Avoiding the Usual Runaround

By Hugh Pressley
Housing Committee leader

I recently got back from Albany, where I went on a lobbying trip. I had a very nice time. I was representing Picture the Homeless on a Housing Housing and Now trip to ask state senators to repeal vacancy decontrol.

I was slightly disappointed in some of the senators. I say “slightly” because I had been to Albany before, and you affirm by phone calls or e-mails beforehand which senator or staffer you’re going to meet, and they tell you, by phone call, e-mail or whatever means of communication you’re using, whether it’s a senator, council member, or any public servant, they will confirm that you’re going to meet with the individual personally, because you requested it.

In several cases I’ve been up to Albany, so I knew what to expect. And sure enough, instead of meeting Sen. Klein, there was his representative, even though he had confirmed that we were going to meet with him personally! And of course, the purpose of that is so they won’t have to commit to anything, in this case repealing vacancy decontrol.

In the past I’ve had meetings with other senators, council members, and what-have-you, and often they’ll promise to call or e-mail their responses.

The second senator we met, Espada, I thought the same thing was going to happen. But it didn’t; he was actually there. Initially, he greeted us very warmly, and we all introduced ourselves. He gave us a little background on where he was from and how he came to Albany. From then on out, he avoided us like we had the plague. We could not get him to commit on how he felt, what he would do, or even how, if the opportunity arose, he would position himself.

Several times, we would ask him what he would do if the bill came up, how he would vote. Initially he said that he hadn’t read it. As the conversation went on, he gave us certain scenarios, giving us an idea that it wouldn’t be feasible for him to announce his position in advance. In other words, he refused to commit.

After he told us he hadn’t read it, he turned around, as the conversation went on, and said he had read it twice! He also said that the housing committee had not been formulated completely and he did not know who was going to be on it. He just kept going around and around.

I did mention that they need to focus on some of the abandoned buildings, and make sure they’re rent-regulated when they come back on the line. It would be very easy for them to come back online too expensive for most of us to afford them. I also mentioned that I was a disabled veteran and represent veterans in the city on the Continuum of Care.

The other thing I mentioned was that they need to stop using Westchester, Long Island, and other places to elevate the cost of affordable housing in New York City. He agreed that I was right and said he would work on it. He agreed with just about everything we said, but the sense at the end was that he had stonewalled us. I think he’s relying on his colleagues, waiting to see which way they’ll go before he decides.

The next senator we had was Diaz. He was in the middle of moving from one office to the next. We felt very comfortable when he told us to give him a call and he would arrange to meet with us in the Bronx. Many of us had a good rapport with him, and he indicated in the brief conversation we had that he was behind us 100%. Hopefully he’ll talk to the others who haven’t committed one way or the other.