"It is undeniable that housing costs are increasing for everyone, including owners, as the affordability crisis deepens. The solution cannot be to demand increased rent from tenants who are struggling to remain in their homes as it is. Rising, unpayable rents will do nothing to alleviate the costs incurred over the pandemic – rather, they will exacerbate the problem and escalate the mounting eviction crisis. The suggested increases have been unreasonable, untenable, and unacceptable – raising rents without raising wages would tax poor and working New Yorkers. The city and state need to support those who are struggling, such as through utility relief, not pass on the burden to tenants who have been left without a moratorium or good cause eviction protections.
"As the Rent Guidelines Board prepares to cast a preliminary vote this evening, I urge them to consider not only the costs, but the context of a pandemic that persists, even if some would prefer to pretend it doesn’t. In their vote which will affect the lives and livelihoods of so many New Yorkers, the board should continue the approach and trend of the past two years, as the economic and human impact of the pandemic continues."