McKee's Media - 2/15/2021

 

ARTICLES OF INTEREST TO TENANT ADVOCATES

(excerpted from Michael McKee's emails)

HOUSING POLICY Jose Lopez & Barika Williams: NYC needs an Integrated Housing Plan to end homelessness & promote racial equity (Gotham Gazette OpEd) Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani: How socialists solved the housing crisis (The Gravel Institute) (VIDEO) (MUST VIEWING) HARDSHIP DECLARATIONS NEEDED TO HALT EVICTIONS TIL MAY 1 Emma Whitford: Few tenants have filed anti-eviction hardship declaration, stirring unease (Law360) Claudia Irizarry Aponte: NYC families caught in rent assistance Catch-22 sue to sidestep state blockade (The City) HOUSING DISCRMINATION Nick Reisman: State senate passes housing discrimination bills (NY State of Politics) TAX THE RICH! Nick Reisman: Fiscal Policy Institute releases new report says taxing the rich can spur recovery (NY State of Politics) Michael Kink & Becky Saletan: The Wall Street tax New York needs now (Daily News OpEd) Emilie Munson: Pelosi rebuts Cuomo's claim that pending federal aid shortchanges New York (Albany Times Union) Spectrum News: Protesters across the state urge Cuomo to support the Invest in Our New York Act (VIDEO) 13WHAM: Protesters call for NYS to help New Yorkers facing homelessness, addiction (VIDEO)

Landlords hail relief bill as end of "cancel rent"

 The Real Deal

Newly amended legislation would distribute $1.3B in federal funds

New York /

By Georgia Kromrei

EXCERPT:

A newly amended bill aims to meet the federal requirements for the rent-relief program, which include means-testing and priority for tenants who demonstrate housing instability or risk of homelessness.

Facing eviction for nonpayment or holdover? File a hardship declaration!

 https://www.evictionfreeny.org/en/

Protect yourself from eviction in New York State

You can use EvictionFreeNY.org to send a hardship declaration form to your landlord and local courts— putting your eviction case on hold until May 1st, 2021.  [Otherwise your case could start after Feb. 26, 2021.]

15th Annual West Side Tenants' Conference Dec. 5 and 6, 2020 - on line

This weekend:  Join the Annual West Side Tenant Conference on Zoom - and listen to a mayoral candidates debate.  

McKee's Media Noc. 20, 2020

 

EXCERPTED

ROCHESTER EVICTIONS WHAM-TV: After physically blocking eviction, CityWide Tenant Union demands Mayor Lovely Warren stop all evictions in Rochester (VIDEO) WHEC-TV: Rochester tenants, housing advocates call for end to evictions during pandemic (VIDEO) RENT STRIKES City Limits: A look at rent strikes in NYC, as housing relief legislation lags CITY SUES BKLYN LANDLORD New York Post: NYC sues Brooklyn landlords who tried to evict tenants during pandemic STATE BANS SUITS AGAINST FREE SPEECH BY TENANTS & OTHERS Ryan Tarinelli: New state law strengthens & expands statute curbing SLAPP lawsuits (New York Law Journal) ZONING / DEVELOPMENT Christine Chung: New York City Council candidates split on Flushing waterfront development plan (The City) ENVIRONMENT, COVID, AND CITY HOUSING Christopher Werth: Pandemic has thrown a wrench into NYC's enforcement of lead paint poisoning prevention law (Gothamist/WNYC) (AUDIO) Greg Smith: NYCHA boss says OK to independent study of how aging ventilation systems affect COVID spread in public housing (The City) Sam Raskin: De Blasio signs bill requiring carbon refit for some rent-regulated buildings (New York Post) Clayton Guse: MTA plots steep NYC subway, bus cuts amid COVID-19 budget crunch (Daily News) Jim Brennan: The state must step in now to avoid a mass transit apocalypse (Gotham Gazette OpEd) Richard Ravitch: The federal government must provide financial aid to states and municipalities (New York Times OpEd) BUDGET AND ETHICS Karen DeWitt: December session of state legislature has not been ruled out (NPR) (AUDIO) Joe Mahoney: $25K raise will make Andrew Cuomo the highest-paid governor in the U.S. (Niagara Gazette) Geoff Herbert: Cuomo says he will not take $25,000 pay raise in 2021 (Syracuse Post Standard) Chris Bragg: After approving Cuomo's book, ethics commissioners quash greater scrutiny (Albany Times Union) Samar Khurshid: Kallos proposes City legislation to tighten oversight of independent expenditures (Gotham Gazette) Chris Bragg: Fears of gridlock coming true for new state redistricting panel (Albany Times Union) Zach Williams: Several Assembly Committee chairs are open; Speaker Heastie is expected to appoint more women & people of color (City & State)

