Here in New York, housing activists are demanding passage of a tenants’ rights bill that would require landlords to provide “good cause” for evictions. The Good Cause Eviction bill would bar landlords from removing a renter without a court order and would give tenants the right to renew a lease in most cases. It would also cap rent increases for existing tenants. About 100 lawmakers have co-sponsored the bill, which is stalled in Albany pending the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and other Democratic leaders. This comes as New York officials allowed a moratorium on evictions to expire Saturday — even as daily COVID infections reached their highest level of the pandemic. On Friday, police arrested at least 16 protesters who blocked a busy intersection near Governor Hochul’s Manhattan office.

Raquel Namuche: “I am prepared to do whatever it takes to help protect my neighbors who are most at risk of being homeless because the governor won’t act to provide stronger tenant protections to tenants.”

Alexis LaFrese: “People are dying, and Governor Kathy Hochul is doing nothing about it. And until she does something, we will not stop.”