'Landmark' Rent Protections Deal Moving Forward in New York

Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Jesse McKinley, and Vivian Wang report: "Newly empowered Democratic leaders in Albany announced a landmark agreement on Tuesday to strengthen New York’s rent laws and tenant protections, seeking to address concern about housing costs that is helping drive the debate over inequality across the nation."

"The changes would abolish rules that let building owners deregulate apartments, close a series of loopholes that permit them to raise rents and allow some tenant protections to expand statewide," according to the article, and can be considered a "significant blow" to the real estate industry. Lobbyists for the industry have less pull in the state capital after Democrats took control of the State Senate in the November 2018 elections.

The deal has yet to be fully approved however, but the legislative package is expected for a vote later this week. Earlier coverage from May, picked up by Planetizen, dug into the effect that the statewide legislation could be expected to manifest at the local level.