State lawmakers and tenant advocates are renewing their push for the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act, a measure that would make it easier for municipalities outside New York City to adopt rent regulation. Under current state law, towns and cities can opt into rent stabilization if they determine a housing emergency exists, which is defined as a vacancy rate of 5 percent or less.
The REST Act proposes an alternative way for localities to declare a housing emergency. Instead of relying solely on vacancy rates, municipalities could use publicly available data—such as local rent burdens and affordable housing availability—and hold public hearings before making a determination.
Senator Brian Kavanagh, who sponsors the bill and chairs the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, described the legislation as “a critical priority” during a press conference with other lawmakers and Housing Justice for All. He expressed hope that the measure will be approved this year. Assembly member Linda Rosenthal commented, “there is no reason why other parts of the state ‘should not have the same rights and protections that we in New York City have.’”
Not all groups support the proposed changes. Homeowners for an Affordable New York, representing landlord interests, said in a statement: “Expanding these policies to municipalities statewide will only deepen the affordable housing shortage, raise costs for residents and hurt the people who need housing the most.”
Governor Kathy Hochul did not include funding for REST in her executive budget proposal. The governor also omitted additional funding requested by tenant advocates for the state’s housing voucher program; her budget maintains last year’s $50 million allocation rather than increasing it to $250 million as sought by supporters.
In related real estate news, Vornado Realty Trust was listed among firms vying to lead redevelopment efforts at Penn Station according to an Amtrak memo cited by New York Focus. Vornado appears as part of a team led by Halmar competing in the master developer selection process.
Other developments around New York include new city department appointments by Mayor Zohran Mamdani: Dr. Alister Martin as commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene; Stanley Richards at Correction; and Yesenia Mata at Veterans’ Services. Con Edison attributed recent power outages affecting about 2,000 Brooklyn customers to salt from melted snow reaching underground lines. As of Friday, city snow-melting machines had liquified 23 million pounds of snow across eight sites.
In residential real estate transactions, Monday’s highest sale was a $29.5 million condominium unit at 53 West 53rd Street listed by Douglas Elliman agents Renee Micheli, Jade Chan, Frances Katzen and Michelle Griffith. The top commercial deal was $12.5 million for 639 Grand Street in Williamsburg—a retail building spanning 9,500 square feet.
The most expensive property newly listed is an almost 15,000-square-foot Lenox Hill home at 8 East 62nd Street with an asking price of $57.5 million; it previously sold in 2022 for $48 million with The Modlin Group handling this listing.
For new development projects, Leandro Dickson of LND Architect filed plans for a nine-story residential building totaling over 42,000 square feet at 622 Ocean Avenue in Flatbush.
