Renter Makes a Stand

The New York Times City Room blog today highlights a vanishing New York institution: [unbelievable cheap rent controlled apartments]. One such low-renter, John Burke, currently pays $288 a month for his studio at 218 E. 84th St., and is fighting his landlord to maintain that rate. The new landlord, the Shalom Family, is renovating the entire building, and will start to charge $1,850 to $1,975 a month--six times the amount that Burke pays now. Burke lives on a $1,100 a month disability stipend from an accident he suffered in 1995, so he would be effectively out priced out of his apartment. This East Sider, however, is holding his ground. â??I have been fighting for other tenants and myself, he said. â??We can leave a road map showing people how to win.