Rent freeze isn’t enough

To the editor,

Since I moved to New York, I’ve seen housing skyrocket from affordable to “OMG, we can’t survive.” As a New Yorker, I support Mamdani’s call to freeze rent.

As a co-op owner, I add: That’s not enough. Co-op owners have been crushed by the cost of living, too. And some of that is due to a specific group.

Renters know them as “slumlords.” Co-op owners call them “sponsors.” They’re real estate venture capitalists who throw millions at acquisitions, buying up residential properties for income streams.

In 2002, a New York court ruled in the Jennifer Realty case that landlords who retain ownership when a building goes co-op — known as sponsors — have some obligation to sell. But many sponsors have stayed. Refusing to fund infrastructure, they shift the burden to working-class residents by raising maintenance fees. This supercharges gentrification. People who can’t afford it are pushed out.

In New York City, co-op owners are woefully unprotected. Those of us living paycheck to paycheck cannot afford attorneys to take on deep-pocketed sponsors.

Zohran, we need help. We ask you to consider policies such as:

1.
Codify the spirit of the Jennifer Realty ruling.

2.
Fine sponsors who fail to personally fund needed infrastructure in buildings they influence.

3.
Create a legal assistance program to help co-op shareholders revise exploitative bylaws.

4.
Remove sponsors’ voting rights in buildings they do not live in.

5.
Guarantee minimum rights for co-op owners, including transparency about our buildings, boards, property managers — and yes, sponsors.

Working-class co-op owners saved up and bought homes. What we thought was a slice of the American dream has become a nightmare of rising costs — all to benefit sponsors who exploit our lives for their own gain.

Zohran, stop sponsor power. We stand with renters. Please stand with us, too

Janet Goodman