Join CHPC on Thursday, May 17th for a breakout session at NYSAFAH’s annual conference in New York. The session, entitled “Shifting Demographics: How to House a Changing Population,” will be moderated by CHPC Executive Director Jerilyn Perine.

Panelists include:

Matthew Blesso, Blesso Properties
Maya Brennan, Center for Housing Policy
Chris Cirillo, The Richman Group Development Corporation
Kaye Matheny, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

For more information about NYSAFAH and its annual conference, click here.

We were hugely honored to welcome the 108th Mayor of the City of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, who gave special remarks on “the indispensable advocacy and leadership of CHPC”, and cited the importance of an array of our projects through the decades, including our current Making Room initiative!

The board and staff of CHPC would like to thank everyone who helped make our 75th Anniversary Luncheon such a success. It was an incredible event and we are grateful for your support.

You can watch all of the videos from the day below. And, of course, you are still welcome to make a tax deductible contribution to our work at any time.

Introduction by our Chairman, Marvin Markus, and our Executive Director, Jerilyn Perine:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special Remarks from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Charles Laven presents Richard Froehlich with the Roger Starr Public Service Award:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Les Bluestone presents Nicholas Lembo with the Impact Award for Excellence in Planning:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salute to Making Room by Jerilyn Perine:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Robert Ezrapour presents Bank of America Merrill Lynch with the Impact Award for Community Investment:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special Remarks from NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Mathew Wambua:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chris Cirillo, Robert Ezrapour, Lucille McEwen, and Ron Moelis present John E. Gearrity with the Ibo Balton Community Planner Award:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Marc Jahr presents William Traylor with the Impact Award for Excellence in Housing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

We were hugely honored to welcome the 108th Mayor of the City of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg, who gave special remarks on “the indispensable advocacy and leadership of CHPC”, and cited the importance of an array of our projects through the decades, including our current Making Room initiative!

The board and staff of CHPC would like to thank everyone who helped make our 75th Anniversary Luncheon such a success. It was an incredible event and we are grateful for your support.

You can watch all of the videos from the day below. And, of course, you are still welcome to make a tax deductible contribution to our work at any time.

Introduction by our Chairman, Marvin Markus, and our Executive Director, Jerilyn Perine:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special Remarks from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Charles Laven presents Richard Froehlich with the Roger Starr Public Service Award:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Les Bluestone presents Nicholas Lembo with the Impact Award for Excellence in Planning:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Salute to Making Room by Jerilyn Perine:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Robert Ezrapour presents Bank of America Merrill Lynch with the Impact Award for Community Investment:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Special Remarks from NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Mathew Wambua:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Chris Cirillo, Robert Ezrapour, Lucille McEwen, and Ron Moelis present John E. Gearrity with the Ibo Balton Community Planner Award:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Marc Jahr presents William Traylor with the Impact Award for Excellence in Housing:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Harold presented research from CHPC’s new report, The Impact of Multifamily Foreclosures and Over-Mortgaging in Neighborhoods in New York City. The report shows that in New York City neighborhoods, a correlation exists between the presence of overmortgaged multifamily buildings and increased housing code violations and ERP liens. Harold called for continued awareness and government expenditure in these neighborhoods in order to prevent further decline.

To learn more about CHPC’s work on overmortgaged buildings, click here.

And we are thrilled that the program will include Special Remarks by New York City’s Mayor, the Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg. The program includes awards for Monadnock Construction, Richman Housing Resources, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. There will also be a special presentation for our Making Room project led by the HPD Commissioner, Mathew Wambua.

You can see our full roster of honorees, and make a reservation here.

IMPACT AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PLANNING
for his improvement of neighborhoods by creating quality affordable housing and local jobs with his modular construction facility in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

SPECIAL PRESENTATION—MAKING ROOM

Mathew Wambua, Commissioner
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development

Funders
Charles H. Revson Foundation
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Edison Properties
The Japan Society of New York

Advisory Committee
Rosanne Haggerty, Committee Chair
Mark Ginsberg, Technical Review Chair

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Principle at Plater-Zyberk & Co in Miami, presented the details of “Miami21,” one of the few new city-wide zoning codes completed in the last decade, and the first city-wide form-based code for a major American city.

Jerliyn Perine and other respondents familiar with New York City’s zoning code discussed the potential takeaways of the Miami21 effort for NYC. Jerilyn stressed the symbolic relevance of Miami21, saying “Too many of us in New York think that we’re stuck with the current process. If anything, Miami21 gives us hope that innovative changes to zoning are possible in our city, too.”

It will be up to the New York State legislature to decide to renew the program and under what terms. However one likely argument that will be made, that J‑51 somehow contributes to gentrification of neighborhoods, seems to have been already addressed by the Court of Appeals.

J‑51
In the 1950’s New York City still had a substantial inventory of Old Law tenements which did not have central heating, central hot water, or, in some cases, indoor plumbing. When the City required the installation of these improvements, many owners objected that they could not pay for the costs of the improvements from their existing rent rolls, which were limited by the rent control system.

The J‑51 program was enacted to enable owners to recover approximately 75% of the cost of improvements through tax abatements. The program was largely successful—from inception through 1977, over 675,000 units of housing were renovated using J‑51 tax incentives. Through the 1980’s and 1990’s J‑51 was an important piece of rehabilitating New York City’s housing stock. As of 2011, nearly 600,000 units were still receiving J‑51 benefits.

Gentrification
One claim being made against J‑51 today is that it fosters the “gentrification” of neighborhoods. Gentrification, in this context, presumably means encouraging the upgrading of buildings to appeal to higher income tenants.

In 2009, in the case of Roberts vs Tishman, the New York State Court of Appeals spoke to the issue of rent regulation and J‑51. That decision held that buildings that had received J‑51 tax incentives were ineligible to apply the luxury decontrol provisions of the rent stabilization law. Thus buildings with high income tenants capable of paying market rents are unable to charge market rents if they are receiving J‑51. One result of this decision has been to cause massive confusion as to how to adjust rents for tenants who were subject to the rent regulation decontrol provisions. Continuing litigation has only partially addressed the issue, and additional litigation is likely unless the Legislature acts and clarifies this matter.

At the same time Roberts is a useful tool in directing J‑51 toward buildings in actual need. Clearly, today, owners in buildings that expect improvement in their rental market will choose to forego J‑51 tax abatement in order to have luxury decontrol available to them. For those in areas where market rates are close to or below rent stabilized rents, J‑51 is a useful incentive to upgrade their buildings.

Thus, thanks to the Court of Appeals, we now have a market mechanism which strongly discourages the use of J‑51 in buildings able to command higher rents. Confirmation of that can be seen in the spate of lawsuits currently in the courts brought by building owners trying to achieve an early exit from J‑51.

The legislature need no longer worry about J‑51 as a contributor to gentrification. They should be far more concerned about how to clean up the confusion that Roberts created around the liability for past rents that were incorrectly decontrolled. And they should also insure that J‑51 is extended so that it can continue to perform its critical function of funneling capital funds to buildings in need of rehabilitation.

Download the pdf version of the Inside Edge of J-51 and Gentrification.