[[link removed]]Dear John,

There aren’t many things more cruel than evicting families into homelessness in the middle of a pandemic. Yet that is exactly what we are facing when housing courts reopen around the country and here in NYC. New York state’s freeze on evictions, which expired last night, appears to have been extended by the courts until September 4. But this last minute reprieve from immediate evictions proceedings restarting isn't the way we should be addressing the looming eviction crisis.

The Legal Aid Society anticipates that 14,000 New Yorkers [[link removed]] may face evictions immediately when housing courts restart proceedings. With the federal unemployment benefits expiring, many more may follow. Nearly 46% of New Yorkers [[link removed]] are vulnerable to eviction. The eviction crisis isn’t new, of course (as Matthew Desmond and the Eviction Lab [[link removed]] have taught us), but what we are facing now is a crisis of pandemic proportions.

The response at the state and federal level has heightened confusion and anxiety for the millions of people who can't pay rent.

Advocates have been out at the courts every morning this week protesting (following the example [[link removed]] of protesters in New Orleans and elsewhere who blocked housing courts from reopening earlier this week). I joined the Crown Heights Tenants Union and the Housing Justice for All Coalition on Tuesday at housing court in downtown Brooklyn on Tuesday, and they were out there again today.

The short term answer should be clear: extend the eviction moratorium. Not in a haphazard way that applies to some and not others and allows evictions cases to be filed against tenants, but a real full, longer term moratorium that could relieve some of the stress for families trying to keep afloat during this crisis.

Governor Cuomo’s full eviction moratorium expired in June, when the state legislature passed the “Tenant Safe Harbor Law,” a weaker provision that gives tenants a defense in court for nonpayment due to COVID, but still allows eviction cases to be filed and keeps tenants on the hook for back rent. The courts offered some relief by keeping cases from moving forward, until that freeze was scheduled to end yesterday. Cuomo signed an executive order last night allowing the courts to extend that freeze for another 30 days, but today, we’re still awaiting more details and guidance from the courts. No one will be evicted right away, but the rent they aren’t able to pay will keep piling up, more eviction cases will be filed, and it’s not yet clear whether the courts will allow new cases to proceed to the hearing stage.

Today is also the last day to apply [[link removed]] for New York State’s modest state rent relief program [[link removed]] that aims to pay part of the rent for a very limited group of tenants who face high rent burdens and have lost income during the pandemic.

In a country with minimally sane and competent leadership, of course, the pandemic proportions of this crisis would be addressed at the federal level, with a national eviction moratorium, pressure on banks to address mortgage payments, rental assistance, renewed unemployment and stimulus payments, and more. Sadly, we don’t live in such a country. One more reason why November 3rd and (kinahora) January 20th can’t come soon enough.

In the meantime, the State Legislature and the Governor must take more aggressive action.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie is pushing legislation [[link removed]] that would establish a full eviction moratorium that would last as long as this crisis does and extend for a full year after the state of emergency as people rebuild their lives and the economy. The state legislature should pass it.

Renters who can’t pay rent now are unlikely to be able to find the money to pay the rent that is piling up later, so some kind of rent forgiveness, cancellation, or relief will be needed. The state could pass Senator Julia Salazar’s bill to cancel rent with support for small landlords, or the federal government could step in with rent assistance and pressure on banks to renegotiate mortgages to lift the burden on landlords.

Governor Cuomo has steadfastly opposed any form of raising taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers to pay for COVID-19 relief for excluded immigrant workers or fill budget gaps, claiming that it would push those people to leave the city permanently. But nearly 1 in 5 New Yorkers are out of work, and tens of thousands are excluded from unemployment insurance and federal relief. Earlier this week, Governor Cuomo told reporters that he was talking to people in their Hamptons homes “all day” [[link removed]] and that taxing them would push them away.

If the governor won't support a millionaires tax, maybe he could at least use his “call time” to organize house-swaps. Instead of higher taxes, those who have second homes in the Hamptons could give their NYC residence to New Yorkers facing eviction and homelessness.

