Lee, Eccles, Redhead, and dozens of others in their predicament, many of them minorities, are members of SPONY, Small Property Owners of New York, an organization dedicated to scaling back what they claim are draconian measures leading them to ruin. According to the group’s members, they’ve held more than 110 meetings with local politicians since the pandemic started, opening their books and begging for help. But the young revolutionaries that now run New York aren’t impressed.
“They don’t believe in private property,” said Joanna Wong, another SPONY member and a landlord. “They told us flat out. When we asked what is our role in your vision, they said, literally, you have a role, for now, until we figure out how we can take it from you.”
She wasn’t exaggerating: A source close to SPONY shared with me a recording of a Zoom meeting the group held with New York state Sen. Jabari Brisport recently. Brisport, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who was endorsed by prominent figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Cynthia Nixon. He prides himself as the first openly gay African American elected to New York’s state Legislature.
Sen. Jabari Brisport, D-Brooklyn
Jabari Brisport serves as a New York Senator.
Hans Pennink
But when he met with Eccles, Lee, and their colleagues, he insisted that only the state should own and rent houses, and that whatever failures public housing projects have had in the past can be solved by infusing the system with more tax-based cash.
“So you don’t think that the housing market should be in the hands of private landlords,” one SPONY member asked, “is that a fair statement?” Brisport didn’t need much time before responding. “Yeah,” he said, “that’s fair, it’s clear that the market cannot make affordable housing.”
These meetings, Lee said, left him and others feeling as if “the ultimate goal is to take our private property away.” A coalition of New York City landlords and trade organizations are making the same argument — that unreasonably strict rent regulations make it impossible for them to own and operate their properties, a move tantamount to unlawful seizure — in a lawsuit awaiting a decision this month by the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
Lee, Eccles, Redhead, and dozens of others in their predicament, many of them minorities, are members of SPONY, Small Property Owners of New York, an organization dedicated to scaling back what they claim are draconian measures leading them to ruin. According to the group’s members, they’ve held more than 110 meetings with local politicians since the pandemic started, opening their books and begging for help. But the young revolutionaries that now run New York aren’t impressed.
“They don’t believe in private property,” said Joanna Wong, another SPONY member and a landlord. “They told us flat out. When we asked what is our role in your vision, they said, literally, you have a role, for now, until we figure out how we can take it from you.”
She wasn’t exaggerating: A source close to SPONY shared with me a recording of a Zoom meeting the group held with New York state Sen. Jabari Brisport recently. Brisport, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who was endorsed by prominent figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Cynthia Nixon. He prides himself as the first openly gay African American elected to New York’s state Legislature.
Sen. Jabari Brisport, D-Brooklyn
Jabari Brisport serves as a New York Senator.
Hans Pennink
But when he met with Eccles, Lee, and their colleagues, he insisted that only the state should own and rent houses, and that whatever failures public housing projects have had in the past can be solved by infusing the system with more tax-based cash.
“So you don’t think that the housing market should be in the hands of private landlords,” one SPONY member asked, “is that a fair statement?” Brisport didn’t need much time before responding. “Yeah,” he said, “that’s fair, it’s clear that the market cannot make affordable housing.”
These meetings, Lee said, left him and others feeling as if “the ultimate goal is to take our private property away.” A coalition of New York City landlords and trade organizations are making the same argument — that unreasonably strict rent regulations make it impossible for them to own and operate their properties, a move tantamount to unlawful seizure — in a lawsuit awaiting a decision this month by the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.
(post is archived)