Jersey City, N.J. council sponsors pull rent control exemption repeal, promise it Nov. 12 as Newport tenants pack City Hall

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The ordinance that would end Jersey City’s permanent rent control exemption for new towers in redevelopment areas did not come up for a vote Wednesday night, Oct. 21, after its two sponsors said colleagues and the administration asked for more time to review it.

Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros and Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little had put Ordinance 26-089 on the agenda as a late item for first reading. A late item needs a council vote to be added, and when the clerk asked for a motion at the start of the meeting, Ephros said he and Little would not make one.

“We’ve heard from colleagues in the administration to have some more time to be able to review this,” Ephros said. “We are not going to delay indefinitely. So I’ll be making sure to put this on the November 12th next City Council meeting for introduction.” He added, “We have a lot of work to do in between now and then to organize, to fight and to win.”

Little told the Newport tenants in the room, “We hear you and we are taking your concerns seriously,” and said, “This is not the end.” She said the two would use the coming weeks “to work directly with city departments, our fellow council members and constituents.”

What the ordinance would do

As Hudson TV reported Wednesday morning, the ordinance text strikes two permanent exemptions from Chapter 260, the city’s rent control law: one for new buildings with 25 or more units in a redevelopment area, and one for hotels, motels and guesthouses converted to apartments. In their place, it would apply the 30-year limit in New Jersey’s Newly Constructed Multiple Dwelling Law. Its fact sheet says a similar measure, Ordinance 19-128, was introduced in 2019 but never adopted.

Hours of tenant testimony

The agenda listed 80 people signed up to speak, and the public portion ran about three hours. Most of the speakers who addressed the ordinance asked the council to introduce it on Nov. 12. Many said they live in Newport and Portside, where, they said, affordable-housing programs in their buildings are expiring.

“I am disappointed that ordinance 26-089 was not introduced tonight. Please introduce it on November twelfth. I stand with the tenants of Newport,” said Daniel Feldman (about 1:44:04 in the recording).

Michele Hirsch told the council the Newport Redevelopment Plan, adopted in February 1985, carried a 40-year limit, and that a December 2023 ordinance, 23-124, deleted it. She said the city wrote to a Newport tenant on Oct. 6 that the exemption “will remain in effect so long as the area is classified as a redevelopment zone.” She asked members to “put it on the November 12th agenda as a regular first reading, introduce it, and adopt it before the year ends” (about 2:39:43). Hudson TV has not independently reviewed the 2023 ordinance’s effect on the plan’s time limit.

Not every speaker agreed. Ivan Ovalle said he came “to speak against the rent control measure proposed the last minute and added to the agenda just hours before the meeting tonight” (about 2:49:50). Darío Gutiérrez urged the council to “hire some economists to do the math” before acting, citing rough estimates by residents that the change could cost the city tens of millions of dollars a year in revenue, figures he said to “take with a grain of salt” (about 3:17:09). He called the ordinance “the equivalent of using a shotgun to swat a fly.”

Before voting on the night’s resolutions, Ward B Councilman Joel Brooks thanked the tenants. “We heard you loud and clear,” he said (about 3:45:43).

What comes next

The council’s next regular meeting is Thursday, Nov. 12, with a caucus Monday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m., according to the agenda. A first reading only introduces an ordinance. It would need a second reading and public hearing at a later meeting before it could be adopted, and would take effect 20 days after final adoption, according to its text.

Hudson TV asks: Should Jersey City end the forever rent control exemption for new towers in redevelopment areas? Reply A: Yes, apply the 30-year limit. Reply B: No, keep the exemption.
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