Faced with the housing crisis that the Big Apple is experiencing, only comparable to the years of the Great Depression, leaders of the Make the Road New York (MRNY) community network marched this Wednesday to the offices of Governor Kathy Hochul in Manhattan to launch the platform: Freedom to stay, Freedom to prosper.
In summary, this is a new campaign for state legislators and the New York president to move forward as soon as possible in approving three laws, which at this time would be vital to give respite to immigrant communities and the working class of New York.
None of the legislative proposals are new. But all have been stuck for years in the deliberations of state elected leaders.
In this sense, Yatziri Tovar, spokesperson for MRNY explained that the objective of this new action is to send a clear message about the demand of thousands of long-term immigrants and recent arrivals, to obtain some incentives to stay in New York, in a moment where the costs of income continue to expel the working class.
“We are telling the governor that the law for A Good Cause, Health Insurance for All and the Unemployment Bridge must be approved. These are programs that would give great oxygen to thousands of people who are fighting to survive and continue living here,” Tovar explained.
They go up and up
The horrific housing crisis is defined at the end of 2023, with disproportionate increases in real estate rent, evictions of families for not being able to pay the increases, tenants living in dilapidated buildings with many defects, discrimination in renting to certain groups and also the amount of immigrant families trapped in the municipal shelter system, unable to take a step towards their own home.
The cost of rent and other basic needs have risen to unprecedented levels in recent years. Today, 1 in 3 New York City households spend at least half of their income on rent and there were nearly 90,000 homeless people in September 2023.
“Rent goes up and up and people suffer and suffer!” was the slogan of nearly a hundred protesters in downtown Manhattan, to show the state authority the “keys” that could open the door to certain regulations, that would put a stop to the freedom that landlords have to increase rents disproportionately.
The experience of Colombian Margarita Castillo, a Queens resident, is that many of her neighbors in their 20s and 30s in New York are almost packing their bags in the face of warnings of rent increases.
“In some cases, landlords paint the hallways and make minimal non-structural repairs. And that is why they want to increase $500 and $600 for units, which are not controlled or regulated. They are throwing out the poor of New York. That is the truth,” highlighted the immigrant.
According to real estate platforms, the average rent for a very small apartment, with a single room, and even a single room, exceeded $2,500 at the end of 2023. In Manhattan the average rent exceeds $5,000 and in parts of Queens There is already talk of an average income of $3,601.
Mexican activist Victoria Galeana resents that in addition to evictions and rent increases, some groups are evidently discriminated against, not only because of their race, but also because of their sexual identity.
“In the case of us trans women, it is very difficult for us to rent an apartment. The landlords discriminate against us, they think that we are automatically going to practice prostitution. For 17 years here, I have only been able to rent, because I have had the support of my friends and family. “That is a terrible form of violence,” Victoria reacted.
The three laws:
- The Coverage4All bill would open the Essential Health Insurance Plan to cover New Yorkers earning up to 250% of the federal poverty level, regardless of their immigration status.
- Approximately 5 million renters have no protection against exorbitant rent increases and evictions. The For A Good Cause bill would put some limits and prevent the most vulnerable people from being displaced from their homes.
- The Unemployment Bridge Program would establish a permanent base of unemployment insurance that excluded workers who currently pay taxes could access.