We’re going to have to get a lot more creative. While they aren’t organizing house-swaps for billionaires, Barcelona is requiring landlords to rent vacant units [[link removed]] , or else the city will seize them to rent out at half of market value as social housing. I’ve reached out to our friends from Barcelona En Comu (building on their “Fearless Cities” [[link removed]] conference in 2017 and some joint housing policy work [[link removed]] we started afterward), and I hope to hold a webinar with them later this summer on bold action cities can take.

Leaving tens of thousands of New Yorkers on their own to face eviction is not the only option. Another housing policy world is possible.

Brad

In this email:
Updates and Resources
Upcoming Events

Updates and Resources

*
Latest
Virus
Results:
There
were
333
new
cases
identified
yesterday.
We
have
lost
23,563
people
in
NYC
from
the
virus,
and
226,914
total
cases
have
been
identified
in
the
city.
Currently,
the
percent
of
tests
that
came
back
positive
remains
low,
1.0%
as
of
yesterday.


*
Storm
Damage:
300,000
New
Yorkers
lost
power
during
the
storm,
the
strongest
since
Hurricane
Sandy
eight
years
ago.
Con
Edison
is
working
to
restore
power
to
the
70,000
households
still
in
the
dark.
More
than
20,000
trees
were
downed
around
the
city,
taking
power
lines
down
with
them.
If
there
are
still
trees
down
in
your
neighborhood,
report
them
to
311
here
and
also
let
us
know
so
we
can
follow
up.


*
Assistance
for
Renters:

*
NYS
Rent
Relief
Program:
Apply
here
[[link removed]]
.
DEADLINE
TODAY.


*
Free
Legal
Support:
Call
311


*
NYC
Rental
Assistance
Programs:
More
info
here
[[link removed]]
.




*
Parent
Survey
on
Remote
Learning
due
tomorrow:
Here’s
the
form
[[link removed]]
to
opt
into
fully
remote
learning.
With
no
good
answers
from
the
City,
the
best
option
will
be
different
for
every
family.
The
city
announced
that
there
will
be
a
dedicated
contact
tracing
team
[[link removed]]
for
schools
this
fall,
one
of
the
many
demands
that
teachers
have
made
for
better
safety
protocols
if
schools
are
to
reopen
this
fall.
The
City’s
plans
for
this
fall
still
leave
many
questions
and
uncertainties,
and
a
lot
of
anxiety
for
parents
and
teachers.
Join
us
tonight
[[link removed]]
to
talk
about
pushing
for
schools
to
have
access
to
more
outdoor
space.


*
Checkpoints:
The
Mayor
announced
that
the
City
is
setting
up
checkpoints
for
vehicles
at
entrances
to
New
York
City
to
help
encourage
compliance
with
the
state's
14-day
quarantine
order
for
people
who
have
visited
one
of
the
35
designated
states
where
risk
of
COVID-19
transmission
is
high.
Keeping
our
transmission
rates
low
is
important,
but
it
is
hard
to
see
how
random
checks
of
cars
and
travellers
wont
be
a
recipe
for
racial
profiling.
We’ll
be
watching
to
see
how
this
program
rolls
out.



Upcoming Events

Tonight, August 6, 7 PM: Outdoor Schools Organizing Townhall. Sign up here [[link removed]] .

Join us to connect with parents, teachers, and advocates to organize for schools to be able to use more outdoor space and share creative ideas and resources for outdoor learning already being developed in schools around the city.

Mondays, August 17, 10 AM: Prospect Park “It’s My Park” Clean Up Day

Both Prospect Park Alliance and NYC Parks have lost critical funding, and the park's seasonal workforce is significantly smaller compared to previous years. Join me to help pick up trash and clean up the park. Sign up here [[link removed]] to join at 10 am on 8/17 or any other Monday in August.

Thursday, August 20, 5:45 PM to 8:00 PM: Census Phonebank. Sign up here [[link removed]] .

The Trump administration is cutting short the time for canvassing for Census responses, but NYC is still really behind and facing the risk that communities of color will be seriously under counted. Join us to call New Yorkers in neighborhoods with low response rates to make sure everyone is counted.

456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-499-1090
[email protected]

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