Categories: U.S. and Canada

Housing is a human right! Fight! Fight! Fight!

New York

It was a spirited rally in City Hall Park, April 28, which expressed the anxiety that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are feeling about their homes and caught the attention of the press. The rally called by Community Action for Safe Apartments featured Chinese, Spanish and English speakers, and it was militant.

Tenants, with signs against Mayor Eric Adams, rally against spikes in stabilized rent in New York City, April 28. WW Photo: G. Dunkel

Nearly a million apartments in New York City are covered by rent stabilization, which means their landlords are limited in raising the rent when the lease expires. This is the largest concentration of stabilized rental units in the United States.

The Rent Guideline Board (RGB), nine people appointed by the mayor, sets the rates. For the past decade, they have ranged from 0% to 1.5% for a one-year lease and no more than 2.5% for a two-year lease.

The RGB currently is considering raising the rates by 4.5% for a one-year and slightly less than 9% for a two-year.

There are at least 190,000 eviction cases in NYC courts, which are backed up because of moratoriums imposed while COVID-19 was raging. It’s clear that the sharp increase in rent proposed by the RGB will drastically increase the number of evictions.

The RGB will make its final decision by the middle of June. The struggle is not over, and it definitely will grow.

G. Dunkel

G.Dunkel@workers.org

Share
Published by
G. Dunkel

Recent Posts

Israeli cyberattack on Lebanon is terrorism

Workers World condemns in the strongest terms the Sept. 17 terrorist act of the Israeli…

September 18, 2024

Is China a socialist or an imperialist country?

Sept. 15 – An ideological assault on China is taking place that cannot be fought…

September 18, 2024

Split verdict finds Uhuru 3 not guilty of being ‘Russian agents’

Sept. 16, 2024 — In a closely watched case of U.S. federal political speech persecution,…

September 18, 2024

33,000 Machinists strike at Boeing

Seattle Some 33,000 in the International Association of Machinists District 751 walked out at midnight…

September 18, 2024

Resistance groups denounce Israel’s cyberattack on Lebanon

The following statements condemning Israel’s cyberattack in Lebanon by detonating thousands of pagers were posted…

September 17, 2024

Harris auditions for top warmaker

Vice President Kamala Harris’s performance Sept. 10, in what may be her only presidential debate…

September 17, 2024