Brooklyn, N.Y. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke released the following statement in support of restoring rent stabilization in New York State, which expired on Monday. More than 1 million apartments, in which more than 2.5 million people are living, had been rent stabilized.

“I urge Governor Cuomo and the State Senate to work in good faith with the State Assembly to restore rent stabilization in New York State, and to expand protections that allow families to remain in their homes. In recent years, rents have increased dramatically in Brooklyn, threatening with displacement the working families who have always been the foundation of our community. Today, rent increases are accelerating in parts of Brooklyn, at a time when the wages of most workers have remained stagnant. Generations of families from around the world have come to Brooklyn in search of opportunity. The character of our community has been defined by that search for opportunity. We know that allowing rent stabilization to end would displace millions of people and permanently change the character of our community. The end of rent stabilization would disproportionately harm communities of color, as more than sixty percent of families in rent-stabilized apartments are African American, Latino or Asian American. The families of Brooklyn literally cannot afford any additional delay in restoring rent stabilization. In addition, we must end vacancy decontrol, which allows for dramatic increases in rent when tenants leave, effectively encouraging landlords to displace current tenants and replace them with higher-paying tenants,” said Congresswoman Clarke, who with other members of the New York City Delegation to Congress sent a letter to Governor Cuomo in support of renewing rent stabilization laws.

Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the House of Representatives, a member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as well as the Committee on Ethics and the Committee of Small Business. She represents many neighborhoods in central and southern Brooklyn, NY which include Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Gerritsen Beach, Madison, Midwood, parts of Park Slope and Flatlands, Prospect Heights, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay, and Windsor Terrace.