Keith Wright Hopes Skelos Investigation Won't Derail Rent Regs Extension

As the state Legislature gears up for the final weeks of session, Assembly Housing Committee Chair Keith Wright hopes the federal investigation into state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos will not derail negotiations to extend a package of soon-to-expire rent laws that includes the 421-a tax abatement program for developers.

“Now it’s the time for the rubber to meet the road,” Wright said at City & State’s On New York forum in Albany Tuesday. “We’ll be talking to the folks in the Senate. How much the problems in the Senate are going to affect these conversations—I don’t know. But hopefully not much, because we have too much responsibility. We have too many people that these laws affect and we have to adhere to our responsibilities so we can ensure this city is a livable place for all, including myself.”

It also remains to be seen how the newly elected Assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, will fare as an advocate for lower- and middle-income tenants in negotiations with the Republican-controlled state Senate.

“The jury’s still out on that,” Wright said. “[Former] Speaker Silver was very good at those conversations, but I do think—I don’t expect anything to be different. Heastie has had a real commitment to rent regulations in the past.”

Not only will he push to extend the current rent laws, Wright said, but he will work to strengthen them as well. He has proposed new income thresholds for the 421-a program, for example, that he claims would give developers more of an incentive to build affordable housing.

Wright, who is considered an early favorite to succeed outgoing U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel in 2016, also stressed the importance of the federal government when it comes to affordable housing.

“We have started what we call an exploratory committee—and I’m choosing my words carefully now. We’re giving it all due consideration,” Wright said, adding that he views both Rangel and former Rep. Adam Powell Jr. as two of Harlem’s—and Congress’s—greatest historical figures.

“We’re looking at succeeding them very carefully,” he said.