To the list of the inevitable—death and taxes—we might add higher rents for small West Village businesses. While the easy villain is, of course, the rapacious landlord, a recent Times article reports it is also a co-op owner of a 540 square foot studio at 99 Bank Street.
The owner giggled with delight when he found his monthly maintenance dropping from $810 to $20.40—partly because of the whopping big rent for Mrs. Green downstairs, the ill-fated and yet-to-open produce market locked in a life and death wage struggle with their union.
As I write this, I read that The Villager is sponsoring a “call to action forum” with no politicians invited to speak because “corrective legislation has been held up in the City Council for decades.” The Villager also states “the city is now asking Albany to pass legislation establishing a property tax credit for commercial landlords who voluntarily limit rent increases.”
I wonder if our co-op owner at Bank Street would be willing to help out Mrs. Green for a tax break?
—George Capsis
