FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 25
Biden pledges ‘bold action’ on climate change after touring Ida-ravaged Queens nabe
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
President Joe Biden visited
New York City Tuesday, Sept. 7,
touring a section of Queens that
was among the worst hit by the
remnants of Tropical Storm
Ida last week.
Biden walked an
alley near 88th
Street and Astoria
Boulevard in
East Elmhurst
with local electeds,
Newest eviction moratorium takes eff ect as Hochul signs special session bill
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@schnepsmedia.com
@robbpoz
Lost amid all the fl ash fl ooding news,
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the newest
eviction moratorium extension into law on
Sept. 2 — giving debt-riddled tenants a 4
1/2-month reprieve.
“Th e pandemic has created unimaginable
anxiety for families and business owners
who have lost income and are struggling
to pay the rent every month,” Hochul
said in a Sept. 2 statement. “To help remedy
the Supreme Court’s heartless decisions
striking down the New York and
the Biden administration’s moratoriums
on evictions, we are enacting a new moratorium
on residential and commercial
evictions and extending the protections
of New York’s Safe Harbor Act to Jan. 15.
Th ese steps will alleviate the crisis facing
vulnerable New Yorkers who are suff ering
through no fault of their own.”
Th e moratorium, which fi rst began at
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic
in March 2020, expired on Aug. 31, and
Hochulcalled the state Legislature back
into session on Sept. 1to pass legislation
extending the eviction ban once more.
Th e decision comes as the state government
has taken much criticism over its slow
distribution of $2.6 billion in federal funds
through the COVID-19 Emergency Rental
Assistance Program (ERAP). Just $156 million
of the proceeds has been allocated since
June 1, even though more than 160,000
New York residents have applied for aid.
Th e governor’s offi ce reported that, as of
Aug. 31, more than $1.2 billion in funding
“has either been obligated or distributed”
through the ERAP program. Th at includes
more than $300 million in direct payments
to 23,000 landlords across New York state.
Under the new moratorium extension,
Hochul said, ERAP applicants will
be automatically protected from eviction
while their application is pending; they
will receive a year of eviction protections
should they qualify for fi nancial aid.
Th e new moratorium also includes new
requirements designed to address legal
challenges raised in the Supreme Court’s
ruling last month that put an end to the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s national eviction
ban.
New York tenants must
make a hardship declaration
in asking to be
spared eviction under
the moratorium,
explaining the
source of their
current hardship.
Landlords will
be able to contest
such declarations
with a court
hearing.
Additionally, the moratorium still
empowers landlords to seek the removal
of tenants who fail to submit the written
declaration, damage property or create
conditions that become “safety or health
hazards” for other tenants.
New York also created a new $250 million
Supplemental Emergency Rental
Assistance, half of which would be provided
to households whose income exceeds
80% of the area median income; and the
other half going to landlords
whose tenants refuse
to participate in the
program, or who
have vacated the
residence while
in arrears.
The legislation
which
extended the
eviction ban
also places a
moratorium
on residential
foreclosure
p r o -
c e e d -
ings homeowners and small landlords
with 10 or fewer dwellings; and extended
the moratorium on commercial evictions
and foreclosures for small businesses with
100 or fewer employees. Th ose who seek
relief under these moratoriums must also
demonstrate fi nancial hardship.
Lawmakers supporting the eviction
moratorium hailed the decision as a
boon for renters and smaller landlords
alike.
“We’ve worked hard to ensure that the
fi nancial burden on tenants and landlords
is lift ed, through generously funded,
eff ective relief programs, and to protect
small businesses,” said state Senator
Brian Kavanagh. “Today, as COVID-19
continues to be a threat to the health and
wellbeing of New Yorkers throughout the
state, we are taking decisive, comprehensive
steps to extend and strengthen the
pillars of our legislative strategy to keep
all New Yorkers safe.”
“Th is legislation is as much health
policy as it is economic policy, and we
must do everything we possibly can to
keep New Yorkers safe amidst a surge in
the delta variant,” added Assemblyman
Jeff rey Dinowitz. “Th is law will help
thousands of families keep a roof over
their heads and doors open for
small businesses as the state works
to improve and streamline the ERAP
program and we all work together on a
recovery from this deadly pandemic.”
where
fl oods rose dangerously
high
during the recordshattering
rainfall last
week, and the commander
in-chief said
that now is the time
for “bold action”
to combat climate
change, which has
made extreme weather more frequent
and ferocious.
“My message to everyone grappling
with this devastation is: We’re here,
we’re not going home until this gets
done — I really mean that,” Biden told
reporters. “We’re not leaving, we’re
going to continue to shout as long as it
takes to get real progress here.”
“We have to take some bold
action now to tackle the
accelerating eff ects of climate
change,” he said.
The neighborhood
suffered catastrophic
fl oods when the storm
hit the Big Apple
on the night of
Wednesday, Sept.
1, killing 13 people
citywide, and Biden
said seeing the damage
fi rst-hand in the
working-class, immigrant
neighborhood
was an “eye-opener.”
“Th is is America, where I’m standing
right now. Th ese are the people… who
built this country and it’s about time we
step up,” he said. “Th ey’re always the fi rst
ones that are hurt and the last ones that
are helped, but that’s not gonna happen
this time.”
Th e extreme weather has also caused
at least $50 million in damage to public
infrastructure and property when it
hit the city on the night of Wednesday,
Sept. 1, and more than 1,200 homes were
damaged due to the record-shattering
downpour of rain, according to state and
federal experts.
Th e president pushed for lawmakers
in Congress to pass the infrastructure
bill and the budget reconciliation legislation
to boost the country’s infrastructure,
citing his own Build Back Better
proposal.
“You can’t build what it was before this
last storm, you gotta build better so if the
storm occurred again, there would be no
damage,” he said. “Folks, we’ve gotta listen
to the scientists, and the economists,
and the national security experts. Th ey
all tell us this is code red. Th e nation
and the world are in peril, and that’s not
hyperbole, that is a fact.”
Biden’s administration approved a
Major Disaster Declaration on Sept. 6
unlocking a boost in federal storm recovery
aid to local governments and directly
to New York City residents through the
Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA).
Th e fi nancial support includes repairs
or replacement of people’s property damaged
in the storm; moving and storage;
medical, dental, and child care; crisis
counseling; unemployment assistance;
and legal services.
He arrived at JFK Airport Tuesday
morning and traveled to meet with leaders
in New Jersey, before returning to the
Big Apple to visit Queens with Governor
Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and
other local politicians.
To apply for federal assistance related
to Ida, go to disasterassistance.gov or call
1-800-621-FEMA.
Photo by Mike Groll/Hochul’s offi ce
Governor Kathy Hochul signs legislation extending the Emergency Rental
Assistance Program at the Executive Mansion in Albany.
Photo by REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
President Biden speaks at an alley in East
Elmhurst, Queens, on Sept. 7.
/disasterassistance.gov
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