(New York) Tiffany Khan has always made a point of paying her rent on the eve of the new month. However, for the first time in her life, this Brooklyn native, now living in Harlem, has not paid her owner her due. In this 1is May, so she took part in one of the biggest rent strikes in New York history.
Posted on May 1, 2020 at 12:00 a.m.
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“I pay a rent of $ 2,400 per month for a small apartment,” said Tiffany Khan, who lost her job on March 19 at a school exam preparation center, on the phone. “Like most New Yorkers, I spend a higher percentage of my income on my rent than elsewhere. And now, with COVID-19, my world is crumbling on all sides. I never thought I could one day participate in a rent strike. “
Cea Weaver, coordinator of the Housing Justice for All coalition, estimates at least 57 the number of buildings where tenants will go on rent strike in New York City as of this Friday, and more than 12,000 the number of New- Yorkers who have pledged to participate.
A number that does not include all the new unemployed New Yorkers who, without even being aware of the call to strike, will not be able to pay their rent in May, for lack of money. Last April, the real estate industry feared that 40% of New York’s 5.4 million renters would not pay their rent. This month, that percentage is expected to increase, and not just in the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Rent strikes are also planned in other American cities.
Cancellation of rents
“There is no recourse for these people,” laments Cea Weaver during a telephone conversation. “By calling for a rent strike, we are raising the importance of this issue to call on the governor to take urgent action. “
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo already announced in mid-March a three-month moratorium on evictions of residential and commercial tenants. Tenants’ advocacy groups are now asking it to go further by suspending the right of landlords to collect unpaid rents since mid-March, until further notice. They also advocate postponing mortgages that homeowners have to pay.
PHOTO MIKE SEGAR, REUTERS
Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State
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But Cuomo says the moratorium on tenant evictions has settled “the rent issue.” For his part, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, considers the rent strike to be a very bad idea. Opinion fully shared by the owners’ representatives.
We’re going through a chaotic situation and the last thing we need is more chaos, which will come with a massive strike.
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Jay Martin, Director of the Community Housing Improvement Program
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The strikers are counting at least on the support of New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who participated in a virtual assembly on the subject Monday evening.
“People don’t go on strike because they don’t want to pay their rent,” she said. People are going on strike because they cannot pay. You can’t force someone to do something they can’t do. There is no money in the bank. People need to feed their children. They cannot be kicked out. “
One step from the street
In this context, Ivan Contreras considers himself lucky. The community organizer for Woodside, in the Borough of Queens, is still healthy and still receives a paycheck. Which will not prevent him from going on a rent strike.
“I will do it out of solidarity,” he said in an interview via Zoom, explaining that he will put his rent money aside until the end of the strike. “I am in the epicenter of the epicenter of the pandemic. The Hispanic community of Queens is one of the hardest hit by COVID-19. We not only have one of the highest death rates, but also one of the highest unemployment rates. People call me and ask me: “Ivan, what are we going to do? We don’t have the money to pay the rent. ” “
Faced with this problem, a three-month moratorium on tenant evictions is far from sufficient, according to the community organizer.
In June, people won’t have the $ 7,000 or $ 8,000 they owe their owners. They are now one step away from being in the streets. And this is where they will end up if the rents are not waived.
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Ivan Contreras, community organizer
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Ivan Contreras will lend his modest help so that the strike achieves its objective. In the meantime, Susanna Blankley, coordinator of the Right to Counsel NYC coalition, is already claiming a triumph.
“This will be the biggest rent strike in New York since 1930,” she said, referring to a successful mobilization of thousands of Harlem and Bronx tenants against crooked and neglectful landlords. ” 1is May is just the beginning. We expect many more New Yorkers to join us next month. “
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