.... It concludes that Block v. Hirsh shaped the subsequent history of rent control not only in Washington, D.C., but also in the rest of the country. In the case of New York, the decision meant that the emergency rent laws would stand until November 1, 1922, unless they were modified or repealed...

... strikes, and spurred the state legislature, a conservative body dominated by upstate Republicans, to impose rent control in New York, a radical and unprecedented step that transformed landlord-tenant relations. The book traces the tumultuous history of rent control in New York from its inception to its...