Kingston council urges state to deny Stony Run exemption after tenants report neglect and steep rents

Kingston Common Council voted unanimously on June 3 to ask the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal to deny an application that would exempt the Stony Run apartment complex from the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 (ETPA).

The resolution, introduced by Alderman Sarah Pasti and adopted 9-0 as Resolution 96, asks state regulators to deny an exemption submitted by the Kingston Workforce Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) for the Stony Run property. Council members moved the item up on the agenda after a 30-minute public comment period that was dominated by Stony Run tenants and tenant organizers.

The decision matters locally because ETPA protections, which the council said remain in effect under the city—s housing emergency declaration (City resolution 144 of 2022), limit rent increases and preserve tenant rights. Tenants and organizers told the council they fear losing those protections would trigger large rent hikes and displacement for seniors and low-income households.

During public comment, multiple Stony Run residents described maintenance failures and aggressive rent increases. Theresa Green, a leader with the Stony Run tenants association, told the council: "Stony Run is not a charity. This is a corrupt ploy to get out of the promises that they made to the people and to avert our rights." David Pickett, who identified himself as a Stony Run resident, said the landlord had not delivered on renovation promises and called the owner—s behavior "a blatant attempt by ACRE to avoid being held to their word." Carol Soto, the tenant representative on the rent guidelines board, described repeated heating and repair failures and said tenants had been "bamboozled" by prior promises from the mayor and owners.

Tenant organizers and union-affiliated advocates said the housing problems are long-running and tied to ownership changes and financing. June Newman, a tenant organizer, said tenants won a rent reduction in court three years ago after local rents doubled between 2017 and 2022, and that the owner later obtained a $35,000,000 Fannie Mae loan and used proceeds on other investments rather than on the Kingston property. Jenna Goldstein, Ulster County organizer for For the Many, expressed concern that a locally administered vacancy study could be manipulated by landlords to justify deregulation.

Council sponsors cited the city—s 2022 emergency declaration and said the resolution is intended to preserve ETPA protections for roughly 1,200 units the city previously identified as covered by the housing emergency. Alderman Pasti read language from the resolution noting that the regulatory agreement for Stony Run "allows each existing tenant protected by the ETPA of 1974 to retain their ETPA protections so long as the city of Kingston has a housing emergency in effect."

Alderman Michelle Hirsch, who said she works in a Medicaid program, linked housing stability to broader community health and urged colleagues to support the measure. Alderman Bob Denison said he would support the resolution but expressed concern about unintended spillover into other city agreements. Alderman Michael Tierney recalled prior testimony from tenants describing plumbing backups, waste seeping through bathtubs and lack of responsiveness from managers.

Formal action: Resolution 96 (02/2025), calling on the New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal to deny the application for an ETPA exemption for Stony Run, passed by the Kingston Common Council by a vote of 9 to 0. Notes: the resolution directs the council clerk to send copies to state elected officials and the DHCR.

Background and next steps: Speakers asked the council to also cancel a locally required vacancy study they said is being conducted without sufficient transparency; several speakers urged the council to take that step, though the council did not repeal any study during the June 3 meeting. The council's resolution is a formal request to the DHCR; final authority over ETPA exemptions rests with state regulators.