The Great Rent Wars: New York, 1917-1929

Description

Written by one of the country’s foremost urban historians, The Great Rent Wars tells the fascinating but little-known story of the battles between landlords and tenants in the nation’s largest city from 1917 through 1929. These conflicts were triggered by the post-war housing shortage, which prompted landlords to raise rents, drove tenants to go on rent strikes, and spurred the state legislature, a conservative body dominated by upstate Republicans, to impose rent control in New York, a radical and unprecedented step that transformed landlord-tenant relations.   The Great Rent Wars traces the tumultuous history of rent control in New York from its inception to its expiration as it unfolded in New York, Albany, and Washington, D.C. At the heart of this story are such memorable figures as Al Smith, Fiorello H. La Guardia, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, as well as a host of tenants, landlords, judges, and politicians who have long been forgotten. Fogelson also explores the heated debates over landlord-tenant law, housing policy, and other issues that are as controversial today as they were a century ago. CONTENTS Prologue PART ONE. From Rent Hikes to Rent Strikes 1. The Postwar Housing Shortage 2. Between a Rock and a Hard Place 3. A Weighty Decision 4. The Great Rent Strikes PART TWO. The Road to Rent Control 5. The Mayor’s Committee on Rent Profiteering 6. Enter the State Legislature 7. The April Laws 8. The September Laws PART THREE. Constitutional Challenges 9. The Battle in the State Courts 10. The Fight in the Federal Courts PART FOUR. Rent Control Without a Rent Commission 11. A Question of Coverage 12. A Reasonable Rent 13. The Four Exceptions PART FIVE. The Politics of Rent Control 14. Landlords and Tenants in New York and Albany 15. The Extension of Rent Control 16. The Expiration of Rent Control Epilogue Notes Acknowledgments Index