Mission Statement

Millions of New Yorkers cannot afford a decent place to live. The most recent City data shows that 26% of New York City renters pay at least half of their income for rent. Thousands of affordable units in Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 buildings are being lost every year, public housing is being squeezed, and hundreds of thousands of rent-stabilized apartments have been lost to vacancy decontrol.

The City of New York has commited to create 94,000 new affordable units and preserve 71,000 existing units. But even with that commitment, we're losing our existing affordable housing faster than we're building new affordable units. And nearly 1.5 million existing affordable units are still at risk.

An unprecedented coalition including the Working Families Party, labor unions, and nearly every housing organization in New York City has united to form New York is Our Home. We want to cover more housing under rent stabilization rules, and we want rent regulations to be stronger. We're calling on the State to immediately:

Preserve Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 Housing

• Extend rent regulations to ALL Mitchell Lama and Section 8 buildings.
• Declare a moratorium on buyouts until a comprehensive preservation program is in place.
• Provide a tenant right of first refusal to purchase these buildings, at prices set by an appraisal board.
  

Preserve Rent-Regulated Units

• Repeal vacancy decontrol to eliminate the rent threshold that allows owners to decontrol units once a unit meets the threshold and become vacant.
• Prevent unfair rent increases by strengthening enforcement of the rent laws.
  

Preserve State-Built Public Housing

• Restore $70 million in funding for operating state public housing to the State budget to preserve 20,000 units of state public housing and help preserve thousands of Section 8 vouchers.

Limit Rental Payments for New Yorkers Living With AIDS

• End the State's discrimination against people living with AIDS who are being forced to contribute all income except $330 per month towards their rent. All other rental assistance programs cap the amount to just 30% of their income.

Sign the petition.