Everyday tens of thousands of business owners raise revenue through a host of ways: sales taxes, employer taxes, utility taxes, paying the landlord’s property taxes, the owner’s income tax, taxes on the goods bought by merchants and corporate taxes, etc. When a greedy landlord throws out a good business owner, and in many cases leaves the location empty for sometimes years, who makes up this lost revenue? The answer is usually the small property owners through higher property taxes.

What is the usual justification outcry from smaller property owners for the need to raise residential rents? Year after year, the same outcry from small property owners is that the rising property taxes and higher costs of services to manage their property makes a rise in residential rents necessary for them to make a reasonable profit. It is a vicious cycle of rising costs and property taxes resulting in higher residential rents which then generates calls from working families for higher wages to make ends meet. Higher wages mean even higher prices for the customers. It also means that the years of unchecked rent increases have put many businesses past the tipping point of paying higher wages and raising prices and still remain in business.

Who is not in this cycle, but responsible for it? The big property owners, developers, real estate speculators, profiteers, and Council Members. All of whom are fully entrenched in the city’s one party sham election process, where campaign donations, political endorsements, and political influence from powerbrokers rule. A vicious cycle that produces the perfect economic storm to destroy the pathway to the American Dream for business owners, workers, new immigrants and the pathway to middle class in NYC for low income families.

The shameful truth of our city’s high cost of living happened because every Council Member has abdicated their own elected responsibility for the stability, vitality, prosperity and futures of their local economy to the real estate lobby, REBNY and their landlords.

Every New Yorker has been a victim of paying higher prices because of their CMS’s failure to live up to their progressive values and campaign pledges to serve only the will of the people and not special interests. The truth is most CMS abandoned their progressive values on the steps of City Hall waiting in line for their Chairmanships and perks. Too many CMS owe their political careers to their political patrons, funding from lobby PACS or endorsements and political support from the machine bosses.

For economic reform to succeed in NYC, a major change in the city’s economic policy must first occur. A new economic policy targeting and promoting a healthy business environment for over 210K business owners, instead of a handful of the wealthy will make NYC affordable for working families again. Council Members must stop making a priority to serve the interests of lobbies like the real estate lobby, REBNY.

If CMS do not want to make these goals a priority, then New Yorkers have no choice but to vote into office new CMS who will address the two grossly inflated RENTS that have benefited only a handful of fat cats at the expense of all New Yorkers. Also, dramatically cut the city’s “gravely train budget,” which only benefits the few politically connected.

This is the hard truth New Yorkers deserve to hear. NYC will never be affordable again until the CMS find their moral compasses and political will and courage to stand up to REBNY and pass the Affordability Act to lower the highly manipulated inflated commercial rents. CMS must pass legislation to finally get “greedy landlord’s knees off the necks of our small business owners.” Give business owners the rights needed to do what they do best, “create jobs”. CMS must commit to stop protecting the city’s major job killers, greedy landlords, and start serving its major job creators, the small business owners.

Once the Affordability Act passes then residential rents must be immediately frozen. Freezing residential rents until the city’s 210K plus business owners can be stabilized, have predictable costs again, increase the potentials again for growth and job creation, give startup businesses a better chance to survive, fill up the empty stores on every main street and restore the American Dream for all business owners. With a real thriving small businesses economy once again in NYC, the residential rents can be lowered to affordable levels for working class families.

Why is it acceptable to Council Members that the jobs of every worker in their districts are in grave jeopardy every time a business owner’s lease expires, and owners have NO RIGHTS to protect their workers? Even for those owners who do survive, oppressive lease terms can mean job layoffs, shorter hours, postponed raises, stopping all hiring or less benefits for workers. It is indefensible for those lawmakers who sponsored the lobby’s CRS bill, which is the most anti jobs legislation* ever presented in the Council.

https://www.savenycjobs.com/crs-bill-anti-jobs-1

The question to Council Members is a simple one: “do your local business owners who have invested in your community and worked hard to grow and create good paying jobs and are willing and able to pay a fair rent and abide by reasonable lease terms, deserve basic rights in the commercial lease renewal process?

Council Members who eagerly rushed to sponsor the real estate lobby’s “status quo” CRS bill said emphatically, NO rights for my merchants, NO protection for my workers. The outcome to all New Yorkers of this unashamed support for the real estate lobby has been “the rise in NYC’s cost of living.”

If CMS continue to only promote a big business economy where 210K plus business owners’ profits “do not matter,” then for an absolute certainty this favoring only big businesses’ profits will lead to the greatest economic catastrophe in the history of NYC.