This is a critical juncture for New York City rent laws. In less than 10 weeks rent control and rent stabilization laws will expire unless the state legislature votes to extend their existence for millions of New Yorkers who are already challenged by rising rents and the lack of affordable housing.

The state Assembly must decide whether to grant an extension, modify their structure or eliminate them entirely. Tenants insist that all rent laws have been compromised enough and all future rent charges should be lowered.

This cost issue has always been a bone of contention for the building owners. Their answer is, "We can't afford it. Maintenance and labor costs are not fixed therefore rents shouldn't be either." However property owners fail to publicly disclose the subsidy dollars and discounts received from the city to offset higher rates.

Without rent control laws these charges are typically passed on to the tenant at market rates or as maintenance fees. The tenant pays twice by being taxed by the city to pay for any debts that fund mass service projects and then again by landlords who receive those services and pass along the expense.

An example of this process is The Department of Environmental Protections request for a 7.5 percent water rate hike from property owners. Once received, these dollars will be used to help cover the $3 billion debt costs of the Croton-on-Hudson water filtration and water disinfection facility in the Bronx.

Landlords will choose to absorb this cost or pass it along to tenants. Such decisions will affect the majority of middle and lower class New Yorkers who cannot withstand another financial assault by paying higher rent.

If rents are raised and laws annulled, senior citizens receiving Social Security would be destabilized and could potentially face eviction. Lower income New Yorkers could potentially join them. The city would no longer be affordable for middle-class workers, only the wealthy.

Unemployment is already above the national average in the city. Layoffs and job elimination are daily occurrences, particularly for the experienced worker.

Overcrowding is commonplace due to the booming tourist trade and an excessively high number of illegal aliens who live throughout New York County.

Media talking heads have ignored this crisis by focusing on the Middle East upset and Washington, D.C. budget debate rather than spotlighting the failure of politicians to advocate for rent laws. Nothing else should matter if people don't have places to live and can't pay their rent if protective codes are removed.