Opinion: A Knicks Win, And NYC’s Eviction Machine

“Over 175,000 New Yorkers in eviction proceedings probably did not fully get to experience the joy felt on that day—and it will matter not that for one shining day of victory their eviction was temporarily paused.”

Soon after the Knicks triumphed in the championships, New York City housing courts announced that all evictions would be suspended for a day due to the Knicks parade.

As an attorney who has practiced in the city’s housing court for almost 10 years, I was shocked. Evictions are rarely suspended absent for humongous blizzards that make traveling virtually impossible. A colleague’s client was evicted recently in 90-degree sweltering weather. The fact that evictions were postponed for a reason not implicating extreme health or safety concerns (or comfort of those in power) is unheard of in my housing court lifetime.  

In some ways, it makes sense. This city runs on evictions. Last year alone there were over 110,000 evictions filed, and over 8,000 marshal-executed evictions. It is very easy to evict someone from their home for a reason as small as owing several hundred dollars in rent, and destabilize their lives completely. Being sued for eviction is extremely stressful. The carrying through of an eviction causes serious and long-lasting effects to an individual’s physical and mental health.   .    

The Knicks winning the championship is incredible. New York sports teams have for long not been anything to write home about. A transplant from Michigan myself, I’ve heard almost no one say they came to New York for the sports. Many say that the city needed this boost. A pride in the city, a reason to come together. A reason to be joyous and to celebrate, forget momentarily about the political crises that surround us. And Jalen Brunson offends no one.  

But these crises, though temporarily balmed by the feeling of a win, still exist—the housing crisis is only one of them. Housing insecurity in the city is largely caused by the high housing cost burden. Coupled with the city’s low vacancy rate of around 1.4 percent, there is a growing need for affordable housing.

At the same time, public housing remains underfunded and the site of some of the worst maintained in the city. A NYLAG client’s list of repairs included “black water” and walls eaten by mold. This is far from uncommon. The Knicks team knows something about this too—the team’s only native New Yorker, Jose Alvarado, grew up in housing projects in Williamsburg. Former Knicks Carmelo Anthony, Kemba Walker, and Stephon Marbury are just a few more players who also understand the problems that come with living in public housing. 

I am glad that this special moment of celebration has led so many people to push their differences aside and celebrate. (My most anti-Trump friends, for example, look the other way about the outspoken Trump supporter James Dolan, for example.) Landlords and tenants can perhaps both celebrate evictions being paused for such a cool reason—the triumph of New York and New York City. But I wish that this moment of celebration sought to highlight the city in all of its realness and grit, which includes the housing crisis that impacts so many.  

What if now that this national spotlight was put on New York, courts didn’t just quietly pause the defaults on eviction for the day of the parade, but committed to reducing the number of evictions filed in the first place? What if we recognized the fact that even though gargantuans of resilience like Jose Alvarado and Carmelo Anthony can survive upbringing in New York City’s projects and become greats, that many who live in public housing are suffering with terrible conditions? What if we realized that city pride does more for our well-being than city division in the name of profit? What if celebration and reckoning went hand and hand?  

I hope everyone, whether at risk of eviction or not, enjoyed the parade and the ensuing good vibes with a clear mind, open heart, and celebratory spirit. The reality is, however, those over 175,000 New Yorkers in eviction proceedings probably did not fully get to experience the joy felt on that day—and it will matter not that for one shining day of victory their eviction was temporarily paused. 

Michele A. Yankson is a housing justice attorney and yoga teacher based in New York City. Lara Chu is a recent graduate of Emory University where she majored in economics and political science.