Campaign to Enroll Lower East Siders in Rent Freeze Program

By LISA FLAUGH

City Councilman Dan Garodnick on Thursday launched a campaign to enroll elders and disabled residents of the Lower East Side in a rent freeze program to which they were entitled but perhaps unaware.

Garodnick and City Finance Commissioner Jacques Jiha showed strong support of the freeze and explained why the neighborhood was being targeted for the campaign.

“Citywide there are 80,000 seniors and people with disabilities who are eligible for, but not enrolled in the NYC rent freeze program,” said Jiha. “The East Side of Manhattan is one of the neighborhoods with the highest number of eligible participants but the lowest number of applicants. In Stuyvesant(Town) alone there are 800 people qualified for the rent freeze program.”

The efforts are called Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE. Garodnick and Jiha emphasized that it was the government’s goal to enroll every eligible person, protecting them from future rent increases, as long as they always remain eligible.

“For people on a fixed income it can mean the difference between paying for medicine and food or paying their rent,” Said Jiha. “For instance, our data shows that more than 85 percent of SCRIE recipients are rent burdened.”

Along with centers that are participating in registering applicants for SCRIE and DRIE, those wishing to participate can visit nyc.gov/rentfreeze to determine eligibility and get access to applications and guides.

Photo of Councilman Garodnick by Lisa Flaugh