To help tenants, reform rent law
Manhattan: Christopher Serkin and Elizabeth Wydra are misrepresenting the intent of our lawsuit (“Rent regulations are not unconstitutional,” op-ed, July 16). We have never said rent control is unconstitutional. Since we first filed our lawsuit two years ago, our argument has been that the current implementation of New York’s rent stabilization law is unconstitutional — and worse, that it is detrimental to providing housing for millions of New Yorkers.
Serkin and Wydra, like so many others before them, make us out to be the bad guys when all we’re trying to do is create real solutions to New York’s housing challenges, which were only exacerbated by the global pandemic. The power imbalance doesn’t lie between us and tenants — it pits tenants against other tenants, with those who are protected by the laws profiting from the system while their neighbors suffer.
The rent stabilization law has failed the citizens of New York for more than half a century and we want to address its systemic issues — issues that existed long before the dramatic changes to the laws in 2019, which made the situation worse.
If we’re victorious in the courts, it will be a win for all New Yorkers and it will prompt a long-overdue conversation about how to revamp the system so it’s more equitable.