Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose upset election last year helped spur a reshuffling of Albany politics, returned to the Bronx Thursday night calling for an end to real estate industry influence in New York politics — a theme of her insurgent campaign and one that could soon bring significant change for tenants in New York City and beyond.
“It’s no secret that big real estate has an enormous financial grip over elections in New York state and federally,” she said during a town hall with a coalition of tenant groups pushing a nine-bill package to overhaul New York’s rent laws.
Ocasio-Cortez said city, state and federal housing policies come "together to make a picture that all too often enriches people who are already powerful and impoverishes people who are already vulnerable.”
The crowd of more than 100 were intent on passing the nine bills currently being debated in Albany carrying signs and chanting slogans directed at New York's legislative leaders. Ocasio-Cortez didn’t go into detail on the bills tenant activists are currently pushing, but when asked if she supports “universal rent control” in New York state — as the package as been termed — she said yes.
State lawmakers including State Sens. Alessandra Biaggi and Jamaal Bailey and Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez, were pressed by attendees on the level of support for the nine-bill package in both chambers, and how legislative leaders plan to move negotiations forward.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie put out a joint statement on Thursday vowing to pass a strong package of tenant protection bills this session and committing to the "principles" of the legislation sought by tenant groups.
But they left themselves some wiggle room for negotiations to get the package over the line before the rent laws sunset on June 15.Housing activists said their statement fell short. They have called for the Legislature to leave Gov. Andrew Cuomo out of rent law negotiations and for both houses to come out in clear support of all nine bills.
One statewide measure that activists worry would go on the chopping block is the "Good Cause" bill, which would prohibit landlords from evicting tenants without sufficient cause. Housing groups are also calling for programs that allow landlords to raise rents for building and apartment improvements to be fully eliminated, rather than simply modified.
Bailey, Biaggi and Fernandez said they are pushing the entire package in their conferences, but indicated some of the measures need to gain more support before the conferences can come out and support them. They also emphasized the importance of keeping the door open for negotiations.
Biaggi was asked about a NY1 report that said only three of the bills out of the nine-measure package have enough support from Senate Democrats to pass.
“I have not heard that rumor — I’m also inside that room, that’s not something that has come up,” she said. “But I will say that not everyone is going to agree on every single thing, that’s just the reality.”
Ocasio-Cortez implied the story was leaked to weaken support for the package.
“I’m obviously not in the state Senate and I’m not in those rooms,” she said. “But I do know that this is a tactic that’s often used in D.C., where someone will leak a story to demoralize the organizers.”
On housing reforms at the federal level, Ocasio-Cortez said she is advocating for more funding for the New York City Housing Authority and Section 8 vouchers.
She said the city and state’s “hands are tied” when it comes to NYCHA, and that they can’t make up for the lack of federal funding for the housing authority. She also slammed the recent Trump administration decision to bar families from public housing if any member is undocumented, as well as other policies that allow public housing tenants to be evicted for low-level drug offenses.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine