Developer Tells Hoboken Council: 'Don't Play Routlette' With Tenants

HOBOKEN, NJ — Two different votes related to rent control caused some disagreement among the Hoboken's City Council at their meeting on Wednesday, while rents continue to climb and longtime tenants say they fear displacement.

The council was split on both of the votes — which could impact the number of rent stabilized apartments in town — on Wednesday night.

First Vote: Tearing Down 3 Rent controlled buildings

First, the city continued its hearing about tearing down three rent controlled buildings in Hoboken.

Back in January, the owner of 325-329 Grand St. won approval from the city's Zoning Board for a variance to tear down the three rent controlled buildings and replace them with new, market rate apartments and two affordable units.

The snag is, there are still tenants living in some of the existing 16 units.

Hoboken resident Michael Evers, backed by tenant advocates, appealed the demolition before the council, making several arguments — including saying that the city should ensure that existing tenants aren't forced out unfairly, as has happened in the city's recent past.

Also, the Zoning Board is expected to weigh the positives and negatives when they grant variances, Evers said. Tenant displacement and the loss of stabilized units could be detriments, but the board hasn't been considering them as such.

'I Would Be Delighted To Be Wrong'

This past Wednesday night, the council began deliberating Evers' appeal at 5 p.m.

Despite the testimony from Evers, and tenants showing up with signs that say "I Rent And I Vote," five of the nine City Council members said their hands were tied and they had no choice but to affirm the Zoning Board's ruling.

They did say that they believed the council could look into passing legislation making sure future tenants aren't pressured out of buildings that landlords want to tear down.

One way to prevent tenant intimidation could be for developers to have to provide statements from tenants saying they weren't tricked or forced out of their building — since tenants have recently told both both Patch and NJ.com that this is still happening with teardowns, despite state laws protecting them.

Council members Emily Jabbour, Jen Giattino, Jim Doyle, Paul Presinzano and Joe Quintero voted to affirm the Zoning Board ruling. Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher voted against affirming. (See the hearing here.) The three other council members didn't attend.

Evers spoke again after the vote and scolded the five council people who voted to affirm, as well as three who didn't turn out for the appeal. He said he didn't buy their argument that they had no choice but to affirm the ruling.

Evers noted that many other tenants in Hoboken, whether in rent controlled buildings or not, are struggling with high rent increases, and they will also be affected by votes that reduce the stock of stabilized housing.

"You will be made known as enemies of tenants, that's the consequence of your actions," he said. "If you want to take actions to prove me wrong, great. I would be delighted to be wrong."

Against Wording Of Rent Decontrol Petition

At the end of the meeting, Councilman Phil Cohen introduced an "emergency resolution" condemning the MSTA, a local landlords' group that is pushing for Hoboken to have a special election for a one-time rent decontrol.

The MSTA has been gathering petitions on the street to force a referendum on their rent decontrol proposal. They are asking local residents to sign it by telling them that it's a petition "To put affordable housing on the ballot in Hoboken."

What they're actually proposing is a measure that allows landlords, once a tenant leaves voluntarily, to pay a one-time $2,500 fee toward future affordable housing, and in exchange, they'll be allowed to raise the rent to whatever level they want. That means they could recoup their $2,500 on a unit in just a couple of months.

Tenant advocates and some council members say this gives more incentive for landlords to pressure tenants to leave, and would also take away even more rent stabilized apartments in town.

Hoboken's current rent control law is not a rent freeze; it still allows landlords to raise rents around 5 percent, allows other givebacks, and offers a vacancy decontrol of 25 percent every three years if a tenant leaves voluntarily.

Councilman Phil Cohen's emergency resolution to condemn the MSTA's language said that their efforts to collect signatures are misleading. (See a Patch story about the matter here.)

Councilman Joe Quintero explained why he was voting yes on Cohen's resolution. "What this is asking us to do is take a stand on whether we should stand by and allow deceptive practices to continue," he said. "The implications of allowing those practices to continue is that something could get on the ballot through false pretenses."

But some of the council members were uncomfortable with Cohen's resolution, for a variety of reasons. The resolution failed 5-4.

During the public speaking portion of the meeting, a local developer, Hany Ahmed (1:40), scolded the council, noting that last year, a prominent tenant advocate in town sat with the head of the landlord group, MSTA, to hammer out a compromise in order to avoid a referendum. Ahmed said he was "shocked" that polar opposites on the issue were able to work it out. However, after the City Council voted to approve their compromise in April 2023, Mayor Ravi Bhalla vetoed it.

Now, the city faces a special election instead.

"Take the time now and move this along and try to get in a room," Ahmed pleaded, "and make this a moot point before it gets in lawyers' hands or before we don't like the turnout that happens. Don't play roulette with people."

Councilman Ruben Ramos said he hopes the council can still compromise on the matter to avoid a referendum, and voted no on Cohen's resolution to condemn.

Tiffanie Fisher agreed with Ramos and Ahmed. "The best thing we can do is get in a room and figure out what we can do to stabilize housing in Hoboken for at least the next few years," she said. "...It's a terrible referendum and we have an opportunity to have a conversation."

Council members Jabbour, Cohen, Quintero, and Doyle voted in favor of the emergency resolution to condemn, but their four votes were not enough.

Other Information

New Jersey has strong laws surrounding eviction. "No residential landlord may evict or fail to renew a lease, whether it is a written or an oral lease without good cause," says state law, in part. Some of the rules are different for smaller and owner occupied buildings.

READ MORE: Rents In Jersey City, Hoboken Highest In Country. But Are They Legal?

READ MORE: Hoboken Landlord Group Pushes For Rent Decontrol Referendum; Mayor Calls It 'Offensive'