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western Queens go on rent strike
QUEENS WEEKLY, MAY 10, 2020 solved the issue. The CARES
Act, the federal COVID-19
stimulus package passed in
April, gives landlords with
federally-backed multifamily
mortgages a 90 day
forbearance. This means
landlords with a mortgage
insured or guaranteed by
the federal government can’t
evict a tenant for not paying
rent for the next three
months.
During his daily press
briefings on May 1, Cuomo
acknowledged the protests
by tenants and landlords’
fears that without rent, they
won’t be able to pay mortgages
and maintenance.
“What we’re doing is no
one can be evicted for nonpayment
of rent between
now and June, period. That
is the law until June,” Cuomo
said. “Between now and
June, we’ll see what happens.
We’ll figure it out.”
But, many lawmakers
and community leaders
don’t think this helps renters.
City Council introduced
a package of bills on April 22
that included protections for
renters for the remainder of
the pandemic and beyond,
including extending time
for all NYC renters to repay
rent, blocking evictions
and collection of debts until
April 2021, and protecting
tenants from COVID-related
harassment and discrimination
— all sponsored by
Speaker Corey Johnson.
According to 6sft news,
the Real Estate Board of
New York (REBNY) recently
called Johnson’s legislation
illegal and asked for help to
defeat the bill.
Senate Deputy Leader
Michael Gianaris has led the
call for a tenant and mortgage
cancellation at the Senate
level with his bill S8125A,
co-sponsored by Senator Joseph
Addabbo, which would
suspend and forgive rent for
certain residential tenants,
small business tenants and
certain mortgage payments
for 90 days.
He’s received support
from fellow Queens lawmakers
including East
Elmhurst’s Senator Jessica
Ramos, and Astoria Assembly
member Aravella Simotas
and Jackson Height’s
Assembly member Michael
DenDekker who are sponsoring
the Assembly’s version
of the bill, A10224A.
He’s even received support
from former Vice President
Joe Biden and Senator
Bernie Sanders.
“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.
“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.”
According to Data for
Progress’ surveys conducted
with The Justice Collaborative,
76 percent of poll
respondents support some
versions of suspending and
forgiving rents for residential
tenants.
Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced
H.R. 6515: the Rent
and Mortgage Cancellation
Act to enact a national rent
and mortgage suspension in
response to the coronavirus
pandemic. Queens Rep. Carolyn
Maloney is co-sponsoring
the bill.
Queens Rep. Grace Meng
also introduced the Rent
and Mortgage Cancellation
Act, which would offer full
forgiveness of payment with
no accumulation of debt for
renters or homeowners and
no negative impact on their
credit rating or rental history.
Queens Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, who is also
co-sponsoring Rep. Omar’s
bill, offered a solution during
a virtual town hall with
Housing Justice for All on
April 27.
“People aren’t striking
because they don’t feel
like paying rent, people are
striking because they can’t
pay rent,” Ocasio-Cortez
said. “Often times the first
reaction is, ‘What about
the landlords, what about
people with mortgages?’
One thing you can do is suspend
mortgage payments for
three months, tack that on
to the end of the repayment
period. So let’s say you have
a 10-year mortgage, just suspend
it for three months and
make it a ten year and three
month mortgage, so that you
just make three additional
payments at the very end.”
Ocasio-Cortez said landlords
could take that suspension
time to cancel the
rent of any tenants in their
building, so those tenants
don’t have to pay it back and
“it does not create an additional
financial liability on
that landlord.”
Contreras said what matters
most is what happens after
the 90-day moratorium.
“We understand it’s intersectional.
There are small
landlords too that will be
significantly affected, so go
ahead and cancel that too,”
Contreras said. “We need to
focus on what’s important
now, which is preserving
lives. I don’t want to believe
they’re going to allow this
massive chain of evictions
to happen.”
Immigrant and
undocumented
communities at
greater risk
Yvelisa Silva is a tenant
of one of the 10 buildings
in Cosmopolitan
Houses in Woodside going
on rent strike. Cosmopolitan
Houses are made up of
five-story, brick buildings,
most of which are affordable
housing with a majority
Latin or Hispanic residents.
“There is no work, no
money to pay rent and eat.
People are worried about
dealing with sick family
members in small spaces.
It’s an uphill battle. People
are very afraid,” Silva, who
was born in Venezuela and
has lived and worked in
NYC for more than three
decades, said in Spanish.
According to the Association
for Neighborhood
and Housing Development,
“New York State’s
renter population is disproportionately
Black and
Latinx,” who were already
disproportionately rent
burdened.
Additionally, many of
New York City’s undocumented
workers and their
families — approximately
738,000 New Yorkers, including
218,000 children —
didn’t qualify for previous
federal stimulus checks or
unemployment benefits,
leaving them at higher
risk for contracting the virus
as they look for work to
pay their bills.
Some of the most impacted
neighborhoods in
Queens — Jackson Heights,
East Elmhurst, and Jamaica
— have greater populations
of Black and Brown
individuals who are foreign
born. Many of them
are also essential workers.
NYC’ Department of
Health data shows COVID-
19 deaths have been disproportionately
higher in
Hispanic, Latin and Black
people.
Silva noted many undocumented
immigrants
in her neighborhood are
particularly struggling.
“It’s worse for them because
they don’t have benefits,
but they should because
they also pay taxes,”
Silva said.
When asked about the
rent strikes happening
on May 1, Cosmopolitan
Houses General Manager
Steve Stadmeyer told QNS
they are focused on providing
essential services
to their residents while
keeping them and their
staff safe. He said they’ve
retained 100 percent of
their employees.
“Our office staff is answering
calls and emails
from home. In addition to
addressing maintenance
and other concerns, they
are working with residents
who have been impacted
by COVID-19 by directing
them to programs that
may help them,” Stadmeyer
said. “Building porters
and handymen are working
every day in the epicenter
of this pandemic.
It means a lot to us that
we have been able to keep
them working. We are
grateful that the majority
of residents have continued
to pay their rent because
it allows us to keep
our buildings clean and
residents and staff safe
during these challenging
times for our community.”
But Silva, who is 66
years old and a member
of Woodside on the Move,
said that even before the
pandemic, they’ve been
fighting landlords who
make them pay extra for
their property maintenance.
And now, she understands
there may be even
more tenants who cannot
pay rent due to the unprecedented
loss of income or
because they’ve been infected
with the virus.
“There are many people
feeling hopeless, many
psychological problems
arising. We will see a lot of
that,” Silva said. “Our people
are used to buscarsela
working hard for what
they need. It is not easy to
see your bills without being
able to pay them. That
frustrates us all.”
But Silva has faith
things will get better, if
Cuomo and elected officials
act now.
“I love New York City,”
she said. “I hope things get
better. We’ll be OK.”
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities members hold up “Cancel Rent” signs in Korean, Chinese and Bengali.
Courtesy of CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities