New-York tribune., 1920-03-12
Tenants to Ask
Injunction on
2OO% Increase
Sixty Occupants of Apart
ments at Forest Hills
Retain Counsel to Oppose
New Leases i'm Court
Would Prevent Elections
Seek to Restrain Owners
From Rerenting Homes on
Refusal to Pay, Advance

Wealthy tenants of apartments in
Forest Hills yesterday retained Harold
&. Aron, so Pine Street, as counsel in
4 injunction proceedings to restrain
their landlord from leasing their
apartments to persons other than the
tenants, who refuse to submit to 100
and 200 per cent increases in rent.
Guyon L. c. Earle, agent for the own
ers of the apartments known as the
Gardens, has notified the tenants that
if they decline to sign new leases on
March Is for another year beginning
next October he will let the apart
ments to other tenants.
A committee appointed by about
sixty tenants employed Mr.. Aron, who
announced that he would bring injunc-
tion proceedings against Mr.. Earle.
This Will make good test case to
determine what power the law has to
release rent. payers from the deadly
and binding form of lease system which
for years the landlords have employed
in New York" said Mr.. Aron. "We
shall first obtain an injunction re-
straining the owners from letting the
property to other tenants and then fight
the rent profteerng out at leisure.'
Fighting for Middle Class
The committee appointed by the ten
ants is composed of William Wallace
Bruce, L. F. Shiel, P. l.. Robbins Frank
J. Low and Albert Rohrback. Many of
tho tenants are business men with of
fees in lower Manhattan
We are taking this action to keep
the middle class rent payers out of the
;anks of the Bolsheviki," said Mr..
Bruce. "We do not consider that we
ere merely fighting our own battle. If
tho land 'ords in Forest Hills can i'm
pose 100 and 200 per cent increases,
iandlorus in other sections of the citv
VIII take the hint and do likewise"
Construction of residences out of
public funds as a means of fighting
rent profteerlng was urged on Mayor
Hylan by Philip Berolzheimer, CITY
Chamberlain. Mr.. Berolzheimer sug-
gested that as starter for a general
building campaign the city might con-
struct bungalows on $500 lots it owns
at Jamaica Bay.
"lt is a pity that the city should
own idle land when the whole solu-
ton of the rent profiteering problem
lies in the necessity for more homes"
sald Mr. Berolzheimer. "The Jamaica
bay property might be built up and
the bungalows disposed of ultimately
without any loss to the city. In the
meantime the congestion would be
feileved and the experiment would
show whether it would be practicable
Tor the city TO do more building"
whether the city will undertake any
building has not been indicated by the
Mayor. James F. Cannon, director Of
revenue and finance of Jersey CITY.
told the Mayor Monday that the oniy
way TO bring down rents was to pro-
vide mere apartment buildings. He
said 1t was feasible for the city to
-'.ovide the funds and then sell the
buildings to tenants. After his con-
ference with Mr.. Cannon the Mayor
I'd he would take the scheme under
"a lselnont.
Invitations to tenants to attend q
Mtss meeting at Central Opera House
i"esday night were sent out by the
.@ayor's Committee on Rent Profteer-
the committee, said he had been in
formed that the use Of the hall had
Ecen obtained.
We propose to get public sentiment
behind the Boylan- Donahue bill now
pending at Albany, which would permit
the courts to decide what rents a
landlord should receive on a building
he owns said Mr.. Hilly. we hope
to get this bill passed before May 1,
when many leases expire Under the
proposed legislation a tenant might ap-
peal to the courts to decide on the
rcasonab!eness of any increased rents.
The fact that such litigation was open
TO tenants would discourage many land
lords from going into the courts"
No excuse exists for some of the
high increases asked by landlords, in
the opinion of w. F. Algeltener. in
charge of rentals of the Trinity estate
tie said that the first increases in rent
on residence property made by the
estate IN the last thirty years recently
went INTO effect. Most Of the increases
were for So month.
Our modest increases show tbo+
there IS much profiteering elsewhere"
said Mr.. Algeltener Our tenants are
satisfied and the increases seem to
offset our increased expenses"
Drastic increases in rent in the next
iew months will not be justified, AL
1red T.. Marling, president of Horace
5. Ely & Co., said. eve ought tn
hnd out some way Of stopping the
skyrocsetlng of rents by SPECTATORS"
he said. "Rents can hardly be rer,,-
lated by law because that would dis
courage building. Most of the prof
teerlng with which tenants have to
contend is done by spectators. Legiti-
mate real estate dealers do not favor