RENT CONTROL STIFLES COMPETITION

to the editor:

it is obscene to pay $2,200 for a one-room apartment in a slimy, 125-year-old walk-up tenement ("affordable(ish) again, feb. 26). and $1,700 is also criminal. but why do people fork over that amount of money and even much more? because those who have money, those who have a good education, those who come from a higher social class, those who have a bright future in front of them have made a decision about the lifestyle that they want. the bottom line is that most people want to live with people like them. but in the city of new york, renters do not have a choice of neighborhoods and lifestyles based on the cost of the unit. for the past 63 years, there has been no competition in all rental housing at all price levels in all communities. because of the politically motivated temporary world war ii statute of rent control, housing is split into two segments: one area for the rich, and one area for the poor. and the divide is getting wider. neighborhoods that provided a choice are gone. the dirty little secret is that in the mid-1940s, when the new york state legislature had the one chance to allow rent control to sunset, they knew that if they voted to sunset they would not get re-elected. they intentionally prostituted themselves because in politics, getting re-elected is the only thing that matters. no succeeding lawmaker would dare touch it because they would not be re-elected if they did. that is why the state legislature is still "studying" the problem, examining the data, then deciding if regulations are still necessary. rent regulations are nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy.

sid miller real estate broker, south bronx

letters have been edited for clarity, style and brevity.