RSA President, Joseph Strasburg
November 2013
As we close in on Election Day, the Democratic Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio is likely to enjoy a landslide victory over his Republican rival Joe Lhota. Given the very different views of the candidates, a de Blasio victory should be cause for concern, especially for rental property owners in New York City.
Bill de Blasio ran his campaign as the populist candidate of the 99 per cent. His "tale of two cities" rhetoric resonated broadly with New Yorkers. De Blasio's rise in popularity during the Democratic primary was so swift and unexpected, upsetting the presumed Democratic candidate, City Council Speaker Chris Quinn, that it gave him the aura of an inevitable win in the general election.
Very quickly, support for Joe Lhota in the business community all but collapsed, even though Lhota was clearly the pro-business candidate in the race against de Blasio. With Joe Lhota's vast experience in government and the private sector, he is the candidate most likely to keep the City growing and vibrant in the tradition established by Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. And that might be his biggest problem. After eight years of Rudy Giuliani and twelve years of Michael Bloomberg, New Yorkers feel that the City is safe enough and economically sound enough to be trusted to a candidate with pleasing sound bites even though he lacks managerial experience. After 20 years of stern and disciplined leadership, the populace seems ready for a softer, more embracing touch.
I should say that the RSA Political Action Committee supported both candidates and we have good relationships with both candidates. That said, it will much harder to convince Bill de Blasio that the interests of the housing industry are in line with the interests of the City as a whole, whereas Joe Lhota understands this alignment intrinsically. The problem is that Bill de Blasio will be indebted to the interests of powerful unions, the Working Families Party and the tenant advocacy groups which have been staunch supporters of his candidacy. Let me give you some examples.
Whoever is elected Mayor will have to deal with an existing budget shortfall as well as any additional costs that arise from a long delayed contract settlement with municipal workers. It will be much more difficult for Bill de Blasio than for Joe Lhota to play hardball and gain needed concessions from municipal unions. Therefore, a win by Bill de Blasio in the general election will almost certainly result in costly retroactive salary increases for City workers. The only way to pay for such increases will be a substantial increase in property taxes, either next year or the year after.
There is also the matter of rent guideline increases, where Bill de Blasio has called for zero rent increases while Joe Lhota understands that rents must increase, at least moderately, as long as municipal taxes and other operating costs continue to rise. Bill de Blasio has already pre-judged this matter, calling for a rent freeze even before he sees how high building operating costs have risen. Since the Mayor has the power to appoint all the members of the Rent Guidelines Board, we will see very soon in a de Blasio mayoralty whether campaign rhetoric prevails or whether we can convince the new Mayor that existing stabilized apartments are the largest source of affordable housing stock in New York City and must be preserved at all costs.
For all that can be said in a negative sense about Bill de Blasio, the RSA worked closely with Public Advocate Bill de Blasio to draw attention to the Housing Authority's mismanagement of the Section 8 program and to highlight the way water and sewer payments were being funneled into the City's budget as a back door tax. These collaborations were successful for the industry and we stand ready to work with either Mayoral candidate to address the concerns of the rental housing industry.
Everyone can agree with the main planks of both candidates' campaigns: we all want to make sure that the City remains economically stable and physically safe, that new, decent jobs are created at reasonable wages and that all who seek housing can find decent opportunities at affordable prices. But the devil is in the details and it will be the role of the RSA to ensure that the new Mayor understands that the concerns of rental property owners must be essential concerns for the City as a whole.