NYS Senator Julia Salazar, hosted a town hall at El Puente (211 South 4th Street) on Tuesday, July 23 to talk about the new Good Cause Eviction law, and what it means for tenants in unregulated apartments across New York City.
The Good Cause Eviction law was passed in April of 2024, giving tenants in unregulated housing units protections against large rent increases and unjust evictions. Every year, there will now be a legal limit capped at no more than 10% for rent increase, based on the consumer price index. This year, for units that are considered “Good Cause”, the limit is 8.8% for rent increases. Landlords must also have a valid reason for evicting a tenant.
NYS Assembly Member Emily Gallagher took part in introducing the event. She thanked and encouraged audience members to spread information about Good Cause to their communities.
“You are now an educator for the future, telling your neighbors, your friends, your associates, what is now law, which is ways to protect more tenants than have ever been protected in New York State before,” she said.
Salazar, one of the original bill’s authors, was present at the town hall meeting. Having her own experiences with being an unregulated renter and dealing with irresponsible landlords, she wanted to create change for tenants experiencing similar injustices.
“We’re going to continue to fight, we have a world to win, and we want to make sure that every single person in the state has basic protections and is able to stay in their home. But in the meantime, we continue to fight, and we want to educate everyone and make sure that everyone understands their rights under the new cause eviction law,” she said.
There are still some exceptions to “Good Cause.” The law only applies to landlords with over ten units, and buildings built before 2009, as well as some other rules. NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler stated “we’re going to keep fighting for every piece that didn’t make it into the original compromise.”
The Metropolitan Council on Housing and Communities Resist both gave presentations at the Town Hall, offering in depth advice on who is eligible for good cause protections and what the law means for tenants, as well as legal advice to those who are combating landlords.
Restler spoke about long term residents being pushed out of North Brooklyn neighborhoods due to gentrification, wrongful eviction, and rent increases. With Good Cause, tenants will hopefully be able to stay in their communities long term rather than be pushed out by rising rents.
“Here in Williamsburg and Greenpoint we’ve lost 15,000 Latino residents over the last 15 years. And if more of those apartments had been protected by good cause eviction, then so many more of our neighbors would still be here today,” Restler said.
The Greenline 