This week, nearly 60 Local Progress members from across New York sent a letter to Governor Hochul, along with legislative leadership in Albany, demanding the passage of Good Cause Eviction protections (S305/A4454). New York’s housing crisis is at a tipping point, with evictions rising in 40 of the state’s 62 counties and average rents across the state ranking among the top ten in the nation. The letter from Local Progress members across the state comes at a pivotal time during budget negotiations, as state leaders in Albany are considering several options to address the state’s ongoing affordability crisis.
“While the City of Kingston has adopted the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which covers approximately 1,200 apartments, 80% of City renters are still without tenant protections,” said Kingston Council & New York Local Progress Organizing Committee Member Michele Hirsch. “We need our state representatives to support Good Cause Eviction as it’s written. We need Good Cause eviction as a right and not an opt-in. We need Good Cause to pass in Albany this year because there is no end in sight to our housing crisis here in Kingston”.
This letter also follows years of action by local leaders and Local Progres members to address the housing crisis across New York. Three cities – Newburgh, Nyack, and Kingston – have declared a “Housing Emergency,” freezing rents and creating a rent stabilization scheme for hundreds of buildings. Woodstock, Saugerties, and New Paltz have all placed restrictions on short-term rentals to tackle the proliferation of Airbnb in upstate communities and open up new housing stock. Additionally, Albany, Beacon, Poughkeepsie, and Newburgh have all passed their version of “Good Cause” locally, but state courts struck them down, underlining just how critical state action on this issue is.
As stated in the letter, Local Progress Members are deeply opposed to any effort to create a piecemeal approach to renter protections in New York. An “opt-in” model would force cities across New York to pass opt-ins (in many cities that have already passed Good Cause protections or resolutions in support), delaying critical protections for millions of renters while their rents continue to increase. A new report from Housing Justice for All shows that any patchwork model of Good Cause could leave as many as 67% of renters unprotected from eviction. Local leaders have also criticized restrictions on limiting these protections to real estate portfolios above a specific size, as such a provision would be nearly unenforceable with limited available ownership data.
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