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“Historically Black and Brown people have been locked out of owning land, and so if we own the land where particular buildings and or other services are operated, we have more of an opportunity to hold onto our resources and power within the community.”
The legislation would apply to both residential and commercial tenants who file a hardship declaration form with their landlord.
“All of this money, the $3.5 million in housing relief ultimately goes to landlords, we are helping them out.”
The first thing you notice when you meet Tim O’Neill is that his hazel eyes smile, forming warm half-moons just above the disposable mask the pandemic necessitates.
“Buying a new home should be a special achievement in a person’s life without the risk of becoming a victim of abhorrent discrimination.”
“We say that the rent eats first. People are prioritizing paying rent over paying for food, or for medicine that they might need like an inhaler or insulin.”
The December stimulus from Washington D.C. included about $1.3 billion in housing assistance for New York, with the bulk of the money left to the state to distribute.
“The data is clear – families of color, particularly African Americans, do not have equal access to mortgage lending in Buffalo compared to white households.”
“If I can’t maneuver the bathroom, that deems the entire apartment unlivable.”
The New York State Legislature places a moratorium on pandemic-related evictions, but admits it’s only a stopgap measure.
ALBANY, NY (WCNY) – Tenants in New York will be granted another reprieve in the new year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday, with an extension of an executive order that prevents landlords from evicting tenants who’ve faced financial hardship both during and before the COVID-19 pandemic. The extension, however, may be moot: Democrats in the state Legislature are considering a special session next week to codify and expand a moratorium on residential evictions. Details on what the Legislature may pass haven’t been released, and legislation hadn’t been introduced as of Wednesday afternoon. But Democrats who control both the state Senate and Assembly have been hinting at an end-of-year return to Albany for weeks now. Some of the state’s current protections for tenants expire on Jan.
“A lot of the landlords are small business owners or just mom-and-pop folks who may have a couple of that they picked up and they’re using it for side income.”
“Not only is a homeless encampment a violation of that homeless person’s dignity, it’s also a public health threat.”
“I want people to have fundamental stability in their lives. Nobody’s going to be evicted because of housing.”
“I got boxes I’m staring at every day. My kids are staring at it. They’re like, ‘When are we gonna find a place to go?’”
“When we have people who don’t stay in touch with us, or we knock on the door and they refuse to answer, or they tell us to our face, ‘I’m not going to pay, do what you’re going to do,’ that’s when it gets frustrating.”
The COVID Rent Relief Program provides a one-time rent subsidy, paid directly to landlords, based on the amount of income lost in the past four months.
Here’s something you may not know: People with disabilities are not guaranteed the right to live in the community.
“Should you be a broker that is involved in illegal steering, you will have your license pulled.”
Tenants’ rights groups protested in the Bronx and on Zoom Wednesday over what they fear is a looming housing crisis, for tens of thousands of out of work New Yorkers struggling to pay rent.
“Evictions are violence. They can mean the death of people and their families, especially during a health pandemic.”
Now that so many are working from home, more people are considering moving out of the city. The pandemic has sent enough New Yorkers to the exits to shake up the area’s housing market.
“In the sense that you can waive rent and you can not have consequences that are going to impact those same people that you are trying to help.”
“Low-income renters, in particular, are more likely to have all of their income earned in at-risk occupation,”
“They’re going to be flooded with evictions that happen all the time.”
“That will be a real-life economic benefit,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. He also ordered that only 25 percent of workers could be in the office, except for essential services.
The city of Reading has the highest eviction rate among Pennsylvania’s five largest cities
Senior housing, owner-occupied one-and two-family homes, and same-sex college dormitories and boarding houses are exempt.
The point-in-time count is done every year and is a requirement for some federal funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The number of people living on the streets and in shelters in a three-county area is down 6% in the calendar year that ended in September.
The $7.7 million project is funded mostly from the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
Ithaca residents have two choices for mayor this election. Incumbent Svante Myrick is running against challenger Adam Levine.
Most at the hearing oppose a proposed mixed income housing development.
“The ceiling heights were 4.5 feet to 6 feet tall on each level, depending on where you were standing,” says a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Buildings.
