TENANTS & NEIGHBORS STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR HOCHUL’ FY 2022-2023 EXECUTIVE BUDGET
New York, NY – RealEstateRama – NYS Tenants & Neighbors released the following statement in response to Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget proposal.
While we acknowledge Governor Hochul’s commitment to guiding our state through pandemic recovery, her Executive Budget fails to include comprehensive investments to end the homelessness crisis and ensure low and middle income New Yorkers have access to affordable housing. Instead, the governor’s budget highlights already exacerbated ERAP funds and plans to continue subsidizing market-rate housing under a new name for 421a, the tax giveaway that if eliminated can help fund much-needed initiatives to create affordable housing.
It is unconscionable that Governor Kathy Hochul’s budget ignores the needs of over 92,0000 homeless New Yorkers, the 600,000 households with rental arrears due to COVID19 related economic hardship, and over 220,000 tenants facing eviction cases in Housing Court.
Tenants & Neighbors member Alicia Barksdale, whose landlord has refused to accept her ERAP funds, said the state must do more to ensure tenants stay in their homes. “People are scared because if they don’t receive ERAP, they could lose their homes. People are still waiting for relief and a chance to catch up.”
More than 1 in 4 low-income tenants are behind on rent since the beginning of the pandemic. We anticipate that eviction filings will drastically increase —disproportionately affecting Black and Brown women — without a moratorium and no Good Cause protections.
Stabilizing working-class, immigrant, and diverse communities of color mean we invest in permanent protections to maintain people in their homes.
That is why Tenants & Neighbors endorses the people’s budget by the Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican and Asian (BPHA) Caucus. This budget includes policies that will preserve affordable housing and protect those most in need, such as Good Cause Eviction, the Housing our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA), the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), and the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP).
About Tenants and Neighbors: Tenants & Neighbors is a member-led organization building power to protect and preserve affordable housing in New York. We do that via base building, grassroots community education, and leadership development. We help tenants organize at the building and community level to preserve at-risk affordable housing developments and also organize broader campaigns to strengthen tenants’ rights laws.
Contact: Abby Ng, Policy & Communications Coordinator | 212- 608-4320 ext. 301 | 
