Thursday’s New York Times published two stories that reported what the Times apparently feels is news – that rich people with influence have benefits that poorer people do not have.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/nyregion/17rangel.html?ref=nyregion

At Lenox Terrace, the luxury development in Harlem, management uses two sets of standards when it comes to rent-stabilized tenants, many residents say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/nyregion/17discretion.html?ref=nyregion

There are multiple grounds on which an aggressive landlord like the Olnick Organization could seek to force Representative Charles B. Rangel out of his four rent-stabilized apartments in Lenox Terrace in Harlem — or, at the very least, drastically raise his rent.

But the company has opted not to do so, even as it has taken such action against many lesser-known residents of the apartment complex.

“If Congressman Rangel did not have a special relationship with his landlord, the company would be pursuing various devices to get him out,” said Craig Gurian, the executive director of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York, an advocacy group focused on housing, and an adjunct law professor at Fordham University.