March 12, 2020 

Dear Mayor de Blasio: 

We are deeply concerned about the impact that COVID-19 will have on New Yorkers who are at risk of eviction.  We recently released a petition to Governor Cuomo and other state leaders calling for a moratorium on evictions and a rent freeze across NY State.  While it’s imperative that action is taken immediately at the state level, there is much that New York City can and must do to protect New Yorkers. New York City doesn't have to wait for the state.  We can and must ACT NOW! 

New York City Should: 

1. Impose a moratorium on evictions and the City's Department of Investigation should immediately direct all City Marshals to cease executing warrants of eviction until further notice. 
2. Support the call to the state for a Moratorium on Evictions and a statewide Rent Freeze
3. Immediately suspend further action on all pending NYCHA eviction, termination of tenancy and termination of Section 8 subsidy proceedings. 
4. Institute a NYCHA Moratorium on commencing any new eviction, termination of tenancy or termination of Section 8 subsidy proceedings. 
5. Direct the Department of City Administrative Services to close all housing court facilities and NYCHA administrative hearing offices to stop the spread of COVID-19. 

As our letter to the Governor states: 

New York is facing a public health crisis that is made worse by a lack of adequate housing.  COVID-19 impacts vulnerable New Yorkers the most: the elderly and those who are immunocompromised. For the 92,000 people who are homeless, this public health crisis puts them at a greater-than-average risk of exposure to the virus.

Many, many more cannot afford rent. New Yorkers are facing a loss of income -- either voluntarily or as the result of being forced to stay home from work for the protection of everyone’s health. This makes it harder to pay already unaffordable rents. Without adequate housing, the most vulnerable New Yorkers are unable to fight COVID-19 and other deadly illnesses.

If more New Yorkers are evicted in the coming days and weeks, COVID-19 could start to spread more rapidly among those who become homeless. We cannot let that nightmare become a reality. San Francisco and San Jose are currently considering a moratorium on COVID-19 related evictions. We urge you to expand on their example and lead the nation by issuing a moratorium on evictions in the face of COVID-19 - a massive public health crisis that is hitting New York harder than most other cities in the country.

Housing Court is already unsafe for the elderly and the immunocompromised. The housing crisis is so bad that every day that court is in session, courtrooms and hallways are packed with defendants, lawyers, and supporters who are fighting eviction. To drag the most vulnerable New Yorkers into Housing Court, against the advice of public health professionals, adds the cruel insult of a severe health-risk to the injury of eviction. 

Given the recommendations to cancel all large gatherings, we must remember that housing court is a large gathering.  There are over a thousand people in the Bronx housing court alone, every day.  

We are deeply disheartened by the callousness, ignorance and lack of action from the federal government.  We need you to show leadership for the health and well-being of New Yorkers, and as an example for the nation.  Our proposals are well within your power and would save the lives and homes of the city’s most vulnerable. Miami issued a moratorium on evictions for the entire Miami-Dade County.  And there is precedent for this in NYC: after 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, NYC issued a moratorium on evictions. NYC must act to meet the challenges of this current crisis. 

Stand with us in this crisis, in order to stop preventable illness, homelessness and displacement in this time of crisis, and freeze all evictions in New York NOW.

Sincerely, 

1. Right to Counsel NYC Coalition 
2. Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY 
3. National Organization of Legal Services, UAW Local 2320
4. Human.nyc
5. CAMBA Legal Services Workers United (UAW 2325) 
6. Coalition for the Homeless
7. Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), New Settlement Apartments
8. Cooper Square Committee
9. Chhaya Community Development Corporation
10. Housing Conservation Coordinators
11. The West Side Neighborhood Alliance 
12. Akron Mobile Home Park Tenants Association
13. Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS)
14. United Neighbors Organization (UNO)
15. Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
16. New York Communities for Change (NYCC) 
17. Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC) 
18. The Bronx Defenders
19. Red Hook Initiative 
20. JustFix.nyc
21. Housing Court Answers (HCA)
22. New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)
23. Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)
24. District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
25. Municipal Employees Legal Services (MELS)
26. New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
27. Legal Services Staff Association, NOLSW/UAW 2320
28. Tenants PAC
29. Woodside On The Move 
30. Met Council on Housing 
31. Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC) 
32. Lefrak City Tenants Association 
33. Housing Rights Initiative 
34. Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)
35. Housing Organizers for People Empowerment (HOPE)
36. Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH)
37. Communities Resist
38. Mobilization for Justice (MFJ) 
39. Goddard Riverside Law Project
40. Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem
41. Flatbush Tenant Coalition
42. Fifth AvenueCommittee, Brooklyn
43. Neighbors Helping Neighbors, Brooklyn
44. Crown Heights Tenant Union (CHTU)
45. Housing Justice for All 
46. Central Park Gardens Tenants’ Association
47. CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities
48. Tenants & Neighbors 
49. City Employees Union Local 237 Teamsters
50. Art Against Displacement
51. Coalition to Protect Chinatown and the Lower East Side
52. Strycker’s Bay Neighborhood Council
53. The DOME Project
54. Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A
55. The Urban Justice Center 
56. JASA/Legal Services for Elder Justice
57. GOLES
58. Make the Road NY 
59. IMPACCT Brooklyn 
60. Ridgewood Tenants Union (RTU)
61. Association of Legal Aid Attorneys – UAW Local 2325.   
62. The Legal Aid Society 
63. Bushwick Housing Independence Project
64. GAPIMNY: Empowering Queer & Trans Asian Pacific Islanders
65. Student Planning Action Network (SPAN)’
66. CAMBA Legal Services, Inc.
67. CITIZEN ACTION 
68. NYS Poor People’s Campaign 
69. Teamsters Local 237 Municipal Employees Union
70. Southwest Brooklyn Tenant Union (SWBTU)
71. New Sanctuary Coalition
72. Anti-Eviction Mapping Project (AEMP)
73. Rent Justice Coalition (RJC)
74. NYSNA - New York State Nurses Association
75. TakeRoot Justice
76. Chelsea Coalition on Housing
77. Chelsea Tenant Action Committee
78. Riverside Edgecombe Neighborhood Alliance
79. VOCAL-NY
80. Safety Net Activists 
81. CUNY Law Housing Rights Project
82. Sixth Street Community Center
83. Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) 
84. Southside United HDFC-Los Sures
85. Ebbets Field Tenants Organization(EFTO)
86. Zara Tenants Coalition
87. Brooklyn Tenant Lawyers Network (BTLN)
88. Housing Data Coalition
89. Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (UAW Local 2325)
90. Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New York
91. Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
92. Kite’s Nest
93. Catholic Migration Services
94. New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
95. Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness 
96. Part of the Solution (POTS)
97. MinKwon Center for Community Action 
98. Northern Manhattan Is Not for Sale
99. CACF - Coalition for Asian American Children and Families 
100. Neighbors Together
101. New York Law School Housing Rights Clinic
102. 37-52 89th Street Tenants' Association
103. 28-18 38th Ave Tenants' Association 
104. 94-26 34th Road Tenants' Association
105. The Bridge Fund of New York City
106. Performance Space New York
107. The Poetry Project
108. Jews For Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)