Working Families

Latest Update:

Thank you to all the contestants! We have some amazing Dispatches from Rental Hell, which we’ve mostly kept under wraps. Why, you ask?

Because the upheaval in the State Senate has thrown a monkey wrench into our plans. As we write this, a last-ditch effort is underway to get Governor Paterson to include tenant issues in a planned Extraordinary Session. Unfortunately, ALL of the issues are coming down to the wire at the same time, making it very difficult to draw attention to just one of them.

Our allies in the housing and tenants movement, esp. Michelle O’Brien and Mike McKee (who have also agreed to serve as judges for the contest) are up in Albany this week pushing for rent reform. When they come back, we’ll figure out what’s next for the Dispatches from Rental Hell Video Contest.

In the meantime – I’m adding all the submissions below. We are deeply grateful to our patient contestants.

Why are we doing this?

For millions of working New Yorkers, finding an affordable place place to live can be hell. But now, we have a chance to actually do something about it. With Democrats in power, and a battle in Albany underway for stronger rent laws, we need to pull out all the stops in an effort to get lawmakers attention.

Tenant groups and housing advocates are fighting for a package of pro-renter bills currently stalled in the NY State Senate. For decades, landlords and real estate lobbyists have been weakening tenant protections and gutting rent-control and rent-stabilization programs.