Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the following statement on Governor Cuomo's decision to expand the Tenant Safe Harbor Act rather than extend a true eviction moratorium in New York State, with an executive order which will not adequately protect tenants struggling amid a pandemic and economic crisis from being evicted.
"On the first of the month, rent checks across the city are due, and the eviction moratorium has been allowed to expire. The Governor's half-measure of expanding the Tenant Safe Harbor Act is not a true moratorium on the eviction process, a process that will now begin to target tenants left with inadequate legal protection. Without a true moratorium, eviction cases can still be filed and advanced, and the burden will fall to tenants to prove they are eligible to stay in their homes, a burden which may prove too much for some of the vulnerable populations in our city and state which have already felt immense pain in this pandemic.
"The Governor's executive order seems to demonstrate a greater interest in securing headlines than housing security - I hope that's not the case. With COVID-19 cases once again rising, it's imperative that he reinstate a true moratorium to keep New Yorkers in their homes - renters and homeowners alike - and cancel rent to keep New Yorkers from greater hardship."