Easy Living For Rangel While Many Constituents Dangle

Amid a shortage of housing in his disctrict, Rep. Charles Rangel has four rent-stabilized apartments, one of which is used as a campaign office. All four apartments are in Lenox Terrace, a luxury development in Harlem owned by the Olnick Organization.

An owner of the company, Sylvia Olnick, has been a contributer to Mr. Rangel's campaign and a political action committee he controls, according to Federal Election Commission records. Mr. Rangel has a net worth somewhere between $566,000 and $1.2 million The New York Time’s Web site quotes from Congressional disclosure records. According to Congressional ethics experts, the $30,000 a year difference between the market-rate rent and what Mr. Rangel is paying on three of the four apartments could be considered a gift from a developer seeking government approvals for its projects. Mr. Rangel paid $3,894 a month for his four apartments in 2007, considerably lower that what the average tenant of the complex paid. Friday afternoon Rangel defended his living situation.

"I don't see anything unfair about it. I didn't even know it was a deal. There are so many people that have come here and have rented two apartments that have been made into one. I really believe that if I could find the same kind of space any place in my beloved Harlem, I would find it. I did not negotiate. I did not ask for a lower price. I'm paying the legal rent."

Three of the apartments are located on the 16th floor, while the campaign office is on the 10th floor. Congressman Rangel confirmed that he uses one apartment for a campaign office, even though New York State and city regulations say rent-stabilized apartments must be used as a primary residence. In recent years many Harlem residents have been victims of a policy of regentrification, where landlords have been aggressivley attempting to move out current residents for more affluent, higher salaried renters. Rangel has been a vocal critic of developers trying to convert and manipulate rent-stabilized buildings in Harlem.