Push for rent moratorium

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Quick Fix

— Lawmakers and tenant activists are pushing for a moratorium on rent payments for people and businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.


— A state order requiring employees of all non-essential businesses to stay home does not currently apply to the construction industry, but Mayor Bill de Blasio questioned whether all construction should be allowed to continue as officials struggle to contain the outbreak.

— A local non-profit organization will offer shuttered restaurants $40,000 grants to stay open and produce subsidized food for needy New Yorkers.

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Policy and Politics

LANDLORD WATCH — Tenant groups say eviction moratorium falls short as calls grow to halt rent payments, by POLITICO's Janaki Chadha: Tenant activists say a 90-day moratorium on evictions will be insufficient in helping renters struggling in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, while landlord groups warn any further orders must take buildings owners into account as well. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a three-month suspension on all commercial and residential evictions Friday, but advocacy groups who pushed for such a moratorium are now calling for an indefinite halt on all rent payments as the full effects of the crisis become more apparent. “We have a yearslong crisis on our hands that isn’t going anywhere. It’s really critical that tenants get immediate relief,” said Cea Weaver of the Housing Justice for All campaign, which is pushing for the suspension of rent, mortgage and utility payments. Cuomo announced a 90-day halt on mortgage payments owed by individuals Thursday.

NOT SO FAST — "Cuomo says NY 'took care of rent issue,' but has no policy in place," by The Real Deal's Georgia Kromrei: “At a press conference Sunday morning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York ‘took care of the rent issue.’ But there is currently no policy in place to back that claim. In response to a question about rent relief for those affected by the coronavirus, Cuomo said ‘[renters] cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent.’ He did not elaborate, but was referring to a state judge’s memo suspending eviction proceedings indefinitely. With a mandate for all non-essential workers to stay home to slow the spread of coronavirus, many New York State residents are unemployed or without pay. So renters and landlords alike are awaiting action from the government to avert financial distress. However, there has been no official suspension of rent payment. Tenant groups have called for such a measure, and State Sen. Michael Gianaris is working on a bill to suspend rent payments for 90 days, but the legislation has not yet been formally proposed.”

SITE SAFETY — "Mayor questions allowing condo construction during pandemic," by The Real Deal's Kathryn Brenzel: “Mayor Bill de Blasio indicated Sunday that not all construction might be ‘essential’ after all. During a press conference, the mayor said it was ‘important’ to discuss with state officials whether all construction should remain exempt from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order requiring employees of non-essential businesses to stay home. De Blasio noted that he doesn’t consider luxury condo construction a priority, but asserted that the city is working within the parameters laid out by the state. Guidelines issued by the Empire State Development Corp. allow construction, including work by skilled trades and companies performing essential infrastructure or emergency repair work.”

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Around New York

MARKET WATCH — "Coronavirus Is Forcing Real-Estate Agents to Adapt. Will They Sink or Swim?" by The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Clarke, Beth DeCarbo, Nancy Keates and Katy McLaughlin: “On Tuesday, March 10, real-estate agent Joanne Greene got a call from a fellow agent bringing buyers to one of her listings, a roughly $2 million three-bedroom co-op on New York’s Upper East Side. The buyers and agent, Ms. Greene learned, would be wearing gloves and masks. That wasn’t all. ‘He asked that I be upstairs in the apartment before their arrival, as they didn’t want contact with anyone in the elevator,’ said Ms. Greene, who works with Brown Harris Stevens. ‘They also requested that I open all doors, closets and drawers in advance so they wouldn’t have to touch anything—and that I not talk while they were there.’ The request was a surprise. ‘I was laughing a little bit about it,’ she admitted. The spread of coronavirus in Italy and Washington was in the news; it had barely appeared on Ms. Greene’s radar….

A single vehicle heads downtown along the West Side Highway as Covid-19 concerns empties a typically busy thoroughfare. | AP Photo

“Just over a week later, the world-wide pandemic has upended the lives of every New Yorker and countless others. It has rocked the nation’s economy, sending the stock market into free fall after years of sustained growth. For Ms. Greene and her colleagues, it has transformed the nature of their business virtually overnight, calling a halt to many open houses, shuttering condo sales centers and brokerage offices, slowing down showings and unsettling buyers and sellers.”

WHAT’S IN STORE — "Coronavirus in NY: Nonprofit offering restaurants $40K grants to stay open," by New York Post's Jon Levine: “Shuttered restaurants in New York City are being offered a lifeline. Rethink Food, a local nonprofit, will begin offering eateries $40,000 grants each to stay open and produce subsidized food which can be purchased by New Yorkers in need during the coronavirus pandemic. All restaurants and bars have been closed since Monday as part of a nationwide effort to halt the spread of the deadly virus. ‘It’s basically our way of troubleshooting what is needed from a culinary standpoint right now,’ Rethink executive director Meg Savage told The Post. ‘It is at no cost to whoever is looking to dine. There is a suggested donation of $5, but if you can’t pay it, you’re still going to get a meal.’”

HOSPITAL CRUNCH — "Controversial East Village school owner offers building for triage," by Crain's Daniel Geiger: “Controversial landlord Gregg Singer has offered to donate the derelict former public school he owns in the East Village as a potential location for an expected surge of patients infected with the coronavirus. Singer has been locked in a yearslong battle with the city to redevelop the property into a college dormitory or other profitable use. Last year he sued in state court, alleging the city was undermining his efforts. The building owner told Crain’s he now wants to make the vacant and long-disused school building available to sufferers of the virus pandemic, who officials and medical experts have worried will overload the city’s medical facilities. On Wednesday, it was reported that city officials were potentially seeking to convert hotels into medical facilities to treat an overflow of corona patients. Hotels could provide available space because many have been emptied out amid the crisis.”

CITY ON LOCKDOWN — "Coronavirus in N.Y.C.: Eerie Streetscapes Are Stripped of Commerce," by The New York Times' Michael Wilson: “Everywhere, gates lowered. Bar stools stacked upside down. The boutiques of Soho, the specialty shops of Greenwich Village — for chess, for board games, for records — all locked away and dark. Little Italy’s signature sidewalk tables for alfresco dining had been hauled inside, leaving Mulberry Street just like any other street. New York City’s new face under coronavirus showed itself under bright, blue skies on Saturday. It was a shuttered streetscape stripped of commerce and the jangled rhythms of footfalls, honking horns and even people’s voices, a scene that might follow a blizzard, overlaid on a cool spring day. Some New Yorkers ventured out from isolation, alone or in twos or threes, for a peek around, filling the stillness with their own narrations on a city’s mood.”

Quick Hits

— "Prominent Dem Seeks Rent Relief For New York Renters Affected By COVID-19," by Gothamist's Fred Mogul

— "NYC Council Speaker demands city protect street homeless," by New York Daily News' Michael Gartland

— "Cuomo Tells New York City to Curb Social Gatherings in Parks," by The Wall Street Journal's Charles Passy and Katie Honan

Follow us on Twitter Janaki Chadha @janakichadha

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