Building Tenant Power
In June 2019, tenants won passage of legislation that vastly strengthened and expanded tenant protection statewide, and made New York a national model.
Documents and media links
- Landmark Deal Reached on Rent Protections for Tenants in N.Y. - New York Times 6/11/19
- New York Expanded Rent Control - Will Other Cities Follow Suit? - Next City 6/20/19
- In the Heart of Real-Estate Power, a Housing Movement Nears Victory - The Nation 5/30/19
- The Tenants’ Rights Movement Is Expanding Beyond Big Cities - The New Republic, 5/17/19
- Evictions in NYC Continue to Fall in Wake of Rent Reforms - Gothamist 1/6/20
- NYC evictions down almost 20% six months after state tenant protections enacted - NY Daily News 1/6/20
Grants to the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance and its members helped the coalition to educate and mobilize tenants as New York State’s rent laws came up for renewal in 2019. Tenant leaders documented the ways that landlords and investors have exploited weak laws to remove 152,000 units from regulation since 1993, and told the stories of the harm this has done to families and neighborhoods.
In June 2019, tenants won passage of legislation that vastly strengthened and expanded tenant protection statewide, and made New York a national model.
In 2020, tenants are organizing for effective enforcement, expanded protections including Good Cause Eviction, and for funding to preserve public housing and provide housing and services to homeless New Yorkers.