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Lawmakers outline housing and pandemic relief options: eviction moratoriums, rent assistance and mortgage forbearance
Summary
State legislators and Manhattan elected officials discussed proposals to protect tenants and small landlords, create rental assistance modeled on Section 8, extend mortgage forbearance and enshrine remote meeting flexibility after COVID‑19; several bills and executive actions remain pending.
State and local elected officials who addressed Manhattan Community Board 2 on May 20 said they were pursuing a mix of immediate protections and longer‑term programs to avert evictions and stabilize housing during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
State Senator Brad Hoylman said he was working on bills to extend protections for tenants, including measures to shield tenants from evictions while the public health emergency persists. Hoylman said he supported the Child Victims Act extension and other items on his Albany agenda, and described legislation he introduced to continue alcohol delivery privileges for restaurants for two years after the emergency, subject to community board or municipal input.
Senator Brian Kavanaugh, chair of the state senate housing committee, said the governor had issued a moratorium on evictions but that the most recent extension contained language that would permit landlords to file new cases and seek adjudication of whether a tenant had suffered a COVID‑19 hardship. Kavanaugh said he and colleagues had urged the governor to issue a clearer, blanket stay on eviction filings and were pressing for federal funds and state measures to provide rental assistance.
Kavanaugh described legislation he sponsored to create a rent‑assistance structure modeled on Section 8 that would cover households with pandemic‑related hardships and to permit wider mortgage forbearance by New York‑supervised lenders that extends loan terms rather than leaving accumulated unpaid balances due immediately after the crisis. He said the House Democrats’ HEROES Act included large sums for housing that advocates have sought: $100 billion for rental assistance among larger housing provisions.
Assemblymember Deborah Glick said the state faced a multibillion‑dollar deficit and she and colleagues were weighing revenue options, including a high‑earner income bracket and a pied‑a‑terre tax, while pressing for federal relief to backfill state programs so schools and services can be protected. Glick said her office had distributed sanitizer and masks and was working on higher‑education and workforce concerns.
Board members raised concerns about small landlords who lack mortgages, the need for direct subsidies for landlords with operating costs, and possible unintended consolidation of small rental buildings if owners cannot meet expenses. Senator Kavanaugh said federal stimulus and rental‑assistance programs that pay rents directly would be the most effective mitigation and urged congressional action.
