News from STATE SENATOR
Liz Krueger
New York State Senate, 26th District

Blood Drive at Hunter College:
I and other elected officials are cosponsoring a Blood Drive on September 26th from 11:30am to 6:30pm at Hunter College School of Social Work, 129 E.79th Street near Lexington Avenue. Lenox Hill Hospital will be providing the staffing for the Blood Drive. There is no need to make a reservation, just stop by and join me in helping to meet the serious need for blood that the city is currently facing. To avoid a wait, call (212) 434-2500 for an appointment. For more information, contact Susan Chamlin in my office at (212) 490-9535.

Forum on Health Care Issues:
There will be a forum on health care issues and the upcoming elections, sponsored by Physicians for a National Health Program. Speakers include Sharon Lerner from the Village Voice and Doug Henwood of Left Business Observer. The forum will take place on Tuesday, September 17th, at 7:30pm at Beth Israel Medical Center, 10 Union Square East (between 14th and 15th Street).

Volunteers Needed for Beach Cleanup Day:
The American Littoral Society is sponsoring a Beach Cleanup Day on September 21st. They are seeking volunteers to collect and record litter at various beaches and other locations around New York City and Long Island. For more information, contact Barbara Cohen, at (718) 471-2166 or alsbeach@aol.com.

Spotlight on Policy

Loopholes In Tenant Protections

As many of you know, tenant protections in New York City are under attack. Rent regulation comes up for renewal next year, and we all face a major fight to build support for renewal in Albany. But existing law has its own inequities and loopholes, which many of us in Albany are trying to change. I recently wrote to Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Miller to enlist their support in challenging two particular problems with existing law, and its enforcement by the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

The first problem has to do with personal use evictions, a tactic frequently misused by landlords to evict rent-protected tenants. Long term rent stabilized tenants are currently not provided the same protections from personal use evictions as rent controlled tenants in New York City, or as rent regulated tenants in surrounding counties that have rent protections. Unfortunately, many landlords choose to target long-term tenants for eviction, since their rents are often lower than other units in the same building. This can be devastating both to the individual tenants, who face losing their homes, and to the stability of the surrounding community, which faces the loss of its most stable and rooted members. I support state legislation that would accomplish this goal (A8540), and have called on the Mayor and Council Speaker to advocate for this legislation as well.

Rent-controlled tenants in New York City are also facing a grave injustice this year. DHCR has authorized a 10.5% increase for rent controlled tenants this year, violating the intent of New York Rent Control Laws. These laws require DHCR to review and update its formula for determining rent increases, which it has failed to do for 30 years. It is only because DHCR has failed to do this that it could arrive at the 10.5% figure.

For years rent-controlled tenants have faced higher increases than rent stabilized tenants, with the result that it is now increasingly common for controlled tenants to pay substantially more than their rent stabilized neighbors in the same building. Furthermore, since most of the 40,000 rent controlled tenants in New York are senior citizens, they are often living on fixed incomes that, quite simply, can in no way keep pace with rent increases of 10.5% a year. As a result, the policies of DHCR are putting senior citizens in rent-controlled apartments at risk of losing their homes.

Protecting the New York City Watershed

The New York City Watershed, covering about 2,000 square miles north and west of the City, supplies approximately 1.3 billion gallons of drinking water daily to‹over half the population of New York State‹ more than 9.5 million consumers in New York City, as well as parts of Westchester, Putnam, Orange and Ulster Counties.

New York City's water supply is increasingly endangered by development around upstate reservoirs. The Kensico Reservoir watershed in Westchester County, considered to be the most critical reservoir in the system since it serves as the impoundment, is the last stop before distribution for our drinking water. Under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Kensico Reservoir is considered "source water" and is subject to strict water quality standards. Over 90% of New York City's drinking water passes through the Kensico Reservoir.

Unfortunately the quality of New York City's drinking water is constantly being threatened by development pressures. The latest serious threat comes from the proposed expansion of the Westchester County Airport in the Kensico Watershed Region. The Westchester County Airport, lying as close as 750 feet from the edge of the tributary to the reservoir, has been a threat to the Kensico throughout its existence. Under today's environmental standards, the airport would never even be considered for creation next to this important reservoir. However, since the airport lies in such close proximity to the reservoir, it is imperative that we take all measures to limit activity at the airport that would be detrimental to the Kensico.

Water pollution from the airport de-icing operations create serious threats to our drinking water supply; major ground water pollution is caused by fuel spills and leaking underground fuel tanks and planes flying over the reservoir system surrounding the Westchester County Airport pollute the water. Expansion of the airport could jeopardize the integrity of this critical water source. I am working with the Sierra Club and other groups fighting the expansion of the airport, because this upstate land-use issue clearly has an impact on all New York City residents.