PWVTA



The Park West TenantVol. 44 No. 3, Newsletter of Park West Village Tenants’ Association, info@June 2020Rent Guidelines Board HearingThe Rent Guidelines Board voted 5-4, on May 7, 2020, to recommend that no increase be allowed for one-year lease renewals that begin on October 1, 2020. For two-year renewals, they recommended the rent be frozen for the first year and go up one percent in the second year. ?These are preliminary recommendations. Two public hearings will be held on June 10, 2020 and June 11, 2020 with the final vote on percentage renewals held on June 17, 2020.?Upcoming Rent Guidelines Board Hearings:Wednesday, June 10, 2020, 4 P.M. – 7 P.M.Virtual Public Hearing where the public can testify live.The public can also submit written, video and voice comments prior to the hearing.(Registration and further details will be posted later.)Thursday, June 11, 2020, 6 P.M. – 9 P.MVirtual Public Hearing where the public can testify live. The public can also submit written, video and voice comments prior to the hearing. (Registration and further details will be posted later.)?Wednesday, June 17, 2020 7 P.M. Final VoteLivestream the meeting via YouTube at Rent Moratorium ExtendedA ban on eviction proceedings and pending eviction orders statewide in New York State, effective March 17, 2020, was extended from June 20, 2020 thru August 20, 2020. However, in a major change from the current moratorium conditions, which did not limit which residential and commercial tenants were protected,? the extension, which becomes effective June 21, 2020, will only apply to tenants who are unable to pay rent due to Covid-19 or are “eligible for unemployment insurance or benefits under state or federal law or otherwise facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.” While tenants would remain liable for the rent owed, New Yorkers will not be made homeless due to these extraordinary circumstances.Housing Court To Begin Virtual Eviction Conferences?For Backlogged CasesRequests for eviction conferences before a judge began recently after an announcement was made that conferences were being scheduled to help the court cut down on the expected backlog of cases once the docket resumed normal operations.? A conference is not a hearing. It is a discussion between lawyers and a judge to decide whether a case can be settled or needs to be litigated. The tenant must agree to a conference otherwise the conference is scheduled for a later date.? Conferences cannot be scheduled for cases filed during the pandemic and judges are requiring both sides to have representation. However, tenant advocates worry that the virtual conferences are a step toward Housing Court resuming normal operations and enforcing evictions. - All New Yorkers Can Vote By?Absentee BallotAll New York State registered voters have received or will be sent an absentee ballot request form, via the mail, to their home address along with a postage paid return envelope. Complete the absentee?ballot request form, check “temporary illness” where an explanation is required since the definition of that term has been extended to include avoiding COVID-19, and return the form in the postage paid return envelope. All New York State registered voters, who know that they will be out of the city and will not be home to receive the mailed absentee ballot request form?because of fear of the COVID-19?or for any other reason or who prefer to complete the form??online, can access the form?by clicking the link or by phoning 1-866-VOTE-NYC (1-866-868-3692). ?Early Voting:Is still scheduled to occur from: Saturday, June 13, 2020 through Sunday, June 21, 2020. The closest early voting site for Park West Village is:West Side High School, 140 West 102 Street, New York, NY 10025. Both voter and accessible entrance is: 140 West 102 Street, New York, NY 10025. The hours can be accessed by clicking the link: Day Site:PS 163, 163 West 97 Street, New York, NY 10025; Tuesday, June 23, 2020 6:00AM - 9:00PM?Election/Assembly DistrictWrite this number down and bring it with you on Election Day043/69Judicial District01Congressional District10Senatorial District30Council District07Municipal Court District05Assembly District69?To find out who are the candidates to represent Park West Village click on the link: The CensusNew York needs a FULL Census count to guarantee its fair share of funding and political representation! Has everyone in your household been counted yet? If not, learn how!?New York is running behind the rest of the country in the percentage of residents responding. An accurate census count will determine federal funding for New York City for years to come in addition to Congressional representation. An undercount will result in lost seats in the House of Representatives and budgetary funding at a time when the city faces an uncertain economic future. The deadline to complete the census, which was previously July 31, 2020, has been extended to August 14, 2020 due to COVID-19.The city's self-response rate was less than 62% compared to the national average of 76% in the 2010 Census. By May 19, 2020, only 49% of New York City households had responded to the 2020 Census which is well behind the national average of nearly 60%. The current city response rate of 49% is 15 percentage points lower than the final 2010 response rate of 64%.? Among the boroughs, Staten Island has the highest overall self-response rate. By contrast, Manhattan has one of the lower completion rates lagging behind 2010 figures by double digits, data shows. One explanation is the exodus of people from Manhattan in response to COVID-19. Data analysis showed that 40% of people left New York between March 1, 2020 and May 1, 2020. Corresponding response rates showed that, while 62.4% of people residing on the Upper East Side returned their forms to the Census Bureau in 2010, only 34.9% had responded by May 19, 2020. Lower Manhattan also shows low census-response rates. The West Village, SoHo and TriBeCa all had high census-response rates in 2010, between 60% and 70%. Currently, few tracts in those areas have broken 50%.?To complete the census on-line, go directly to the website: .? Input your unique census ID that was received in the mail. The census can still be completed even if you have lost or misplaced the mail from the Census Bureau—or never received any by selecting the option “If you do not have a census ID, click here.”