Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined fellow borough presidents in asking the state to extend the eviction moratorium (Queens Borough President Office)
Jan. 10, 2022 By Allie Griffin
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined three other borough presidents in a joint call Friday demanding the state and state legislature extend the eviction moratorium.
Richards together with Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso issued a joint statement calling for the extension of the eviction moratorium beyond its Jan. 15 expiration.
They said New Yorkers must not be booted from their homes at a time when COVID numbers are surging. They also want an extension to the commercial eviction moratorium that also expires Jan. 15.
“The moratorium on residential and commercial evictions in New York State has become a lifeline for New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19, and an essential tool to help keep New Yorkers safe and housed during this pandemic,” the borough presidents said in a joint statement. “It must be extended.”
They noted that many of the active residential eviction cases are pending in communities of color — which have also been among the hardest hit neighborhoods by the pandemic. The areas are home to many “underpaid and underserved” frontline workers.
There are more than 200,000 active residential eviction cases currently open in NYC housing court — 17 percent of which are in Queens, according to the Manhattan Borough President’s office. The vast majority are open in eastern Queens, southeast Queens, upper Manhattan, the Bronx and central Brooklyn.
(Manhattan Borough President’s Office)
“We can expect that these communities will be the first to feel the negative repercussions of the expiration of this moratorium, and we cannot allow that to happen while COVID-19 case rates are at an all-time high,” they said in the joint statement.
The borough presidents cited data that shows many of the neighborhoods with a high number of pending eviction cases also have some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in the city.
They said preventing mass evictions is crucial to avoiding over-crowding in congregate shelters where COVID-19 can spread rapidly.
The state has extended the moratorium before.
Last year it was set to expire Aug. 31. However, both houses of the state legislature held extraordinary sessions and passed a bill extending it through Jan. 15. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the legislation.
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12 Comments
Since NYS and NYC are overwhelmingly controlled by one party, this policy would probably have no net effect on the political situation. Assuming that these new voters will support the party and vote for more public assistance. The more concerning aspect is that it would set a precedent for other communities to further erode citizenship.
The people that made up New York City of the 60’s,70’s 80’s 90’s have left…for greener pastures. Think about it…. There are few foods that taste good reheating them once taken out of the oven. Based on the current trajectory, It will be a long time before New York City regains the honor and glory it once held in the past….
Dan – Which history book are you reading from? I was here in all the decades you mentioned and wasn’t all roses just like this decade won’t be all bad or roses. The 60’s and 70’s saw population flight and a rise in crime. The 80’s and 90’s saw the crack epidemic and rise in violent crime. The good old days are a myth. Unless of course it’s a white thing you’re talking about.
You really are obsessed with Fox
Again please take your meds
You are a fraud
Nyc is filled with renters, many of whom have lower end jobs and can’t afford to buy or they wouldn’t be renters. Nyc is the unskilled labor magnet. We have rent stabilized apartments with succession rights, a cheap mass transit system that can get you every where, lots of lower income perks , lots of lower end jobs, ethnic neighborhoods where one can live with their own, etc . So with most renters here renters for financial reasons this is not a bad place to be, especially when you qualify for stuff..Makes sense to look out for the renters and secure future votes.
What are the rules for succession rights?
For rent stabilized tenants, it is possible for a person who is an occupant in an apartment leased to a family member to become a tenant (succeed) after the primary tenant leaves if the family member lived in the apartment for two years or more prior to the tenant’s departure, or since the beginning of the tenancy, or since the commencement of the relationship. If the person asserting succession rights is disabled or at least 62 years of age then the period of co-occupancy is only one year.
The minimum periods of occupancy are not considered interrupted by military duty, enrollment as a full-time student, court ordered relocation (not involving the lease or grounds for eviction), temporary relocation because of employment, hospitalization or other reasonable grounds as determined by NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) on application.
It is also possible for a member of a “non-traditional” family to gain control of the apartment if he/she can show “emotional and financial commitment.” Courts may consider the following:
longevity of the relationship,
sharing of household expenses,
intermingling of finances such as credit cards or bank accounts,
engaging in family type activities together,
formalizing legal obligations through such things as wills, powers of attorney, domestic partnership declarations etc.,
holding themselves out as family members in public activities,
regularly performing family functions for each other.
For more information on succession, see HCR’s Succession webpage and HCR Fact Sheet #30: Succession Rights.
A very good explanation of rent stabilization as nothing more than vote buying utilizing other people’s money. This scam was set up to protect residents in a post WWII housing shortage. It should have died on the vine a long time ago. But, free stuff is free stuff.
Just turn empty offices and hotels into homeless shelters.
Pray that this passes or thousands of children will be at risk of being homeless, living on the streets and at risk of catching covid.
And then in the spring they will extend it thru the summer. Enough already.
Julie Won please call on leaders to cancel rent. We need help.
No you need a job, possibly two. Move somewhere you can afford otherwise.