Dear Roosevelt Landings Neighbors, 

While this spring we received support in the form of a letter by our elected representatives to the PSC, except for Councilmember Julie Menin who put us in touch with HPD, they've done nothing further to help us connect with people in NY State government who can flip the levers to stop L&M's horrific submetering plan. This is totally unacceptable!!

Please email them and let them know the problem you'll individually encounter unless they step up to help our building. Also, remind them that you'll remember their action or lack thereof on election day! 

NY State Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright, seawrightr@nyassembly.gov, 212-288-4607

NY State Senator Liz Krueger, lkrueger@nysenate.gov, 212-490-9535

When you email them, please bcc me on that correspondence.

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FYI- today, thanks to Councilmember Julie Menin, I recently sent the following email to HPD to motivate action on their part. It will also help you to understand the issues we're facing:  

 "The buildings which are presently under the submetering gun of our landlord (L&M) are:

Roosevelt Landings has 9 addresses, although it's only 1 actual building: 510, 516, 536, 540, 546, 556, 560, 576, and 580 Main Street. Out of the 1,003 apartments, the landlord indicates there are 667 subsidized units. Three apartments are generally occupied by the building's three superintendents. All of the additional buildings have large shares of subsidized, elderly, low-income, fixed-income, and disabled tenants as well. 

In 2009, the Public Service Commission gave the landlord the right to submeter our buildings. Due to the serious objections tenants raised, a stay was issued  to the PSC's 2009 order. Tenants complaints were proven by the huge "shadow bills" (practice bills) that were issued at the time. These shadow bills were as high as $1,100+ for one month of electricity. 

In 2011, the PSC, without testing or fact checking the landlord's assertions, and based on the incorrect assumption that the electric baseboard heaters provided sufficient heat for our homes, deemed the stay conditions would be met if the landlord disaggregated (disconnected) their heaters from the electricity bills. This assumption completely overlooked and failed to test the severe lack of insulation in the buildings that caused tenants to need additional plug-in devices (such as space heaters, electric blankets, and even electric beds,) for the warmth they and their families needed. These additional devices were and are to be charged as "plug-ins" which will materially raise the cost of each tenant's electricity bill with no means for a tenant to cure the problem. 

L&M is currently conducting a project to insulate the building. Until that project is completed and tested, the heating issue remains. As well, the problems of unsafe heaters and poorly wired air-conditioners remain. 

The air conditioners whose cool air escapes through the porous skin of the buildings, have to work overtime, causing a huge electricity plug-in load in the summer. The entire cost of air-conditioning will be billed to the tenant. 

Our current shadow bills are largely in the neighborhood of $500 to over $1,000 for one month's electricity. 

In 2012, the PSC codified their "best practices" into regulation. A building's conditions change both internally and externally, (they can become worn or broken,) and tenancy also changes. An order that applied toward a building in 2011 could not be expected to apply in 2025. For that reason, the PSC codified this concern into a "Sunset Regulation" which identified that the landlord must commence submetering within 5 years from the date of the original order, (in this case 2011) or they must re-apply after those 5 years so that a proper examination of current conditions could take place. L&M made no such application and no such examination has taken place. The PSC has disregarded their responsibility as a government agency to consider the tenants' needs. 

Now, 16 years after the original application was granted, the PSC has allowed L&M (contrary to common sense and its own regulations,) to proceed with submetering in our buildings which have level D energy efficiency ratings issued by NY City. For instance, Roosevelt Landings gets a 16 out of 100 (D) rating from NY City. The other buildings at risk are similarly rated. 

In addition, the  PSC is completely ignoring the common sense and regulated terms that would protect the tenants and NY State's taxpayers who shoulder the costs of subsidized housing. Under the current scheme the landlord is double-dipping by failing to back-out the actual electricity expense that was heretofore covered by our tenants' rent payments, while tacking on those electric costs on top of the un-backed out rent.

Metergy, L&M's billing agent, has clearly stated that non-payment of the electricity bills will result in collection efforts and public exposure that harms the tenant's credit. L&M has long stated that the electricity bill will be considered "added rent" and is insisting that tenants sign a "Submetering Rider" to their lease that gives them the right to evict tenants for non-payment of this charge. Their rider states they will use every legal means possible (with no exclusion for eviction) to secure payment. 

The PSC has failed to implement a rate cap to protect tenants from excessive charges. While L&M pays the Con Ed bulk rate, they will charge tenants double their cost and possibly higher without limitation. There is no guideline in their ruling to protect tenants from excessive rate increases.  

Please note that L&M's electricity plan is so Draconian that they are providing free electricity to all new fair market tenants. By doing so, the fair market cost for an apartment is substantially less than the rate DHCR pays for that same apartment, which is contrary to DHCR's regulations since the services covered by the lease are not the same. 

Many of our tenants have moved into our buildings subsequent to the 2012 regulation and deserve its protections. Tenants who resided in the building since before 2012 and the tax paying public deserve the protections of the 2012 regulation. Failure to apply the 2012 regulation puts several million dollars each year in the landlord's pocket that they derive from double-dipping and an excessive electricity rate. L&M will gain millions by fleecing the tax paying public, and driving subsidized, elderly, low income, fixed income, and disabled tenants from their homes; an illegal, unethical, and inequitable submetering plan. 

I'm attaching a document that shows the specific violations that L&M and the PSC are pursuing. All of the history on the current submetering plan for 08-E-0838 can be viewed on the PSC's webpage at  https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterCaseNo=08-e-0838&CaseSearch=Search. Each of the additional buildings has a designated webpage. 

As you can see under the "comments" section, our petition to stay the current order was signed by over 1,000 tenants. We also filed a request for a re-hearing by the PSC which they have totally ignored even knowing we'd be submetered on September 1st if they took no action. Fortunately, Supreme Court Judge Nicholas Moyne has issued a Temporary Restraining Order. We need a permanent determination that will protect our residents. 

Please note.... we are not objecting to submetering. We are strenuously objecting to the outrageous financial burden the landlord is foisting on us under the smokescreen of conservation!" 

Sincerely Yours,

Joyce Short

President 

Roosevelt Landings Residents Association

917-517-8572