Flea Market this Sunday, 12-6 in Community Room

Freeze the rents, save the date: May 15 rally at Abyssinian Baptist Church

Housing Justice for All is trying to get to 20,000 signatures to tell the Rent Guidelines Board to freeze the rents!

Why? The Rent Guidelines Board just reported that LANDLORD INCOME ROSE 12% - on top of the previous year's increase of 10%.  So our rent money is making landlords a lot richer. 

Meanwhile, TENANT income did not increase and lots of tenants are paying 50% (or more) of their income in rent.  Many of us are on fixed incomes. 

What can we do to influence the Rent Guidelines Board? We can get a LOT of people to demand a rent freeze.  Our elected officials - and those they appoint to the RGB - have been known to respond to public pressure. 

If you have not already signed the petition to freeze the rent, do it now. You can CLICK HERE or use the QR code: 

(You don't have to be rent stabilized to sign the petition.)

Support candidates for mayor who agree that a rent freeze is needed. At the mayoral panel on April 3rd, every candidate agreed that given the 12% increase in landlord income, a rent freeze is appropriate now.

Come to the rally at the Abyssinian Baptist Church

132 West 138th Street on Thursday, May 15th in the evening.

We can go up together!

NY Tenant Calendar has a new QR code

If you want to keep up with tenant activities throughout the city, try the NY Tenant Calendar (in the right-hand column below our CPG Tenants' Association calendar) QR code:

Sad news: Helen Merber has died

The Central Park Gardens Tenants' Association mourns the loss of our founding member and friend 

HELEN MERBER

Helen died on April 6, 2025 after a long illness.  She and her then-husband Ivan Merber, with Jerry Nadler (now our Congressman) and Community Free Democrats (now part of West Side Democrats) were founding members of our tenant association. 

Professionally, Helen was an actor - an extra in crowd scenes - and a singer in the "Broadway at the Y" chorus of the 92nd Street Y.  

Always active, she served our tenant association in official and unofficial capacities as an officer, a board member, a floor captain, and signing people in at our pot luck parties. 

We offer our condolences to her son Alec, his wife Anastasia, and their extended family. 

A memorial will be held in May, with further details to come. 

Over 90 Attendees at a Wonderful Mayoral Panel

The Community Room was packed as mayoral candidates (in alphabetical order) 

• Council Speaker Adrienne Adams
• Former Chair of the NYS Assembly's Mitchell-Lama subcommittee and member of the Obama administration Michael Blake
• Comptroller (and former Council Member) Brad Lander
• NYS Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and
• Former Comptroller, Manhattan Borough President , and Assemblymember Scott Stringer

answered questions about affordable housing, retiree Medicare, NY as a sanctuary city, and more.  There was a lot of camaraderie among them, and several echoed each other's policies with additional ideas of their own. 

All the candidates supported a rent freeze by the Rent Guidelines Board this June for rent stabilized apartments, given the 12% increase in landlord incomes reported on March 27, 2025 by the Rent Guidelines Board. (Scott Stringer, Brad Lander, and Adrienne Adams had an unspecified "caveat.")  All supported funding more lawyers to represent tenants in Housing Court. 

All were concerned about the $80 million that the Trump administration took back from NYC, and addressed how they would keep the city running despite such cuts. Brad Lander noted that the federal government had paid the $80 million and subsequently withdrew it (without notice).   Details below.

This Thursday: Mayoral Forum in our Community Room

NEW LAW: EVERYONE MUST COMPOST FOOD SCRAPS

Starting April 1, 2025, everyone in NYC has to compost their food scraps.

What should I compost?

All the food scraps that you usually throw in y our kitchen trash should be separated for compost collection.  That includes food as well as greasy paper plates and pizza boxes.  

All plant waste like dead plants or leaves should also be composted. 

Hair and nail clippings too!

What should I NOT compost?

REGULAR GARBE: Pet waste, dead animals, and used cooking oil, medical waste, wrappers, hygiene products, and most other things that didn't grow from the earth. 

RECYCLE SEPARATELY: Paper, softcover books, glass, and plastic go in their regular recycling bins.

Where do I put my compost material?

Store it in a bag in your freezer till you're ready to bring it downstairs to one of the brown bins in the two compactor rooms next to both sets of elevators on the ground floor.   It's ok to use a plastic bag - but not a black one - to store your compost.