If voters in the upcoming 10th Congressional District General election pull the lever based on their wallets longtime Democratic incumbent Rep. Jerrold Nadler could be facing a world of headaches.
That after, Nadler’s GOP Opponent, Dr. Phil Rosenthal, yesterday proposed a federal renters tax credit whereupon city residents struggling just to have a roof over their heads will get a Federal check back similar to the Earned Income Tax Credit.
“While Jerry Nadler talks the talk about helping the working class residents in the district, my plan will actually put money back into their pocket,” said Rosenthal, who was born and raised in the city’s Mitchell Lama housing program. “The federal government gives a special benefit to home owners with the mortgage interest deduction, but renters are left out. That may not matter in Kansas, but in NYC many working families rent their homes and a month’s rent rebate could help.”
Under Rosenthal’s plan, renters that pay 40% or more of their income in rent will get a tax credit check back equal to 10% of their annual rent. More depending on the size of their family and the percentage of income that they pay for rent. The tax credit would not apply to those with upper middle-class and above income levels, he said.
Rosenthal, a PhD Caltech physicist, Harvard-trained nuclear lawyer, entrepreneur, and graduate from Yale, said he worked out the plan with help from economists to bring much-needed financial help to renters paying huge chunks of their income every year to keeping a roof over their head.
A spokesperson for Nadler, who boasts progressive Democratic values, and has a long history of voting only on Party partisan lines, did not return inquires on Rosenthal’s proposal at post time. KCP will update this story when the spokesperson has a response.
But for Rosenthal, who graduated as salutatorian from the Bronx High School of Science, helping hard-working residents in his district struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table, is not a Democratic or Republican issue, but something he understands from growing up as a working-class kid from the Bronx.
“From Boro Park to Morningside Heights this is a plan that residents in the district can feel a direct impact where it counts most – in their pockets,” said Rosenthal. “While my opponent is a career politician stuck in partisan politics, this is a common sense idea that would benefit many constituents in the 10 Congressional District and one that I will bring to the table when I’m elected to Congress on Nov. 8.”
The 10th Congressional District stretches along the western edge of all of Manhattan and includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park, Kensington, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, Red Hook, Sunset Park and Midwood.
