The amendments, some of which limit rents on combined or ‘Frankensteined’ apartments, mark the first update since 2014 to regulations in the Rent Stabilization Code governing about 1 million apartments. 

(Emma Whitford) Tenants rally in November 2022 ahead of a meeting on rent regulations in Lower Manhattan. 

Landlords will soon face limits on how much they can increase the rent on combined, or “Frankensteined,” apartments. 

A notice posted this week by the state’s Department of Housing and Community Renewal, or DHCR, says that a series of amendments to local rent regulations, initially proposed last fall, will be published in the New York State Register by Nov. 8.

They mark the first update since 2014 to the Rent Stabilization Code, which governs roughly 1 million rent-regulated city apartments. Historically, landlords who knock down walls to make larger apartments have been able to set a rent of their choosing. But now, the legal rent will be calculated based on the rent of the two prior apartments combined.

If an apartment is chopped up, the rent in the smaller units will drop proportionally to the percentage decrease in square footage. And if a landlord cuts into a regulated apartment to expand an unregulated one, the new, larger apartment will be regulated, subject to annual adjustments set by the Rent Guidelines Board.

The End Apartment Warehousing Coalition celebrated the news Wednesday. The group has documented examples, in neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, of landlords holding apartments vacant—a practice referred to by critics as “warehousing”—and then combining them.

Sue Susman, a tenant at 50 West 57th St., said her group is “really happy” about the new regulations. “We’re happy about how newly-created apartments will stay rent stabilized, will be more affordable, and landlords who harass tenants out won’t get any increase at all,” she added. 

The new regulations also clarify when a tenant has the right to stay in a stabilized apartment after their relative moves out. 

Under rent stabilization, family members who hope to stay on must overlap with the primary tenant for at least two years before their relative vacates. But there has been disagreement in the courts about when to start the two-year clock if the primary tenant has moved out but continues to pay rent or sign leases. 

The regulations now clarify that the two-year lookback begins when the primary tenant physically moves out. Previously, tenant lawyers say, a landlord might not realize a tenant had moved out for several years. And because the successor had already been living alone for some time, they could be evicted. 

Jason Blumberg, senior staff attorney at Mobilization For Justice, described a hypothetical situation in which a person grew up in an apartment with their father, who eventually moved out to retire to Florida. 

“Basically the theory was that the landlord, because they had been tricked into thinking dad still lived there, somehow the succession claim was forfeited as a penalty for this sneaky behavior,” he said. “Even though most of the time in situations like this people don’t know.”

The new regulations also codify changes already in place thanks to the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, or HSPTA, which eliminated several avenues for landlords to increase rents or remove units from stabilization. 

Sherwin Belkin, founding partner of Belkin Burden Goldman LLP, which represents landlords, said the regulatory changes hurt his clients. “All it is is harmful for owners and capitulation to tenant advocates,” he told City Limits. 

On succession claims, Belkin said, DHCR “has essentially made a roadmap for a tenant who is absent from an apartment to hide [this] from a landlord.” 

“I don’t know if it will be my firm but I will certainly expect there will be challenges to these in court,” he added. “How well those challenges do remains to be seen.” 

Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, a landlord trade group, pointed out that the language on apartment combinations is also included in legislation passed through the state legislature this spring, but which Gov. Kathy Hochul has yet to sign. 

“These rules being promulgated means that there’s no need for those bills,” he said. 

Martin has been a vocal critic of the pending legislation, which would also allow rent stabilized tenants to dig deeper into their rent histories to challenge suspicious increases in court. 

Ellen Davidson of the Legal Aid Society, who consulted on the bills, urged the governor to quickly sign them. She argued that having the regulatory language in law will help beat back any legal challenges. Until recently, she added, DHCR’s plans had been opaque. 

“The regulations went into a black hole,” she said. “And no one knew whether they were ever going to come out of that black hole.” 

The Boston City Council approved an amended version of the mayor’s anti-encampment ordinance for the Mass and Cass zone, setting off a seven-day clock for enforcement that would begin once Michelle Wu signs the measure.

