Queens officials call for renter protection
The eviction moratorium is set to expire on Aug. 31, leaving many renters uncertain
BY JULIA MORO
Renters are facing uncertainty
as the eviction moratorium
expires next month. Queens
lawmakers are urging the governor
to take action to protect
New Yorkers.
The New York state freeze
on evictions expires on Aug. 31.
This moratorium has been extended
several times throughout
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,
but officials have not
indicated there will be another
extension.
Over $2 billion in rental assistance
funds have been given
to New York in the December
2020 coronavirus relief package
and the American Rescue
Plan. Tenants can request this
relief through the Emergency
Rental Relief Program (ERAP)
application process, and eligible
applicants can receive up to a
year’s worth of unpaid rent and
utilities.
However, these funds have
not been distributed to renters
yet.
Congresswoman Carolyn
Maloney wrote a letter to Governor
Andrew Cuomo urging him
to protect renters and expedite
rental assistance.
“I am not confident that
funds will be distributed in
time to protect the hundreds of
thousands of New Yorkers who
are at risk of eviction, causing
additional stress for these
households,” Maloney said in a
statement.
According to Maloney, about
120,000 applications were submitted
in the first 30 days since
the applications to receive the
federal relief opened in June.
As a result, Maloney suggested
that Cuomo extend the
eviction moratorium until the
federal funds have been disbursed,
which would avoid
mass evictions in August.
“The Governor has taken
decisive action up to this point
to protect renters, and I hope he
will continue to do so,” Maloney
said. “Quick disbursement of
these funds will help renters
and landlords alike.”
According to the National
Equity Atlas, 831,000 households
are behind on rent in
New York state, with over $3
billion estimated total rent
debt. Though there has been
economic progress amidst the
pandemic, Maloney said people
are still worried about losing
their homes.
“Kicking people out of their
homes will only harm our
health and economic recovery,”
Meng intros bill to help parents return to work post-COVID
14 TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | AUG. 6-12, 2021 BT
Maloney said.
State Senator Michael Gianaris
agreed with Maloney.
“Especially in light of troubling
delays in distributing
rental assistance funds, the
eviction moratorium should
be extended beyond Aug. 31 to
keep people in their homes and
prevent mass eviction crisis,”
Gianaris said.
Councilman Robert Holden
has also expressed his support
for renters but didn’t say the moratorium
should be extended since
landlords are struggling, too.
“While tenants have been at
risk throughout the pandemic,
so are small landlords — many
of whom are seniors who depend
on rent as their primary
income,” Holden said. “Their
desperate situation must also be
considered. The state needs to
process applications and get the
emergency relief funds to tenants
who need it more quickly, so
both landlords and tenants can
be helped out of this pandemic.”
On the other hand, Assembly
member Jessica González-
Rojas said she supported the
cancellation of rent before the
federal government stepped in
and provided economic relief to
the state.
“I would support the legislature
reconvening to legislate
extending the eviction moratorium
until at least the end of
the year,” González-Rojas said.
“The reality is that ERAP, like
many of the programs by the
state, has not been effectively
rolled out. New Yorkers need
time and real relief.”
Cuomo has not yet extended
the eviction moratorium but
recently announced a streamlined
application process for the
rent relief program to eliminate
barriers for eligible New Yorkers
to receive funds.
Reach reporter Julia Moro
by e-mail at jmoro@schnepsmedia.
com
Photo via Getty Images
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Congresswoman Grace
Meng introduced a new legislation
that aims to promote
family-friendly policies in the
workplace in order to help parents
who were forced to leave
their jobs due to the COVID-19
crisis return to the workforce.
Since the beginning of the
coronavirus outbreak, many
parents have been forced to
leave the workforce in order
to meet the unprecedented demands
of caregiving, remote
schooling, housework and
other family responsibilities.
This has especially impacted
mothers, particularly moms
of color, as there are about 2
million fewer women — including
1 million fewer moms
— in the labor force than
there were before the pandemic
began.
Meng’s bill, the Honoring
Family-Friendly Workplaces
Act, seeks to motivate businesses
to provide a healthier
and easier work-life balance
for hardworking families.
“We must do more to promote
positive work environments
so that working
parents are able to return
to the labor force as soon
as possible, and my legislation
would be a major boost
in implementing policies to
help in that critical effort,”
Meng said. “Working parents
have faced enormous challenges
during the pandemic,
and we must make sure that
their working environments
are well suited for them as
they make their way back
to the workforce. We cannot
leave working parents out of
our nation’s recovery as we
rebound from the pandemic.
We must assist them so that
they can resume and advance
their careers and once again
receive a paycheck without
sacrificing the needs of their
children and families.”
Specifically, Meng’s measure
would direct the U.S.
Department of Labor to establish
a national certification
program that recognizes
exemplary family-friendly
business policies. It would
recognize and incentivize employers
who commit to helping
employees better juggle
their family obligations and
work responsibilities.
“Nobody should have to
choose between their work or
their family,” Meng said.
This certification program
is intended to be similar
to the EPA’s ENERGY STAR
program that helps consumers
identify energy-efficient
products. It would evaluate
businesses on a number of
policies, including paid sick
days for workers; child care
subsidies; lactation support;
reasonable accommodations
for pregnant employees; assistance
paying for or referring
workers to fertility or
adoption services; paid family
leave of at least 12 weeks
per year; and/or, and flexible
hours — or remote work policies
— once parents return to
work after a birth, adoption
or foster care placement.
The Honoring Family-
Friendly Workplaces Act,
which has 14 cosponsors, has
been endorsed by the National
Partnership for Women
and Families, Marshall Plan
for Moms, MomsRising, Women’s
March and the National
Asian Pacific American
Women’s Forum (NAPAWF).
It follows the Marshall Plan
for Moms, a measure Meng
introduced in February that
provides a framework to revitalize
and restore mothers in
the workforce.
Read more at QNS.com.
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4526.
Photo via Getty Images
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