Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, MAY 21-27, 2021
By Judith Goldiner &
Ellen Davidson
After living in his apartment
for 10 years, “John” –
a Legal Aid client and Section
8 voucher recipient
who is partially blind and
reliant on a portable oxygen
tank to breath – was
evicted from his home.
His landlord’s motive
in seeking his eviction?
Retaliation in response to
John’s complaints to the
City about insufficient
heat in his unit during the
cold winter months.
After a fruitless search
for a new apartment, John
had no choice but to move
into a homeless shelter.
John’s story is all too
common. Without a right
to remain, critical legislation
pending in Albany, it
is impossible for tenants in
unregulated units to assert
their rights without risking
eviction.
Even before COVID-19
hit, our clients in these
units experienced constant
anxiety about whether they
would be able to remain
in their homes. Then the
pandemic ushered in an
era of disruption unseen
in living memory, pushing
countless families already
facing housing insecurity
deeper into instability.
Many of these families now
face the grim prospect of
losing their homes.
Without right to remain
legislation, they likely
will.
COVID-19 has starkly
revealed how critical it
has become to protect tenants
in unregulated units
from unjust evictions. As
we slowly emerge from the
pandemic crisis, state lawmakers
must take stock of
New York’s housing policies
and protections in order to
stave off another burgeoning
crisis: a potential deluge
of evictions once evictions
moratoriums lift.
New York’s eviction moratorium
– recently extended
through August 31st –
serves the immediate goal
of keeping tenants in their
homes, but simultaneously
delays a reckoning of
what must be done to avert
looming disaster. In other
words, the moratorium is
a short-term solution, but
we need a long-term strategy
to tackle this mounting
crisis. While landlords
are currently restricted
from filing evictions
against tenants demonstrating
pandemic-related
hardships, the moratorium
can’t address the backlog of
missed rent payments that
will now serve as grounds
for eviction the moment it
is lifted.
Legislators must face the
truth: without a realistic
plan to address the fallout
when the eviction moratorium
ends, countless tenants
across the state will
lose their homes.
That’s where the “Right
to Remain” movement
comes in.
The “Right to Remain”
bill (S3082/A5573), grants
tenants in unregulated
apartments the right to a
renewal lease, forbids landlords
from “unconscionable”
rent increases, and
prevents arbitrary evictions
– all crucial protections
in New York’s post-
COVID housing landscape.
In a clear concession to the
depth of the housing crisis
across the nation, California,
Oregon, Washington,
New Jersey, and other
major states and cities
have already given tenants
and communities the right
to remain.
The movement is overwhelmingly
popular among
voters. A recent poll conducted
by Data for Progress
shows that roughly 70%
of New Yorkers support
tenants having a right to
lease renewals and limits
in rent increases, protections
afforded by the
“Right to Remain” bill.
Recently, multiple mayoral
candidates and 52 New
York City Council candidates
endorsed S3082/
A5573 legislation (formerly
known as the “Good
Cause” bill) by taking a
local pledge of support.
The COVID-19 pandemic
has laid bare the
depth of the housing crisis
across New York. We
urge lawmakers to take
decisive action and pass
Right to Remain legislation
to ensure that those
who have already lost their
livelihoods don’t also lose
their homes.
Judith Goldiner is the
Attorney-In-Charge of the
Civil Law Reform Unit at
The Legal Aid Society.
Ellen Davidson is the Staff
Attorney with the Civil
Law Reform Unit at The
Legal Aid Society.
By Mildred Augustin
One of the enduring lessons
of the pandemic should be that
childcare is an essential service
and those who provide it have
been undervalued for too long.
This is a reality I have known
firsthand, as owner and operator
of a home-based childcare
business in the Bronx for the
past 18 years.
My business is licensed by
New York State to serve 16 children
and employ two staffers.
Thanks to training, technical
assistance, and other resources
I receive from the nonprofit
Women’s Housing and Economic
Development Corporation
(WHEDco), I have transformed
my home daycare into a
school-like setting where children
learn and play through
exploration.
Thousands of childcare providers
like me across the city
not only create nurturing environments
for early learners;
we give working parents the
opportunity to pursue employment
during daytime hours.
As such, we have always been
essential to our city’s economy,
but that became even more
clear during the pandemic.
When New York shut down,
we kept our doors open, caring
for the children of essential
workers. We even accommodated
school-aged children to
give them safe places to learn
remotely when schools closed.
Yet, despite our critical
work, childcare providers barely
scrape by. Most children in
home-based programs come
from low-income families
whose childcare is covered by
state subsidies. Providers are
paid based on enrollment and
attendance, but the state-set
rates do not reflect the true
cost of providing quality fullday,
full-year care and education.
This reality, too, was
laid bare during the pandemic
when enrollments and revenues
declined, overhead costs
for things like PPE and cleaning
supplies increased, and
government aid was insufficient.
Sadly, many of my fellow
childcare providers were forced
to close.
Enrollment in my program
declined to just one child during
the height of the pandemic.
Fortunately, WHEDco
stepped up with health and
safety resources, as well as virtual
trainings and connections
to grant funding for providers
in its network, allowing
many of us to make it through
the darkest days of the pandemic.
Today, my enrollment
is back up to 10. But nonprofits
can only do so much, and the
already vulnerable childcare
sector was brought to the brink
by COVID.
I am encouraged that the
2022 New York State budget
includes a $5 billion investment
in childcare through state and
federally funded initiatives –
with some directly supporting
childcare providers. It’s a sign
that our leaders have learned
how essential childcare – and
those who provide it – are.
Hopefully, it’s a lesson they
never forget.
Mildred Augustin runs a
home-based childcare business
in the Wakefield section of the
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Time to protect unregulated
tenants from eviction
New York needs to stay
invested in childcare
Photo via Getty Images
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