The 9-3 vote, with one councilor voting present, wasn’t close, but those who voted in favor Wednesday joined objectors in sharing a number of concerns that they felt were not properly addressed by the Wu administration throughout a process that began in late August with the mayor’s filing.

“I’m going to vote ‘yes,’ but I’m going to work closely with the police commissioner and with the Public Health Commission, and I am disappointed with them,” City Council President Ed Flynn said. “I feel like they haven’t given us the answers that we need, that we deserve.

“I don’t feel like they have engaged us and provided the right information as well.”

Flynn echoed several of his colleagues who mentioned that their support was largely due to a feeling that the tents, which authorities say are being used to shield drugs, weapons and violence, need to come down as soon as possible.

The level of violence that’s taking place on Atkinson Street and throughout Mass and Cass — “rapes, stabbings, shootings” — the city should never allow that type of situation to occur again, Flynn said.

“I don’t think this will be what saves us,” Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said. “I don’t think this is ultimately going to be the solution, but can it be part of what’s getting us there? I believe so, as long as you’re protecting people’s First Amendment rights.”

The ordinance acknowledges that the homeless individuals living on Methadone Mile are in need of shelter, and that the tent situation is “untenable,” she added.

Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said “the ACLU will be watching to ensure that people’s rights are not violated in the execution and enforcement of this ordinance.”

“The city must ensure that people’s property is safeguarded, and that available temporary housing includes realistic options for the people who will be displaced from their only living situation and cannot sleep in congregate settings due to disability or family circumstances,” Rose said in a statement.

The measure gives police the authority to remove tents and tarps, provided that individuals are offered shelter and transportation to services. It is tied into the mayor’s three-pronged plan for tackling crime and homelessness in the area.

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The Council vote gives the Wu administration the go-ahead to open a 30-bed shelter on Massachusetts Avenue, for homeless individuals displaced by the ordinance.

While this part of the plan has been controversial among community members and certain councilors who criticized the addition of a so-called “fourth shelter” in the South End, Wu has insisted that the facility would close as soon as the targeted individuals are set up with permanent housing.

The mayor’s plan also calls for an increased police presence, aimed at both enforcing the anti-encampment ordinance at Mass and Cass, and preventing tents from popping up in other locations throughout the city.

“We are grateful to the Council for their partnership in approving this ordinance to help address the public safety of patients, workers and residents in the area so our team can continue outreach to individuals in need,” a Wu spokesperson said in a Wednesday statement.

“City staff and provider partners have been working for weeks to prepare for our plans to reopen Atkinson Street to standard roadway operations and expand citywide outreach for shelter, services and treatment.”

Wu will join administration officials in providing updates on her plan for the troubled area Thursday morning, at a City Hall press conference.

Flynn, Louijeune, Liz Breadon, Gabriela Coletta, Sharon Durkan, Tania Fernandes Anderson, Michael Flaherty, Erin Murphy and Brian Worrell voted in favor of the ordinance, as amended by Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.

Arroyo, Frank Baker and Kendra Lara voted in opposition. Julia Mejia abstained from taking a side, by voting ‘present.’

Arroyo said that while he was against the measure, he felt that the amendments he added to the mayor’s initial proposal strengthened the legality of the ordinance.

His amendments eliminated a monetary, or $25 fine, for violators, and added language to require the direct involvement of the Boston Public Health Commission in cases where alternative shelter space is unavailable, but the city must place restrictions on outdoor encampment activity.

The administration is also required to attend an annual City Council hearing to provide an end-of-year report on the ordinance, per the changes, and must provide notice of tent removal in a variety of languages.

Arroyo spoke at length about his opposition, saying that there is no evidence that similar efforts to clear out homeless encampments have worked in other parts of the country.

While he acknowledged that the administration’s efforts to tie housing into the ordinance are well-intentioned, the only way for such a measure to work is through further investment on the local and state level, to provide additional beds for shelter and long-term care, he said.