RENT AID STARTED FOR ELDERLY HERE

Mayor Lindsay yesterday signed the first two contracts to provide partial rent subsi dies for the elderly in city and state‐aided middle‐income hous ing developments.

The contracts are with the Seward Park development on the Lower East Side and Day ton Towers in Rockaway Park, Queens. The two projects, with a total of 1,725 units, have large contingents of elderly people.

Under a state law, elderly tenants in publicly aided hous ing are exempted from that part of their rent that exceeds one‐third of their net income, provided the housing manage ment has collected sufficient surcharges to cover the subsidy.

To qualify, the tenant must be at least 65 years old, must not be receiving public assis tance and must have an in come that does not exceed $4,500 a year.

Surcharges are leveled against tenants whose income has risen after one year be yond the maximum allowable for new tenants. Half the sur charge is kept by the manage ment company to help main tain rent levels, and the other half is turned over to the city's general fund.

Aid to 5,000 Expected

The money to subsidize the elderly will come from the city's share of the surcharges.

The city expects to sign con tracts with 100 city‐aided de velopments and 82 state‐aided ones. It is expected that this will help 5,000 elderly tenants.

“For far too long,” Mayor Lindsay said, “American soci ety has neglected one of our most important minority groups — the elderly. They have never been a particularly vocal mi nority, but our senior citizens have more than their share of difficulties.

“Paying the monthly rent bill is one of the greatest of those difficulties. The cost of main taining an apartment house goes up as fast or faster than just anything else in New York, and as costs increase, rents in evitably follow. But the senior citizen is often on a fixed in come, and it becomes tougher and tougher to pay that rent.”