And in New York City, hundreds of housing rights activists and members of the Democratic Socialists of America came out in the freezing rain and snow Thursday night, calling for universal rent control. Protesters marched on Wall Street and in front of the nearby Real Estate Board of New York. Democracy Now! spoke with some of the protesters.

Delsenia Glover: “My name is Delsenia Glover. I’m executive director of Tenants and Neighbors. … What we are seeing is companies like Blackstone, for example, and what they are doing is buying up as much affordable housing as they can in New York and across the country. They buy this housing with people living in it. And they do that not for the intention of making that housing better for the people who live there. Their business model is predatory equity. Their business model is to displace the tenants who are there, so they can get more money.”

Erin Neff: “My name is Erin Neff. I am a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. … We’re calling for universal rent control, which would help the people of Queens, if Amazon was to move in. This would regulate all housing in New York City and New York state to keep housing affordable for people, so people can keep living in their homes when big corporations come in and try to push them out.”