WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MARCH 28, 2019 15
Elmhurst residents call for more tenant protection
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
A new Quinnipiac poll released
last week shows more than 4
in 10 New York City residents
can’t aff ord to live here and may be
forced to live elsewhere while tenants
of an Elmhurst building, facing steep
rent hikes, rallied to demand stronger
tenant protections.
The at-risk residents protested
outside their rent-stabilized
apartment building at 41-40
Denman Street and shared their
stories of having a landlord
demand rent increases that put
them in danger of displacement.
With three months left in the state
legislative session, the protestors
demand lawmakers in Albany
to strengthen the rent laws and
expand protections to tenants across
the state.
“When I first began to live in 41-10
Denman Street, my monthly rent
was $1,150 per month,” tenant and
Make the Road New York member
Beronica Cedeno said. “Lease after
lease, I noticed that my monthly rent
continued to shoot up significantly. I
panic daily about what will happen
to my family if we are removed from
my apartment. Rent rates in this city
have spun out of control and I can’t
afford to go anywhere else.”
The protestors claimed two prolandlord
loopholes were at play,
the “preferential rent” loophole
and the eviction bonus that enables
landlords to dramatically increase
the rents in certain rent-regulated
units, putting hundreds of thousands
of rent stabilized tenants at risk of
losing their homes.
“My family and 266,000 families
across New York State today, are at
risk of losing their apartment due
to the preferential rent loophole,”
tenant and member of Make the Road
New York Herman Franco said. “It’s
a trick. A landlord allows a tenant
to enter with a lower rent, but over
several years, the rent increases by
hundreds of dollars, which pushes
the tenant out.”
Before 2003, landlords who gave
tenants preferential rents, below
the legal maximum, had to continue
them as long as a tenant stayed in the
apartment, with any increases based
on the discounted rate rather than the
legal maximum. The rule changed in
2003, after which preferential rents
have skyrocketed, an indication that
landlords are using preferential
rents as a loophole to take advantage
of a 20 percent eviction bonus.
The combination of the preferential
rent loophole and the eviction bonus
leads to a frequent bait-and-switch
by landlords , who can depress the
rent to attract a tenant, only to then
demand a huge increase to displace
the tenant and raise the rent a
further 20 percent for the next
tenant. Ralliers claim it is an endrun
around the rent stabilization
system that puts hundreds of
thousands of New Yorkers at risk of
losing their homes.
“In District 13 we have 35,000
unregulated units,” state Senator
Jessica Ramos said. “So many of
my neighbors face harassment and
unfair treatment from landlords
who just want to make a profit. “
Residents rally outside their Elmhurst building calling on lawmakers to
strengthen rent laws and close landlord loopholes.
Photo courtesy of Make the Road New York
Manslaughter charges for mom
who delivered baby in LIC hotel
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
A Long Island woman has been
charged with manslaughter
aft er her daughter was born
prematurely in a Long Island City
hotel room last summer, prosecutors
announced on March 25.
Lauren Becker, 36, was brought
before the Queens Criminal Court
on charges of second-degree
manslaughter and endangering the
welfare of a child. Becker, who is
currently hospitalized, was arraigned
via video conference on March 22.
Becker, who is due to return to
court on April 5, faces up to 15 years
in prison if convicted.
According to the charges, at
7:30 p.m. on July 18, 2018, police
responded to a 911 call at the Days
Inn Hotel, located at 31-32 Queens
Blvd., shortly aft er being contacted
by of Becker’s relatives. The relative
told police that Becker had texted
that she had delivered her baby in
the hotel room toilet.
Despite the relative’s directions
to bring the baby to the hospital, law
enforcement sources said, Becker
allegedly refused to do so.
A brief search led 108th Precinct
offi cers to Becker’s room on the
sixth fl oor, where they allegedly
found Becker holding her infant
daughter — whose body was lifeless,
blue and wrapped in a towel on top
of a bed.
EMS responded to the scene and
transported both the baby and Becker
to Elmhurst Hospital, where the baby
was pronounced dead. An autopsy
found that the infant had been born
six to eight weeks early, and was alive
at the time of her birth.
The medical examiner
determined that the cause of the
baby’s death was complications of
prematurity due to failure to seek
medical evaluation and treatment.
Prosecutors said the autopsy also
found that the baby had liquid in her
stomach — consistent with Becker’s
claims that she tried to breast feed
the baby — and a toxicology report
showed that the infant had both
cocaine and Xanax in her system.
The drugs, however, were not lethal
levels that would have killed the
baby, according to charges.
By:
The Flu
Flute Choir of New York
directed by Nicolas Duchamp
Date: Sunday, March 31st, 2019
Time: 3:00 PM
dir
Date
Place: Trinity Reformed Church
66-30 60th Place
Place
Ridgewood, N.Y. 11385
R
of
s
(Corner of Palmetto St. and 60th Place)
Light supper to follow performance
All proceeds received
from free-will
donatios will go to St.Matthias
"ST. Francis Table"
(a program that provides food
for the homeless)
All are welcome
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