‘We’re clearly not ready yet’
Shelter-in-place order extended, but mayor says nonessential businesses could reopen in June
BY MARK HALLUM
Governor Andrew Cuomo
may not be canceling rent as
activists across the state have
sought, but he is putting further
restrictions on the penalties
for not paying the landlord.
During Thursday’s COVID-
19 briefing, Cuomo said not
only can a tenant not be evicted
during his earlier announced
moratorium, but late fees cannot
be incurred from non-payment
of rent until Aug. 20. The
moratorium was originally
scheduled to expire in June.
“We’re going to take additional
steps to ban any late
payment fees because a person
could not pay rent during this
time, also allowing people to
use their security deposit as a
payment and they can repay it
over a period of time,” Cuomo
said. “I hope it gives families a
deep breath.”
While Cuomo stressed the
importance of protecting tenants
as “most vulnerable,”
property owners were also in
mind, he said.
“I get it, there’s a tradeoff,”
Cuomo added. “We’re working
on relief from the banks for the
landlords also and there are
programs that the federal government
and the state is doing
to make sure those banks get
relief so they don’t have to do
any foreclosures.”
As part of the larger awareness
around the need for rent
forgiveness, two New York
lawmakers are attempting to
have a bailout for landlords as
a result of potential cancelations
to rent.
Congresswomen Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and Grace
Meng have called for the creation
of a Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) fund that
would reimburse landlords for
the cost of cancelling rent in
TIMESLEDGER |12 QNS.COM | MAY 15-MAY 21, 2020
the next stimulus package as
the pandemic progresses and
prevents many from going to
work.
“For families with little to
no savings to fall back on, this
has been, and will continue be,
catastrophic as they try to keep
food on the table, cover the cost
of prescription drugs, or meet
other expenses. Further, as
state unemployment systems
face an unprecedented and
overwhelming demand, millions
more are expected to lose
their sources of income,” according
to their letter to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate
Majority Leader Mitch Mc-
Connell.
The proposal in the letter
would also stop foreclosures
for landlords by establishing
mortgage forgiveness during
the COVID-19 crisis.
On April 16, state Senate
Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris
aimed to cover both tenant
and landlord hardships as
well by asking the governor
to act before the issue took it’s
natural course: defaulted payments.
“It has been clear for weeks
now that rents cannot be paid
with money that doesn’t exist
and therefore, rent will be cancelled
whether or not we authorize
it by law,” Gianaris said in
a statement. “I urge Governor
Cuomo to implement an executive
order to cancel rent obligations
and bring stability to the
housing market before it devolves
into a full blown crisis.”
Cuomo acknowledged that
the administration did not
know what to expect as the
extended moratorium was to
expire on August 20, but that
they would cross that bridge
when they get there.
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
The city could consider
reopening some nonessential
businesses June if the number
of novel coronavirus cases continue
to go down, Mayor Bill de
Blasio said on Monday.
“We have our daily indicators.
The state has their daily
indicators. We are all working
together. They’re all valuable
measures — by both sets
of measures, we’re clearly not
ready yet,” said Mayor Bill de
Blasio during his daily coronavirus
press conference.
During the conferences,
Mayor de Blasio updates the
city on three numbers that
his administration is using to
track the progress of the novel
coronavirus. The number of
people admitted to the hospital
suspected of contracting the virus
dropped from 69 on May 8
to 55 on May 9, according to the
mayor’s office.
The number of people testing
positive for the virus also
dropped from 17 percent on
May 8 to 13 percent on May
9, and people currently in an
intensive care unit suffering
from suspected novel coronavirus
complications slid from
540 to 537 on those same dates,
according to the mayor.
During his coronavirus
press conferences, de Blasio
has repeatedly said decreases
in those three categories need
to be sustained for 10 days and
two weeks before the city would
consider easing up on social distancing
measures or reopening
nonessential businesses.
“I think it’s fair to say that
June is when we’re potentially
going to be able to make some
real changes, if we can continue
our progress,” said de
Blasio.
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s
March-issued New York On
PAUSE Order is set to expire
on May 15 but on Sunday the
Governor issued an executive
order extending the legal authority
of the shelter-in-place
Photo via Flickr/Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi ce order until June 6.
Governor Andrew Cuomo provides a coronavirus update during a
press conference in the Red Room at the State Capitol.
Mike Groll/Offi ce of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Cuomo extends eviction
ban through Aug. 20
/QNS.COM
