New York ended its eviction and foreclosure moratorium on Saturday, and there are reportedly at least 291,000 pending cases in housing courts that will begin hearings on Tuesday.
New York instituted an eviction moratorium in March 2020 by then-Governor Andrew Cuomo and has been extended regularly since then, but current government Kathy Hochul has refused to do so.
The significant economic aid program was implemented at the start of the pandemic. Its end sets the stage for potential rush by landlords to try to oust low-income renters.
State and city officials expressed concerns earlier this week about the impact of ending the moratorium, estimating that 500,000 New Yorkers were in need of housing assistance at a time when social distancing’s fast-spreading Omicron The versions became hits. and sustained economic life.
Protesters took to the streets of the Big Apple on Friday to demand an extension of the moratorium on rent evictions.
It is unacceptable to initiate eviction proceedings against 250,000 people in New York State during the winter season. And there is still a pandemic going on. This is just unacceptable,’ said protest organizer Sarah LaZuy.
People take part in protest against the end of the eviction moratorium which is about to expire
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest against the end of an eviction adjournment
Jumane Williams, a former Brooklyn council member and gubernatorial candidate himself, said, “You can’t let a moratorium end in the middle of winter during a COVID surge.”
When it was first established, New York was the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States. The expansion also took place after federal eviction restrictions and moratoriums ended in other states.
The city of nine million has had at least 34,000 deaths during the pandemic.
As in previous days, protesters waved banners and raised slogans in front of the New York Public Library.
One banner reads, ‘Housing is a human right’, while the other has a picture of Hochul with ‘Governor of eviction’ written on it.
“It’s going to be deep in New York,” said Ellen Davidson, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society. ‘We expect case filings to explode and housing courts are struggling to operate the way they did, pre-COVID.’
‘With thousands of women and children of color being evicted by their landlords in New York City, our shelter system is about to end up on the streets. And that’s probably not right,’ said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
While many landlords can move to evict tenants immediately, Governor Hochul said tenants can effectively avoid eviction by applying for a tenant relief program, even if the program has ended.
Rental and property prices are particularly astronomical in Manhattan and Brooklyn, which is one of the downsides of daily life in the economic and cultural capital of the United States.
New Mayor Eric Adams has made the fight against New York’s massive socio-economic inequalities one of his priorities.
Mayor Eric Adams speaks during the press conference on the end of the eviction moratorium. Mayor Adams joins other politicians in calling on the Federal Treasury to release more money to help tenants and landlords pictured Thursday
People take to the streets to protest after a gathering at Bryant Park in Manhattan
On Thursday, Adams joined Hochul and asked the federal government to provide an infusion of funding for the program, arguing that the United States’ most populous city hasn’t received its fair share of federal rent relief. ,
Adams also started a campaign to inform tenants of their rights. In a recorded video message, Meyer insisted that it was illegal for landlords to lock tenants out of their homes and that all New Yorkers could receive free legal aid.
Landlords have filed 81,530 evictions in New York City since March 15, 2020 Princeton University Aviation Lab, which has compiled data on 31 cities.
It was not clear how many of these cases would now progress and how many new cases would emerge.
Davidson said New York was particularly vulnerable compared to other states because it has a relatively high percentage of renters, many of whom are in low-income homes.
She said the state had been ‘shortened’ by the federal relief program, which was based on population rather than percentage of renters.