Post-Skelos, Senate GOP Embraces Long-Term Rent Law Extension

Amid an impasse over the state’s expired rent regulation laws, state Senate Republicans continue to insist that their long-term extension is the best path forward.

“If you want to talk about maintaining the integrity of the program, I think an eight-year extender sends a message that that’ll be a very good thing for people who are in these apartments,” Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan told reporters on Wednesday.

But one striking aspect of the Senate's controversial extension, which includes measures that Democrats say hurt tenants, is that it would last much longer than the two-year extender then-Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos proposed late last year before the start of session.

In late December, Skelos told City & State that instead of another four-year extension of rent regulations, he would “rather have it every two years, because it adds excitement to the legislative session.”

Asked if he was joking, Skelos said, “No, I’m not. It used to be every two years. I think so. But look, whatever happens, we’ll see.”

What happened is that in early May, Skelos and his son were arrested on federal corruption charges. One alleged scheme described in the criminal complaint centered on the expiration of rent regulation laws in 2011 and the 421-a tax break for developers. Among the articles that caught the attention of federal prosecutors and are cited in the complaint is Skelos' wide-ranging interview with City & State.

The charges may have shed light on Skelos’ motivation for wanting to renew the rent regulations and the linked 421-a tax break every two years, given his potential personal gain from the process.

In the criminal complaint filed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara, Skelos and his son were accused of collaborating with a major real estate developer on the Rent Act of 2011 and the extension of the 421-a program, which provides a tax abatement for residential developers. 

According to the complaint, “Developer 1”—widely reported to be Glenwood Management—“lobbied the Senate in connection with Senate Bill S6472-2011, which, in part, sought to expand the circumstances in which landlords like Developer 1 could increase rents on rent-controlled apartments.”

Additionally, the complaint describes a senior Glenwood executive arranging payments to Adam Skelos, aware that Dean Skelos had “had substantial control over real estate legislation critical to Developer-1” and out of concern that the majority leader might “take action adverse to Developer-1 if Developer-1 failed to secure compensation for” Skelos’ son.

Skelos stepped down as Senate majority leader a week later and was replaced by Flanagan. Senate Republicans on Friday introduced legislation extending rent regulation for a full eight years, passing it on a party-line vote on Monday.

“New York City’s current rent regulation system is broken,” Flanagan said in a statement on Sunday, “and too often hurts the very people it is supposed to help.”