National, state and city-wide politics all underwent significant change in recent weeks. The City Council approved Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial term-limits bill, allowing him to run for a third term. The 13th Congressional District, the last remaining Republican seat in Congress for New York City, was overwhelmingly won by Council Member Michael McMahon (D). Riding the wave of national discontent over a faltering economy and unpopular politics abroad, many ambitious Democrats were able to gain slim victories in the New York State Senate. For the first time in 40 years, the State Senate has lost its Republican majority.
No clear leadership emerged after the Democrats took a narrow two-seat majority. Initially, the currently elected Senate was called back to Albany on November 18th by Governor Paterson for an emerging budget session, which was cancelled after the leaders failed to reach any agreement on budget cuts. The $6.4 billion projected budget gap will be first on the agenda when the new Senators come into office this January.
The Republican-controlled Senate was an essential stop-gap for pro-tenant legislation that was passed through the significantly more liberal State Assembly. It’s now widely expected that tenant activists will make a big push for the fragile majority to act on a number of issues including eliminating vacancy decontrol provisions and shifting cotnrol of the rent regulation system from the State Legislature to the City Council.
The City Council is currently debating the best way to plug the City’s widening budget gaps in the wake of lower-than-expected tax revenues. The Mayor had originally intended to rescind the $400 property tax rebate checks, but it was determined that this action would first need the City Council’s approval. As we go to press, whether the rebate checks go out and when is still up in the air, but the possibility of a mid-year 7% property tax increase is very real.
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