Advocates, residents press council to back state reforms to freeze rents for seniors and disabled tenants

Advocates and residents at a City Council joint hearing on Oct. 29 urged the council to support state legislation that would change how the SCRIE and DRIE rent‑freeze programs protect low‑income seniors and people with disabilities.

Genesis Aquino of New York State Tenants & Neighbors told the committees that her organizations strongly support the council resolution (listed in testimony as resolution 9‑85) calling on the State Legislature to retroactively freeze the rent at the level the SCRIE enrollee paid when first eligible or at the level two years before program entry. "Retroactively freezing the rent at the level the SCRIE enrollee pays when they first became eligible would ensure that vulnerable seniors and tenants with disabilities stay housed," she said.

Legal Aid Society attorney Ellen Davidson and Mitchell‑Lama Residents Coalition secretary Katie Bordenaro urged the council to press Albany on several reforms: increase and automatically index the SCRIE/DRIE income cap (testimony mentioned a proposed $67,000 cap indexed to the consumer price index), change eligibility and income‑counting rules that currently include certain non‑cash benefits, and adjust the way frozen rents are calculated so tenants are not locked into unaffordable rent levels at the time they apply.

Why it matters: Witnesses said the current law freezes a tenant's rent at the moment of application, which can leave people who learn about the program after they are already rent‑burdened with a frozen rent they cannot afford. Public testimony urged the City Council to send a clear message to Albany to adopt retroactive freezes and an affordability standard tied to one‑third of income.

Public testimony and details: Speakers described common experiences: older or disabled tenants applying late, being frozen at a rent that represents a high share of a fixed income, and facing eviction risks if income rises or eligibility changes. Witnesses also urged excluding veterans benefits and Medicare premiums from income calculations because those are not discretionary cash resources.

What the council did not do at the hearing: A formal council vote on the resolution was not recorded during the hearing. Several advocates asked the council to pass the local resolutions on record and to urge passage of companion bills in the State Assembly and Senate.

Ending note: Residents and advocacy organizations asked the council to publicly back state bills that would freeze rents retroactively, expand eligibility, and change income rules; they urged the council to consider accompanying city actions, such as additional outreach, language access for program materials and local funding to stabilize vulnerable households while state reforms are pursued.