The Gateway Plaza Tenants Association (GPTA) is pleased to report that the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) and the Gateway Plaza landlord (Marina Towers) have reached an agreement to extend rent protections for the tenants who had been covered by the prior rent stabilization agreement that expired on June 30. The new deal is not perfect, but it continues significant protections to those long-term tenants who have lived at Gateway since 2009.
The new agreement will be retroactive to July 1 and it provides a right of lease renewal at fixed rates for 10 years, to June 30, 2030. Unlike the prior agreements, the new agreement does not reference the NYC Rent Stabilization Guidelines. Instead, covered tenants will be offered one-year renewals at a maximum increase of 2.5%, and two-year renewals at a maximum increase of 3.78125%. The one-year 2.5% figure is greater than the current and recent-past NYC Rent Stabilization Guidelines rates, but is roughly equal to the 20-year average NYC Rent Stabilization Guidelines rates since 2000.
While we are glad that a new rent protection deal has been reached, we are disappointed that the deal did not provide stabilization for all current tenants. We are also disappointed by the decision to permit annual rent increases for “stabilized” tenants based on fixed percentage rates, even though those percentages may be based on averages of past Rent Stabilization Guidelines rates. The NYC Rent Guidelines Board takes account of current economic conditions in setting its rates. Even though Rent Guidelines Board renewal rates in the last 20 years have sometimes been as high as 4.5%, Rent Guidelines Board renewal rates in recent years have been below 2.5% and in fact are 0% for the coming year, due to the pandemic. Notwithstanding the new agreement’s 2.5% rent cap, GPTA believes that during the coming pandemic year all Gateway tenants should be offered renewals at 0%. There are many Gateway tenants who are suffering job and income loss due to the pandemic; they will be particularly hard hit by any rent increase at this time.
Although imperfect, the new rent protection agreement is a step in preserving housing affordability for those covered by the agreement. GPTA expresses its thanks for the hard work and determination of the BPCA negotiation team in completing a new deal. We also want to express our appreciation to our elected officials, including Congressman Jerry Nadler, Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou, Borough President Gale Brewer and City Council Member Margaret Chin for their long advocacy in support of Gateway’s residents.