CurbedNY: Trump tax schemes expose flaws in NYC rent-stabilization laws

Amy Plitt

October 3, 2018

Originally published in Curbed NY

While attempts have previously been made to reform, or outright abolish, the MCI provision, they’ve been mostly unsuccessful; but with more progressive legislators likely heading for Albany after November’s midterm elections, tenant advocates are hopeful that change is on the horizon. “It’s going to be one of the major issues that NYCC and tenant groups across the city are going to be fighting around,” says Weaver.

And already, there has been some progress: New York state Sen. Michael Gianaris and state Assembly Member Brian Barnwell introduced a bill over the summer that would eliminate the MCI provision, and would instead give landlords a tax credit for repairs. “Landlords have been abusing the MCI system since it was created and it’s no surprise the Trump Empire was at the center of the storm,” Gianaris said in a statement to Curbed. “My bill will protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords and I am hopeful a Democratic Senate majority will get it done.”