Activists and Pols Lash Out at Cuomo After Rent Laws Expire

A handful of City Council members joined tenants’ rights groups outside City Hall to attack what they saw as insufficient action from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, in the lead-up to the expiration of the city’s rent regulations at midnight last night—and to call on the governor to take action now to pass new laws to preserve the city’s one million-plus cost-capped apartments.

Council Housing Committee Chairman Jumaane Williams joined the Flatbush Tenant Coalition and New York City Communities for Change in denouncing in what they claimed was an anemic effort by Mr. Cuomo to push for more tenant-friendly rent laws. The governor has drawn criticism from members of his own party for waiting until earlier this month to endorse the package of rules passed in the Democrat-dominated Assembly, and for what they claimed was a lack of pressure applied to the GOP majority in the State Senate, which has pushed for an extension of the existing statutes.