McKee's Media - Nov. 11, 2020

 

ARTICLES OF INTEREST TO TENANT ADVOCATES

Upstate Tenants Protest Evictions

Albany Times Union letter to editor: Small landlord says evictions are not the solution to pandemic crisis
CBS6 Albany: Tenants protest resumption of evictions outside Troy marshal's office
Matt Hunter: Citizen Action & VOCAL NY members protest against evictions in Troy (Spectrum News) (VIDEO)

Elections

Chris Bragg: Outstanding absentee ballots in contested state senate races offer clues to final outcomes (Albany Times Union)

Samar Khurshid: Brooklyn, Staten Island Democrats look to absentee ballots to overcome election night deficits (Gotham Gazette)

Shant Shahrigian: Candidates for 5 New York City Council seats start sprint to special elections (Daily News)

Denis Slattery: Gianaris proposes legislation to allow earlier counting of absentee ballots (Daily News)

Denis Slattery: Green & Libertarian political parties face loss of their automatic ballot lines as the Working Families Party avoids the same fate (Daily News)

Emma Fitzsimmons: What Biden's win could mean for NYC: 5 takeaways (New York Times)

State Budget
Danny Katch: Albany's failure to tax the rich is leading to a health care disaster as second COVID wave looms (The Indypendent)

State bans frivolous lawsuits meant to punish free speech

Edward McKinley: Cuomo signs Hoylman-Weinstein bill to curb SLAPP lawsuits designed to chill free speech (Albany Times Union)

New York Times editorial: New York's new anti-SLAPP legislation is long overdue

Miscellaneous
Gabriel Sandovar: Bronx pastor bargained for a new church in selling his congregation's land, accuses developer of bad faith (The City)

BIDEN WON! and McKee's Media November 7, 2020

 BIDEN  AND HARRIS WON!

ARTICLES OF INTEREST TO TENANT ADVOCATES: EVICTIONS Michael DeMasi: Apartment evictions resume in Albany County despite supposed pandemic protections (Albany Business Review) Allison Dikanovic: Clarification on eviction moratorium & housing court procedures for NYC tenants (The City) STATE ELECTION Morgan McKay: State senate Democrats predict that absentee ballots will favor some of their candidates who were behind on Election Day (NY State of Politics) (VIDEO) Ryan Tarinelli: Key races for state senate will come down to absentee ballots (New York Law Journal) Samar Khurshid: The state of play in the state senate as preparations continue for counting of absentee ballots (Gotham Gazette) Amandra Fries: New York State Legislature leans further left as DSA candidates win new seats (Albany Times Union) Clifford Michel: How the Trumpian red wave gave south Brooklyn & Staten Island GOP a lifeline (The City) STATE ECONOMY Anna Gronewald: NYS financial update predicts $15 billion revenue loss (Politico NY) Nick Reisman: Cuomo counts on Biden to make deal on coronavirus aid (NY State of Politics) Karen DeWitt: With elections over, NYS must resolve a multi-billion dollar deficit (NPR) (AUDIO) Jeff Andrews: 11 NYC infrastructure projects President Biden should fund (Curbed) Erik Engquist: Four things Biden could do for NYC real estate that Trump didn't (The Real Deal) Orion Jones: Prospect of divided government rallies real estate stocks (The Real Deal) Bloomberg News: Stock market surges on day after election, adding $57.4 billion in wealth to the 167 U.S. billionaires Reuters: Airbnb to make IPO filing public next week despite COVID-19 surge