Res 0077-2022

Whereas, In March of 2020, former New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo, implemented an eviction moratorium to protect tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic; and Whereas, On January 15, 2022, incumbent New York State Governor Kathy Hochul failed to extend the New York Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, allowing the most expansive rent relief program in the state to expire; and Whereas, The rent moratorium prevented evictions during the public health crisis to avert rampant loss of housing and worsen the spread of COVID-19; and Whereas, Since the beginning of the eviction moratorium in 2020, there have been 82,525 eviction filings in New York City, according to Princeton University's Eviction Lab; and Whereas, Eviction case data from the Office of Court Administration indicates that 183,565 residential nonpayment cases are currently pending in the five boroughs; and Whereas, According to Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP), the average cumulative rent owed during the nearly two-year-long pandemic is about $20,000, and landlords are not likely to recover the money if they evict their tenants now, according to the executive director of CHIP; and Whereas, New York City has regained fewer than 6 of every 10 jobs it lost since the pandemic began, while the nation as a whole has regained more than 90 percent of lost jobs, according to The New York Times; and Whereas, One week after the expiration of New York's rent moratorium in January 2022, the Emergency Rental Assistance Program received roughly 2,000 applications in the first four days, according to its spokesperson, Anthony Farme; and Whereas, The New York tri-state area has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 in the nation, according to the Surgo Foundation's COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index; and Whereas, Other cities across of the country, such as Los Angeles, have instituted legislation to extend eviction moratoriums until December of 2022, highlighting the need for legislatures to further protects our most vulnerable communities and assist in the recovery of the COVID-19 pandemic; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, legislation reinstating and extending the eviction moratorium. AH LS #7180 3/17/2022 09:00 AM 1