Tenants celebrate City Council vote to stop 'construction harrassment'

NEW YORK, NY — More than 100 tenants, along with community organizations, legal advocates and elected officials, rallied at City Hall on Wednesday, September 27, 2017, applauding City Council vote and passage of legislation to stop “construction as harassment.” As the 12th and final bill in the Stand for Tenant Safety legislative package, its passage will create a Real Time Enforcement unit (RTE) so that the Department of Buildings can respond to complaints more quickly and will ensure that there is a unit to help measure and track complaints and violators. Aggressive landlords frequently use dangerous construction work in residential buildings to harass rent-regulated tenants. The rally, organized by Stand for Tenant Safety Coalition, celebrated the Council’s vote to pass final bill of a package of legislation to help end the harassment and strengthen tenant rights.

Many unscrupulous landlords use dangerous or negligent construction to harass tenants out of rent-regulated apartments. When landlords successfully evict, displace, or “harass out” rent stabilized tenants, their apartments can be leased to the next tenant at a much higher rent, adding to the loss of affordable housing in New York City.

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Stand for Tenant Safety (STS) is a citywide coalition of community organizations fighting to protect the lives and homes of New York City tenants where landlords are using construction as harassment. Funding for tenant protection work is provided through the Office of Civil Justice, NYC Human Resource Administration.