Tenant Advocates Rally Outside Governor's Office Ahead of Expiration of Rent Regulations

On June 15, the city's rent regulations are set to expire, threatening hundreds of thousands of tenants who rely on those protections. The laws must be extended by Albany lawmakers, but there is still no deal. Zack Fink filed this report.

With City Council members in Albany on a lobbying trip, elected officials joined tenant advocates in a protest outside Governor Andrew Cuomo's Albany office.

"We are tired of being ignored by this governor while he focuses all of his attention on the developers who fund his campaign," said Delsenia Glover of Alliance for Tenant Power.

Tenant advocates are calling on lawmakers to not just extend the city's rent laws, but to improve them.

Several demonstrators staged a sit-in outside Cuomo's office.The protesters focused most of their anger on the governor, who has been suffering lately in the polls.

"The only reason that he is with his poll numbers now and not lower is because of New York City. It's because of the black community, it's because of the Latino community, it's because of the liberal community," said Councilman Jumaane Williams.

Cuomo also took fire for his relationship with real estate company Glenwood Management which is at the center of the federal case against former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Glenwood is one of Cuomo's major campaign donors.

"Andrew Cuomo right now likes to think of himself as a strong man, but he is acting like a puppet for Glenwood Management," said former gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout.

At an unrelated event on Long Island, Cuomo said he is committed to improving the state's rent protections.

"I believe we can make modifications that reduce the number of units that we lose from the system. The most notable is the vacancy decontrol. We're losing too many units. It's that simple," Cuomo said.

Lawmakers have a little over a week to come to deal on renewing the rent laws. Normally this time of year, Cuomo huddles with state leaders in Albany to negotiate, but this week Cuomo has spent most of his time so far, away from the state capitol.