4 Barnwell legislation would end MCI program
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 3, 2019
BY BILL PARRY
New legislation introduced
by two Queens elected
officials aims to end the
Major Capital Improvement
(MCI) program, which allows
landlords to pass the
costs of questionable apartment
repairs onto rentregulated
tenants across
the city.
State Sen. Michael Gianaris
and state Assemblyman
Brian Barnwell announced
the legislation
during a Feb. 22 press conference
in Columbus Circle
in Manhattan.
“Too many tenants are
priced out of their homes
because of MCIs whose
only improvement seems
to be the landlord’s bottom
line,” Gianaris said. “All
New Yorkers deserve high
quality, affordable homes
and our proposal brings us
closer to that goal by ensuring
repairs are made without
burdening tenants with
unreasonable costs.”
The existing MCI program
State Assemblyman Brian Barnwell unveils new legislation that would protect tenants from
major capital improvement projects. Photo via Twitter/Brian Barnwell
was enacted in the
1970s as a way to incentivize
landlords to perform
repairs on rent regulated
apartments. Since that
time, abuse of the program
is well-documented, included
being featured in a
lengthy New York Times
exposé highlighting bad
business practices of Donald
Trump and his father,
Fred, in their real estate
business.
In some buildings, MCI
increases are so high, they
increase rent beyond the
$2,700 threshold required
to regulate an apartment.
“The Major Capital Improvement
program is responsible
for hundreds of
millions of dollars in rent
increases on rent regulated
tenants,” Barnwell said.
“It is unacceptable that we
maintain a program pushing
middle to low income
New Yorkers out of their
homes while allowing landlords
to continue to make
monstrous profits. Under
our legislation, landlords
will not be able to increase
tenants’ rents due to repairs/
improvements the
landlord should already
have made.”
Currently, MCIs must be
submitted by landlords for
approval by the New York
State Department of Homes
and Community Renewal.
The agency’s standard
practice is to approve requests
with minimal oversight.
Tenants are allowed
to challenge increases, but
have only 45 days following
being given notice of increases
to do so. The legislation
would eliminate the
MCI program and would
repeal MCIs issued within
the last seven years.
“These MCIs has been
affecting the community
heavily since 1969since1969.
Cosmopolitan tenants
along with Woodside On
The Move started to fight
these ridiculous rent increases
in 2017,” No More
MCIs Coalition Tenant
Leader Nilda Rivera said.
“It’s time for the abolishing
of the MCI’s for all tenants
and taking away the power
from all greedy landlords.”
Several Queens organizations
such as Woodside
on the Move, the Catholic
Migration Service and the
Miktown Center are part
of The No More MCIs Coalition
which works with
tenant leaders and elected
officials to emphasize the
urgency to pass legislation
that would prevent communities
from displacement.
Cannabis and cash seized during Pomonok Houses raid
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
A resident at the Pomonok
Houses was arrested last
week after police raided his
apartment and found weapons,
marijuana and more
than $7,000 in cash.
Officers from the NYPD
Public Service Area (PSA)
9, which patrols the public
housing complex, participated
in the Feb. 21 raid of Dennis
Fairchild’s apartment on
Kissena Boulevard.
Sources familiar with
the investigation said the
court-authorized search was
ordered as a result of information
received by the PSA
9 Field Intelligence Unit, in
conjunction with the NYPD
Intelligence Bureau.
Police raided Fairchild’s
apartment just before 9:25
a.m. Once inside, authorities
said they found eight ounces
of marijuana along with a
crossbow and an imitation
pistol.
The officers also seized
untaxed cigarettes, assorted
drug packaging and
paraphernalia, and $7,500 in
cash.
Fairchild, 60, was home
at the time and taken into
custody on charges including
criminal possession of
marijuana, criminal possession
of a weapon, two counts
of criminal use of drug paraphernalia
and possession of
untaxed cigarettes.
Following the raid, Captain
Christopher Giambrone,
commander of NYPD Public
Service Area 9, took to Twitter
to tout the successful
search and congratulate the
Field Intelligence Team.
“Today, my Field Intelligence
Team executed a
search warrant in the Pomonok
Houses and recovered
an imitation firearm, a large
amount of marijuana, over
$7000 in cash, a crossbow,
untaxed cigarettes, and drug
paraphernalia,” he tweeted.
Photo via Twitter/@NYPDPSA9