DSA lawmakers in New York demand new state eviction moratorium
BY ARIEL PACHECO
Six Democratic Socialists of America
(DSA) lawmakers are demanding the
state legislature reconvene to pass a
new eviction moratorium. This comes in
response to the Supreme Court’s decision
to issue a temporary injunction against
New York’s eviction moratorium.
State Senators Julia Salazar and Jabari
Brisport, along with State Assembly members
Phara Souffrant Forrest, Marcela
Mitaynes, Zohran Mamdani, and Emily
Gallagher released a joint statement calling
for an emergency session to pass a new
eviction moratorium.
“In light of Friday’s Supreme Court
decision, we are urging the legislature to reconvene
an emergency session to pass a new
eviction moratorium. Rent relief distribution
has thus far been inadequate, and COVID-19
continues to spread at an exponential rate.
We are therefore certain that allowing these
tenant protections to lapse will threaten the
safety and security of hundreds of thousands
of New Yorkers,” the statement reads.
The Supreme Court had blocked a section
of New York State law last week that
prevented evictions from happening during
the pandemic. Thousands of eviction cases
will now be allowed to move forward leaving
many at risk of being evicted sooner
than expected.
People camp out on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to highlight the upcoming
expiration of the pandemic-related federal moratorium on residential
evictions, in Washington, D.C.
The court’s order focused on the state’s
policy that allowed for tenants to selfconfi
rm they have experienced hardship
due to Covid as opposed to having to show
evidence. This scheme violates the Court’s
longstanding teaching that ordinarily ‘no
man can be a judge in his own case,’” the
court said in their decision.
The statewide ban on evictions was initially
supposed to be in effect through the
end of August. Top House Democrats like
PHOTO BY REUTERS
Nancy Pelosi and Cori Bush were asking
President Joe Biden to extend the Federal
moratorium until October.
Now, people in New York State who
have been served an eviction notice within
the last 30 days can be evicted because of
the Supreme Court’s decision.
“We call on our colleagues in the legislature
to return to session and pass a
moratorium that is not subject to the current
injunction—and one that lasts until
at least June 2022. This new moratorium
must protect tenants and allow New York
to address the colossal failures evident in
the Emergency Rental Assistance Program
(ERAP),” they said.
As elected offi cials, we supported the
creation of ERAP as an easily accessible
program, and it is disgraceful that one of
the last acts of the Cuomo administration
has been to render it nearly impossible for
struggling tenants and landlords to receive
aid. A new eviction moratorium must address
the signifi cant barriers in the ERAP
program and create a streamlined, accessible
application process,” the statement
continues.
The socialist lawmakers also said the
state must do everything in its power to
ensure that everyone living in New York
State can remain in their homes, during
the pandemic and beyond.
“This includes passing Good Cause Eviction
protections, providing adequate subsidies
through the Housing Access Voucher
Program, and allocating additional funds to
social and public housing,” the statement
continued.
Salazar, who spearheaded the statement,
could not be reached for comment as to
whether the group would also seek for
residents to show proof that COVID-19
affected their ability to pay rent rather than
just to self-confi rm.
De Blasio: COVID-19 vax mandate for public school teachers not off table
BY ALEJANDRA O'CONNELLDOMENECH
Mayor Bill de Blasio isn’t taking
a vaccine mandate for public
school teachers off the table just
yet.
“We are looking at all options,” de Blasio
said in response to a Politico reporter’s
question on whether he was coming closer
to issuing a mandate to teachers. “Stay
tuned because we’re going to keep looking
at each and every tool we need to use when
we need to use it.”
The comment comes in the wake of Chicago
and Los Angeles imposing a vaccine
mandate for teachers and other schoolbased
staff as well employees at each cities’
education department. As of now, New
York City is requiring all City employees,
including teachers, be vaccinated before
students’ return to classrooms on Sept. 13
or undergo weekly testing.
But critics argue the City’s current policy
for teachers does not do enough to assuage
fears about the coronavirus’ delta variant
among parents and colleagues. On Monday,
de Blasio reported 1,637 new cases of the
virus based on a seven-day rolling average
Ariel Quero, 16, receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against
COVID-19 at a vaccination clinic at Lehman High School in the Bronx, July 27.
and 126 people hospitalized with possible
COVID-19 symptoms.
So far, about 60% of all public school
teachers have received at least one dose of
a COVID-19 vaccine, de Blasio said last
month.
Last school year, public schools largely
did not turn into COVID-19 hotspots but
infections still occurred in and around
DAVID DEE DELGADO
classrooms. As the City continues to fully
fl esh out what health and safety protocols
will look like in schools this fall, Dr. Robyn
Gershon, professor of clinical epidemiology
at New York University’s School of Global
Public Health, says requiring that teachers
be vaccinated before being allowed to
return to work would serve as a safety net.
In particular, Gershon added, for older
educators or instructors with underlying
health conditions who might be at higher
risk of getting sick from the virus and not
yet vaccine-eligible children.
Currently, only children 12 years old and
up are eligible to get the Pfi zer-BioNTech
vaccine. And out of all public school
children eligible to get the vaccine only
about 40% have done so, according to
City offi cials.
“It’s just an extra layer of protection,” Gershon
said about a possible vaccine mandate.
She added that parents and other teachers
should view a COVID-19 vaccine as just another
addition to the vaccines public school
students and educators are required to get.
And even if the risk of infection is not
great, City offi cials and school communities
should do everything in their power to protect
the most vulnerable, one public school
social worker told amNew York Metro.
“Even if it’s a tiny number of cases that
we can prevent through having everyone
vaccinated, we should do it,” said Justin
Spiro, a social worker at a public school in
Queens referring members of school staff.
“Our goal is, after 18 months of chaos, to
make the school year as normal and as
healthy as possible.”
18 August 19, 2021 Schneps Media