Housing Notebook

• Topics generally of interest to tenants, specifically the current state of NYC and the budget process, as well as the upcoming mayoral election. -

Scott Sommer spoke with Zara Nasir, Executive Director of The People's Plan NYC, about the People's Plan's work on a people's budget that can restore cuts made by Eric Adams and reverse the push for austerity and privatization, the blaming and possible persecution of migrants, collusion with the federal govt, and the mayoral race.

Housing Notebook is a production of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, New York's oldest citywide tenants union.

• Zara Nasir, Executive Director, The People's Plan NYC -

• Met Council hotline: 212-979-0611, M & W 1:30-8 PM, F 1:30-5 PM; metcouncilonhousing.org, thetenant.org; info@metcouncilonhousing.org; Facebook & Instagram: search for Met Council on Housing; email: housingnotebook@wbai.org – no housing problems please! X: @met_council, @wbai.org @scottmsommer (also on threads & bluesky); wbai.org – live stream, find archive, join radio station there or go to buddy.wbai.org to become a WBAI buddy – be sure to scroll down to choose Housing Notebook as the show you want to support! Or call 833-922-4692. Mail a check made out to WBAI-Pacifica to WBAI Radio, 388 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn NY 11217.

• Tuesday walk-in clinics: 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, downtown at 6:30 pm at Trinity Commons, 76 Trinity Place in Manhattan; 2nd and 4th Tuesdays uptown at 6 pm at 5030 Broadway. For more information, click here. For all Met Council events, find the calendar here. 

• People's Plan on the web is here; they're also on social media.

• Not mentioned on air, but useful: Heat & hot water: Heat law is in effect starting October 1 and continuing until May 31: from 6am to 10pm, when the outside temperature is below 55, the temperature everywhere in your apartment must be at least 68 degrees; from 10pm to 6am, the temperature everywhere in your apartment must be at least 62 degrees, regardless of the outside temperature. Hot water at a minimum 120 degrees at the tap must be provided 24 hours a day, year round. Go to portal.311.nyc.gov or call 311 to report lack of hot water, for NYCHA call 718-707-7771; outside NYC call dept. of health or buildings. Call Met Council hotline (212-979-0611) for help with organizing; for more information and to get a heat sheet, click here.

• New rent guidelines taking effect 10/1/24: New York City, 2.75% for a 1-year lease and 5.25% for a 2-year lease; Nassau County 1.5% for 1 year, 2.5% for 2 years; Rockland County 2% 1 year, 3% 2 years; Westchester County 2.5 for 1 year, 3.5 for 2 years; City of Kingston 0 and 0! City of Poughkeepsie TBD. If you're in a rent-stabilized apartment in Kingston or Poughkeepsie, contact For the Many for more information.