It’s time for New York State to protect its millions of renters
Tenants from New York City to Newburgh and beyond are facing a housing crisis and it’s time for state leaders to step up.
By: Newburgh Councilmember Karen Mejía and New York City Councilmember Carlina Rivera
As local elected officials, we are close to the communities which we represent in our local governments. Although we represent vastly different cities with different problems, it is clear that whether you represent New York City or Newburgh, the one thing that remains the same is our communities need good, quality affordable housing that allows renters the freedom to thrive in the Empire State.
Everyone knows that rent is too high in New York City, and families are being priced out. What is less known is how the rental housing crisis is impacting rural communities, and smaller towns and cities outside the City of New York. In Newburgh, renters make up more than 60% of the total population, and more than 60% of those renters are paying more than 30% of their income in rent. That means gentrification is making its way up the Hudson River, and displacing those who make communities like Newburgh their home.
By some measures, the rental affordability crisis in places like Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo is worse than in Brooklyn. And corporate landlords are buying up even mobile home communities from Sullivan to Suffolk County.
As local elected officials, we tackle this issue head on. Our constituents — both Upstate and Downstate — want safe living conditions, investment without displacement, and dignity in their homes. Without the security of a renewal lease, and with rents creeping up and up and up, it’s hard for our constituents to hang onto jobs, education, and healthcare. But it’s hard to fight for stable housing with so few local tools. The reality is that tenant protections are dealt with in Albany, and for over two decades Albany has been asleep at the wheel. Our affordable housing crisis has grown to epic proportions. As a result, 89,000 people are homeless each night and nearly half the State’s renters pay more in rent than they can afford. Nearly a third pay in excess of 50 percent of their income.
Half the population of New York State rents their home, but in too many places, New York tenants have almost no rights to stay in those homes. According to some reports, New York has some of the weakest laws protecting tenants in the country. Most tenants in New York have no ability to stand up to unfair rent increases and unsafe living conditions. And in the places where tenants have basic protections, they are too weak to stop speculative landlords from raising rents, harassing, and displacing longtime residents. And in areas facing acute affordability emergencies, it is imperative we strengthen and expand rent regulations for those municipalities.
The crisis is not only a New York City crisis. From apartments in Brooklyn, to small buildings in Newburgh, to manufactured home communities outside of Buffalo: corporate landlords are buying up property, raising rents, and evicting tenants. Because our tenant laws are so weak, corporate landlords are taking over our communities. They are pushing out the small, community minded developers who are willing to invest in our neighborhoods and provide safe, quality, and affordable housing.
That’s why the rent stabilization program should be expanded to all of the counties across the state, and localities can determine for themselves whether to opt into rent stabilization. It is also why we are in support of requiring landlords to have a good cause to evict a tenant in New York State.
This year, the state’s laws protecting rent stabilized tenants expire — meaning the state legislature will revisit them before June 15. The State Assembly, the State Senate, and the Governor should pass good cause eviction into law this year. Now is the time for our leaders to escape big real estate’s hold on the capital and go beyond the bare minimum for the state’s 5.5 million renters.
Councilmember Karen Mejía represents Ward 1 on the Newburgh City Council, and Councilmember Carlina Rivera represents the 2nd district on the New York City Council. Both are members of Local Progress NY, a network of progressive local elected officials united by a commitment to shared prosperity, equal justice under the law, livable and sustainable communities, and good government that serves the public interest.
