Carnegie House Ground Lease Co-op Stuck With 450% Rent Hike From Ultra-Rich Landlords, Fights to Stay Housed

NEW YORK, NY (01/06/2026) (readMedia)-- On Monday, the New York County Supreme Court ruled to uphold a staggering 450% ground rent increase for more than 300 middle-class families living under threat of displacement at Carnegie House - the last affordable building on Billionaire's Row. Now, Carnegie House families are faced with the prospect of shelling out for a $25 million yearly ground rent - an amount that is absolutely untenable for the building and would force hundreds of families to lose their equity and face displacement. This decision comes after the attorneys for billionaire landlords Rubin Schron, David Werner and investor Michael Dell sabotaged Carnegie House's original ground lease arbitration process meant to set the terms for the co-op's new ground rent this past summer. In an unprecedented move, the landlords' counsel offered another job to the neutral arbitrator assigned to the co-op's case, which the Court recognized "clearly compromised the integrity of the process."

Richard Hirsch, president of the Carnegie House Board of Directors, issued the following statement:

"Today's decision comes as a devastating blow to over 300 Carnegie House families battling to keep our homes. Due to a flawed arbitration process, and lack of housing regulation, Michael Dell and our other ultra-wealthy landowners have the greenlight to force a 450% rent hike on our co-op, an amount the building residents simply cannot afford. In the middle of a housing crisis, our billionaire landowners are pulling out all the stops to push out middle-class New Yorkers for their own gain. It's completely at odds with what our city's fighting for: a New York we can all afford. We will continue to fight this absurd rent hike, and stand with the 25,000+ ground lease co-op residents statewide working to guard their homes against unchecked landowners."

This past October, the Supreme Court granted Carnegie House families a life-saving temporary protection order, putting on hold an outrageous demand for a $10 million back-rent payment from their landowners based on the 450% rent hike. The landowners demanded residents fork up the funds within only 20 days.

This fight goes beyond Carnegie House. Amid the statewide housing crisis, Carnegie House and the Ground Lease Co-op Coalition are fighting to pass critical legislation to protect families living in ground-lease co-ops statewide – many of whom are facing lease renewals or rent resets similar to Carnegie House. Originally established to support middle-class homeownership, more than half of New York's ground lease co-ops are located in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx in areas where the majority of residents earn just above the citywide median of $76,000. Without urgent legislative action, tens of thousands of middle-class families risk losing their homes to landowners using predatory tactics to price them out.

About the Ground Lease Co-op Coalition: The Ground Lease Co-op Coalition (GLCC) is a non-partisan coalition of co-op owners from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds advocating to save their homes. Amid the statewide housing crisis in New York, this coalition supports housing fairness, stability, and affordability for the more than 25,000 New Yorkers who live in ground lease co-ops.

About Carnegie House Co-op: Built in 1962 and converted to a co-op in 1978, Carnegie House is now home to 324 middle-class families at risk of displacement due to an extreme 450% rent hike proposed by their landowners. Eager to remain in their homes, Carnegie House's residents are working to protect ground lease co-ops all over New York and advocate for standard legal protections, as they fight against the threat of displacement amid the ongoing housing crisis.

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