Thousands of New York tenants do not lose hope that the State Legislature in its last minute of budget negotiations to greenlight several laws that would serve as a lifeline to low- and middle-income individuals and families amid the ever-increasing affordable housing crisis that faces the Big Apple and a good part of the state.
And as a way to denounce the real estate lobby that building owners and real estate corporations are escalating in Albany to prevent legislators from carrying out initiatives that favor tenants, hundreds of protesters this Thursday blocked the entrance to the headquarters of the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) in Manhattan. In the midst of the screams of “we want a roof”, “housing is a human right” and “just cause”in reference to the clamor to approve the law that puts brakes on evictions, 12 tenants and the Ombudsman, Jumaane Williams, They were arrested by the NYPD.
Police officers They handcuffed protesters who declared civil disobedience to pressure state legislators to launch initiatives that have been shelved for years waiting to become law. The hope is that they will approve them to guarantee that vulnerable families in New York, many of them Latino and black, do not end up joining the list of more than 85,000 helpless What is there in the city.
“We are human beings, we are not animals and we deserve decent housing. “No more to the real estate lobby,” he shouted. Rennette Bradley, Housing Justice for All Coalition, while a group of a dozen protesters, including the Ombudsman, stood at the entrance of REBNYon 50th Street and Lexington Avenue and others filled the street from end to end with banners and harangues.
They were demanding an end to obstruction of affordable housing by the real estate industry, which they accused of blocking a package of laws in Albany that would make housing in New York more affordable. The message was also for the Municipal Administration, which they demand to put an end to rent increases, evictions and urban projects that generate massive displacement.
“Too often, I have chosen to stay silent when my apartment needs repairs for fear of retaliation from my landlord. I am afraid that he will increase my rent, which is already too high, or perhaps something worse: that he will want to unjustly evict me,” said Bernarda Torres, a Brooklyn tenant and member of the organization Make the Road New York. “Despite being a tenant in Brooklyn for over twenty years, I don’t have protections against unreasonable rent increases or unfair evictions. Albany must pass good cause eviction legislation now. Our families, across the state, deserve to live with stability, healthy conditions and without fear of being pushed onto the streets.”
The Ombudsman, Jumaane Williams, was arrested at the protest. Photo: Courtesy Housing Justice for All
The housing has become a shock element quite large in the midst of budget negotiations in Albany, which was to be finalized on April 1, and which at the time of this edition remained undefined.
Cea Weaver, Director of the Housing Justice for All Coalition said the real estate industry’s pursuit of profits has unleashed a wave of rent increases, evictions and aggressive gentrification tactics, displacing families and destroying entire neighborhoods.
“The real estate industry has spent and earned millions of dollars at the expense of tenants to block tenant protections, all so they can continue to enrich themselves by excessively renting to vulnerable families. “It is time to hold the real estate industry accountable for its role in the real estate emergency affecting our state,” said the activist. “New York leaders must support working families in real estate and protect renters in this year’s budget.”
Twelve tenants were arrested after the demonstration. Photo: Courtesy Housing Justice for All.
The Ombudsmanwho had himself arrested as a way of protest, after being released with the rest of the tenants, insisted that affordable housing is the “cornerstone” of everything and is a determining factor in public safety, which is why he urged legislators that do not leave tenants who need protection so much out of the bag.
“I and others face this arrest on behalf of tenants across New York who face eviction as rents rise and landlords continue to put profits before people,” said the New York leader. “We blocked entry to REBNY just as they have blocked the enactment of real tenant protections in Albany through their lobbying and phony spending. At this crucial moment in New York’s housing and homelessness crisis, we must not only protect the progress we have fought for for years, but also move forward by enshrining good cause eviction protections in state law.”
The elected official stressed that real estate corporations are harming the future of thousands of New York families whose lack of guarantee to continue having a roof continues to torment them, while politicians in Albany choose to side with the millionaires and not the poorer.
“We were arrested to protest REBNY’s active campaign to harm renters across the state, to urge state legislators to reject the influence of big real estate, and to finally pass the protections New Yorkers desperately need,” he said. Williams, also calling for Albany to expand access to deeply affordable and low-income services to targeted housing.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the Real Estate Board of NY (REBNY). Photo: Edwin Martinez
Charlie Dulik, organizing director of Housing Conservation Coordinatorsmentioned that while New Yorkers struggle to find housing, New York City’s millionaire population has grown by 48%, and the middle class have chosen to leave the Big Apple, strangled by the excessive costs of apartments that can be used for several families up to 80% of your income.
“With rents and homelessness near all-time highs, while profits for rent-stabilized landlords are up more than 10% since last year (not to mention unregulated landlords), it is downright disgusting that “Albany is holding basic tenant protections hostage in the name of big real estate,” Dulik said. “Until they side with the millions of New York renters instead of a handful of millionaires and billionaires, we will continue to fight.”
The protesters denounced that according to housing reports, it is estimated that the real estate industry spent almost $14 million in lobbying for the past five years in their quest to block tenant protections and affordable housing.
Protesters urge Albany to pass just cause eviction law. Photo Edwin Martinez
REBNY He did not comment on the accusations or on the blocking of the protesters at the entrance to his offices.
Data
- 12 people, including the Ombudsman, Jumaane Williams, were arrested
- $14 million in lobbying claims real estate agencies have spent to stop approval of housing protections
- Increase in affordable housing, approve eviction law only for just cause and increase in housing vouchers, protesters demand
2024-04-04 22:49:53
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