“Lawmakers up in Albany have already proposed legislation to protect ground lease co-op residents around the state. We need standard rights and protections and New York has the chance to grant them.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed a bill that pushes for quicker restoration times of “vital services,” at public housing apartments, including gas.
“Living without a home—a reality we’ve both faced—has shown us that the unhoused are often viewed not as people but as easy targets for acts of cruelty. The rampant criminalization of homelessness further lowers the threshold for violence against us.”
Tenants who believe they may be covered by New York’s new Good Cause Eviction Law can plug in their current rent to see the maximum rent that would be deemed reasonable. Anything above that, the landlord could have to justify in court.
“We are outraged,” said Rami Dinnawi, a steering committee member of the climate coalition New York Renews. “To see a budget come out that fails to address any of the urgent policies related to climate is an abdication of responsibility from the governor and from lawmakers.”
While lawmakers continue to negotiate housing initiatives and tenant protections in Albany, supporters of the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act are positioning the bill as one of the state’s best shots at passing meaningful housing legislation this year. “It’s hard to put your guard up when it’s the neighborhood church saying we want to build,” sponsor Andrew Gounardes told City Limits.
The legislation, introduced in Albany by Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, would prohibit policies that restrict the length of homeless shelter stays—aimed at halting the Adams administration’s 30 and 60-day shelter notices for newly arrived immigrants.
While supporters say New York City’s right to counsel program needs additional funding to cover all the qualified tenants who need the legal help, they’ve also hailed it a success, and are now pushing to replicate it statewide.
“We have already witnessed the harm that 30-day limits have inflicted on adult migrants without children, who have either had to sleep on the streets indefinitely while reapplying for housing or who have been abandoned by the system altogether,” reads a letter signed by nearly 50 city and state elected officials.
The state Senate and Assembly passed a duo of bills in June aimed at helping rent stabilized tenants dig deeper into their rent histories to challenge suspicious increases. The governor has yet to act on them.
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