Under the old laws, a landlord could simply ask for late rent and that would be considered a legal warning. Now, a landlord needs to hire someone to serve a notice to a tenant.
“We look for places we where can get rapid results, this is one of those places, because of the cooperative spirit that is here and the very well defined problem.”
Last month, housing advocates in New York celebrated sweeping new laws that established rent control permanently. Now, landlords say rent limits are unconstitutional.
“We know that these abandoned homes dramatically decrease property values, they burden local governments, they threaten the safety of surrounding communities.”
“We’ll begin to reverse the tide of the last 25 years of the landlords having the advantage to having people not be priced out of their homes, pushed out of their homes, threatened out of their homes.”
“The proposal itself would really discourage real estate investment at a time when New York state should be creating more incentives to attract people, grow businesses, and investment opportunities not only locally but in the entire state.”
“I believe this is the best tenant protections they will pass,” Governor Cuomo said, “and I will sign it.”
The groups achieved some results: Senate Democrats announced they have agreed to the measures pushed by the groups.
“We’ll do whenever it comes together, with whomever it comes together with. We’re interested in getting the work done, and not so much, who does it first and who does it second.”
“New York is experiencing a true crisis in affordable housing and we must use every tool at our disposal to protect and expand our housing stock.”
“We believe very strongly that if you do not work together, tenants are going to be screwed. We have a governor who will do everything he possibly can to undo what we’re trying to do and water it down.”
If a proposed bill becomes state law … landlords may not be able to raise rents when tenants renew their leases. WXXI’s James Brown explains that and other potential changes to New York’s rent laws.
When a guest books a trip to New York through an online platform, these taxes would be automatically charged and collected.
A growing number of residents in New York City qualify for a first-in-the-nation program to provide free legal services to low-income tenants facing eviction.
Thousands of New Yorkers with severe mental illnesses won the chance to live independently in supported housing, following a 2014 federal court order. FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate what’s happened to people moved from adult homes into apartments and find more than two dozen cases in which the system failed, sometimes with deadly consequences.
Statewide rallies are being held weekly demanding the Governor increased state funding for mental health housing. The ‘Bring It Home Coalition’ is staging rallies each Thursday in Long Island, New York City, Syracuse and here in Buffalo, targeting state lawmakers.
Advocates for increased funding of mental health housing programs rallied in Syracuse and across New York State Thursday. They said there has not been a substantial increase in funding for more than 10 years.
As the partial government shutdown enters its fifth week, the effects are spreading throughout Southern Tier and Finger Lakes communities.
Food Business Pathways is a free course that gives low-income participants a leg up in turning their ideas into successful businesses through training, mentoring, access to services and space to sell.
BUFFALO, NY (WBFO) – Philip Smith is a physical education teacher in the Buffalo school system — and a longtime renter. But he wanted to build some capital, so he started looking to buy a house.
ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) – With over 2,000 zombie homes plaguing Rochester, Senator Chuck Schumer is calling on the federal government to renew vital approvals needed to continue work on these vacant homes.
A Purdue professor has found that rooms rented on sites such as Airbnb benefit white neighborhoods, but do less good for black and Latino areas.
A judge in New York said Trump Place, a condominium building on Manhattan’s West Side, can remove the Trump name from the building if enough residents agree.
ITHACA, NY (WSKG) – A Trumansburg carpenter has just begun to help with Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria.
HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) — A bipartisan group of state senators is plotting another attempt at legislation that has become something of a white whale in Pennsylvania — overhauling the property tax system.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is ordering local governments to move people who are homeless to shelter during cold weather. The executive order reinforces existing law that requires authorities to take people in for psychiatric evaluation, or hospitalization. Despite the announcement, local experts say it won’t have much effect in the Southern Tier. Binghamton YWCA director Carole Coppens says the region already provides room for everyone who seeks it in the winter. This “no freeze” policy from the Coalition for the Homeless of the Southern Tier runs on private donations.
Construction is underway on a new housing development in Ithaca’s Collegetown neighborhood. On a recent afternoon, a crew filled in the foundation for the future Collegetown Crossing. The building is set to open next summer with just under 50 apartments. It’s down the street from Cornell University, in a bustling area with several other student developments. Even more housing is needed in Ithaca, though.