?NOW MORE THAN EVER IT’S IMPORTANT TO COMPLETE?YOUR CENSUS.IT IS SAFE, EASY, AND IMPORTANT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.RESPOND NOW!?Manhattan Resident Parking Tax ExemptionThe Manhattan Resident Parking Tax Exemption lowers the tax you pay on rental parking spaces by 8%. The current tax on rental parking spaces in Manhattan is 18.375%. The exemption lowers the amount of tax by 8% reducing the amount of tax you must pay to 10.375%. Effectively, this means that tenants with a parking space get a credit on their bill of approximately 45% of the amount billed for the parking tax, provided they get the certification from the City and deliver it to the landlord.The vehicle must be:Individually owned by the applicantRegistered to the owner's primary residence in ManhattanParked in a long-term rented space for a month or more, andDriven for personal use only. (Commercial, rental or company vehicles are not eligible for the exemptionIf you have not yet done so, you can obtain the Exemption Certificate by applying on the following website: On The PWVTA DHCR Rent Reduction Application And The PWV Acquisition, LLC MCI Application For The Columbus Avenue BuildingsCOVID-19 halted many government agency operations, including administrative agencies such as DHCR.?As New York City reopens, city and state agencies will gradually return to “business as usual.” Pending before DHCR are The PWVTA DHCR Rent Reduction Application and The PWV Acquisition, LLC MCI Application.?Many of you submitted emails last year describing problems with the elevators after the upgrade. It is urgent that you email us immediately detailing elevator problems, including date and time, that occurred AFTER the upgrade was completed on December 2018.? Please sent your complaints to info@Park West Village Tenants’ Association 2020 MembershipPWVTA must be financially prepared to legally respond to both fights.? We regret to share with you that the membership response to date is far behind what we have received in prior years. We get it.? Tenants are accustomed to seeing us in the lobby during the membership drive. COVID-19 precluded our ability to continue this practice this year. Yet, PWVTA’S ability to advocate and fight for tenants depends on our resources.?PWVTA continues to acknowledge that these are challenging times for all of us and renewing your PWVTA membership may not be at the top of your priority list at the moment. However, we are appealing to tenants who can renew, without experiencing financial difficulty, to renew your membership today. We thank those members who have already renewed their membership for the calendar year 2020. If you have not yet renewed your membership, we welcome your renewed membership at a level that is comfortable for you. If you are unable to renew your 2020 membership let us know by sending us an email to info@ or you may be taken off the email listserv. Please feel free to give your membership check together with the attached membership coupon to your building representative:Jane Bender, 784 Columbus Avenue #4-T; Patricia Loftman, 788 Columbus Avenue #17-0; Kathi Black,?792 Columbus Avenue # 16-T; Palmer Tome, 372 Central Park West # 15-R; Ezra Bialik, 382 CentralPark West # 14-D; Gloria Scorse, 392 Central Park West # 11-C; Judi Bloch, 400 Central Park West # 9-D or?You can mail your membership coupon and check directly to our Treasurer or just leave it under her door:Kathi Black792 Columbus Avenue #16-TNew York, NY 10025You can also use online banking with your personal bank and request they mail a check made out to the Park West Tenants’ Association to either P.O. Box 20339, Park West Finance Station, New York, NY 10025-0339 or any of the above addresses.___________________________________________________________________________________2020 MEMBERSHIP COUPON TO YOUR PWVTA BUILDING REP [who: info@] OR mail to: Park West Village Tenants’ Association, P.O. Box 20339, Park West Finance Station, New York, NY 10025-0339 ? ? PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY! Name_____________________________________________ Building_____________ Apt________ Phone_____________________________________________________?Email __________________________________________________________________ ???Check for 2020 membership dues enclosed payable to PWVTA □ $75 □ Other* $_________?□ If you cannot make the full $75 payment of your annual dues, please just pay what you can.?Your status: □ Rent-Stabilized Tenant □ Market-Rate Tenant □ Condo OwnerCondo Owner: Check for 2020 Supporting Membership dues enclosed, payable to PWVTA □ $35 □ Check includes additional contribution to the PWVTA Legal Fund Amount $_________ *?□ I want to be more involved. Here are my special interests: _______________________Stay Safe and Be Well.? ................
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