Res 1840-2021

By Council Members Kallos, the Speaker (Council Member Johnson), Gibson, Cab�n, Rosenthal, Louis, Rose and the Public Advocate (Mr. Williams) Whereas, According to the 2017 New York City Housing Vacancy Survey (HVS), a little over two-thirds of New York City households rent their units; and Whereas, The 2021 Income and Affordability Study by the NYC Rent Guidelines Board estimated that 50.1 percent of renters in New York City (NYC or the City) are rent burdened, which means that they are paying 30 percent of their income towards rent; and Whereas, 26.2 percent of these rent burdened renters are considered to be severely rent burdened since they are spending 50 percent or more of their income towards rent, according to that same study; and Whereas, Tenants who are rent burdened or severely rent burdened could become homeless due to an unexpected financial setback, illness or personal crisis; and Whereas, Research from the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition, a tenant advocacy group, documented that there were 152,284 eviction cases in New York State on March 13, 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as of October 3, 2021, there were 224,341 active eviction cases; and Whereas, An increase in the number of evictions sought by landlords could be detrimental for many impacted renters and put enormous pressure on the City's homeless service programs; and Whereas, According to the Coalition for the Homeless, a homeless advocacy group, in the past few years homelessness in NYC has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s; and Whereas, As of August 2021, research from the Coalition of the Homeless showed 18,357 single adults and 47,979 households, including 14,881 homeless children, were sleeping each night in the City's shelter system; and Whereas, A report titled, "Turning the Tide on Homelessness in New York City" by the NYC Department of Homeless Services highlighted that New York City has more than 3.4 million housing units, however that many of these units are unaffordable to many low income and middle income families; and Whereas, That same report emphasized that the City's vacancy rate is 3.5 percent and the vacancy rate for apartments with a rent that costs $800 or less is 1.8 percent, which is a problem for a household searching for an affordable unit, and that the availability of affordable rental housing has not kept up with the City's need; and Whereas, A way to cut the proportion of people becoming homeless is by giving renters in NYC protections against unconscionable rent hikes and offering them a lease renewal option; and Whereas, A.5573, sponsored by Assembly Member Pamela Hunter in the New York State Assembly and companion bill S.3082, sponsored by State Senator Julia Salazar in the New York State Senate, would prohibit landlords from taking any action to evict, to fail to renew a lease or to remove a tenant from a housing accommodation unless it was done for a good cause; and Whereas, Under A.5573/S.3082, some of the proposed grounds for eviction would be narrowed to situations such as if the tenant fails to pay rent, conducts nuisance activities in the unit or on the premise, and if there are substantive lease violations; and Whereas, Cities such as Albany and Hudson have recently passed legislation that would prohibit eviction without a good cause, while cities such as Kingston, Poughkeepsie, New Paltz, Ithaca, Beacon and Newburgh currently have legislation pending in their respective jurisdictions; and Whereas, New York City needs A.5573/S.3082 to help provide some comfort and relief to its overburdened tenants; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, A.5573/S.3082, in relation to prohibiting eviction without good cause JLC/AS 12/14/21 9:57 a.m. LS 11358, 11360, 12813, and 16308