Stuyvesant Town tenant leaders participated in a rally for stronger rent laws outside Governor Cuomo’s Manhattan office last Wednesday. (Photo by Rebecca Dumais)
By Sabina Mollot
Last Wednesday, a group of residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, including leaders from the ST-PCV Tenants Association, joined a rally for stronger rent laws in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s midtown Manhattan office.
The Tenants Association demonstrators carried signs that read “Strengthen the rent laws—Do not feed vultures,” complete with a graphic of a vulture hovering over Stuy Town. The graphic was designed by TA member John Sicoransa and another version of the sign read, “Landlords feed on middle class renters.”
TA Chair Susan Steinberg noted the turnout among neighbors was a high as was the response to a recent effort, highlighted in this newspaper, to get tenants to write letters to key Albany legislators. During a recent trip to the Post Office, Steinberg learned at around 500 letters had been addressed to Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and local Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh.
A package slip had been left in the TA’s mailbox and when Steinberg went out to collect said package, a postal worker brought out the letters in two large trays. Upon seeing the amount of mail, “I almost fainted,” said Steinberg.
“So,” she added, “we are very happy people are paying attention, and we’re going to send them off in large batches.”
The TA is also participating in a march for stronger rent laws to be held on Thursday, May 14 at 5 p.m. The event will begin with a rally at Foley Square (corner of Centre Street and Worth Street) followed by a march across Brooklyn Bridge to Cadman Plaza.
Tagged: Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, brooklyn bridge, Governor Andrew Cuomo, peter cooper village, rent laws, stuyvesant town, Susan Steinberg, tenant rally
