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By DIANE S. WILLIAMS
Testifying before the State Assembly Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee Jan. 29, three DC 37 local presidents addressed the housing, cultural and educational crises affecting NYC residents.
Ralph Carbone, president of Rent Regulation Services Employees Local 1359 commended Gov. George E. Pataki for setting aside $100 million in his proposed budget to expand six affordable housing programs. But, Mr. Carbone said, “We need to go further.”
Much of the city’s current housing market consists of luxury apartments owned by landlords who easily skirt rent regulations. As a remedy, Mr. Carbone asked for more state aid for affordable housing and staff increases at the Office for Rent Administration. Mr. Carbone also called for “state funds for public housing, Mitchell-Lama type programs and government subsidies to bring the price of new homes within the reach of working- and middle-class families.”
“Our libraries are facing a major crisis due to their inability to hire and retain librarians,” said Ray Markey, president of New York Public Library Guild Local 1930. He and Queens Library Guild Local 1321 President John Socha said the city’s public libraries face an educational and cultural contradiction: Their uncompetitive salaries and subsequent understaffing are forcing branches throughout the city to close at a time when more people than ever depend on community libraries for free access to information, computers and services.
Mr. Markey and Mr. Socha challenged the committees to “think outside the box” and consider for the first time providing state funding for city libraries as a solution to the problem.
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