New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and 12 tenant advocates were arrested Thursday afternoon during a protest outside the headquarters of the Real Estate Board of New York.
Williams and around 200 protesters from tenant group Housing Justice for All took up position outside REBNY’s Midtown Manhattan headquarters at 570 Lexington Ave. to ask state legislators to support rent stabilization, tenant protections including good cause eviction, and statewide right to counsel.
“We are blocking the entrance to REBNY just as they have blocked real tenant protections from being enacted in Albany through their disingenuous lobbying and spending,” Williams said in a statement. “Stable housing is essential to public safety — yet when New Yorkers ask for this kind of support, those pleas are rarely heard by those in power.”
The New York Police Department made the arrests early Thursday afternoon. A spokesperson for the NYPD declined to comment to Bisnow.
NYPD is ARRESTING TENANTS + @JumaaneWilliams just for standing up for housing justice.
— Housing Justice For All (@housing4allNY) April 4, 2024
Real estate has taken over New York. Evictions are violent and we will NOT BE SILENCED. pic.twitter.com/KLHitL0BpQ
Housing Justice for All chose REBNY’s offices to call attention to state policies that favor requests from the real estate industry over tenant demands, a spokesperson for the tenant advocacy group told Bisnow by phone.
“Year after year, tenants are seeing our leaders stand with the real estate industry instead of with tenants,” the Housing Justice for All spokesperson said. “Tenants have been calling for good cause for five years now and have been seeing rents get higher and higher.”
A REBNY spokesperson told Bisnow in an email that it supports tenants’ rights to express their views on public policy, but declined to comment on their criticisms.
“We remain focused on advancing policies that meaningfully address the housing crisis New Yorkers face every day,” REBNY spokesperson Christoper Santarelli said.
The arrests come at a critical point in the debate over the future of housing in New York, as state legislators and the governor needed an extension on the April 1 budget deadline as negotiations continue.
Renter protections are on the table as part of the deal reportedly in progress, as is a new tax abatement for apartment construction, tweaks to the state's rent stabilization laws and increases to density limits for multifamily in the city, The City reported.
Thursday’s protest took place just hours after reports that a housing deal may be close in Albany. The state’s provisional new deadline to pass a budget and reach a housing deal is April 8, The Associated Press reported.
NYC continues to face a housing supply and affordability crisis, as rents remain near record highs. Developers say that a lack of subsidy is preventing them from building more housing, while tenant advocates are pushing for more protections from evictions and rent hikes.
