ITHACA! It is with tears of joy we announce that after months of work, in a joint effort between the Ithaca Tenants Union and our City legislature, Ithaca has become the first city in the United States to put #cancelrent on the legislative floor. This is IT. We can save our poor from eviction instead of simply delaying it, and begin a chain reaction that will spread comprehensive, non-means-tested rent relief throughout the State — and even the country. For details, visit ithacatu.org/ETPA.

Common Council meets to vote this upcoming Wednesday, June 3rd. SIGN ON NOW to show the dire need and solidarity of this community, and support the passing of this bill, which:

1. Prohibits the eviction of residential and small-business tenants through June 2020
2. Calls upon renters who remain financially stable during the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain timely payment of rent
3. Grants to all renters the right to renew or extend their leases during the duration of the declaration of emergency, should they so choose; and that price gouging to collect higher rent or additional fees in renewed or extended leases shall be prohibited
4. Delivers the following letter to the Governor of New York State and the State Department of Health, to notify them of the City’s intentions to act:

“To Governor Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health:

We, the City of Ithaca, write to formally request the State Department of Health’s review of our City’s attached resolution to forgive the rent obligations of our residents, as well as the approval of our Mayor’s ability to invoke the resolution’s provisions immediately, per Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.5.

We cannot overstate the distress felt by our residents over the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ithaca is especially vulnerable to these effects: our economy relies nearly entirely on now-suspended higher education and Finger Lakes summer tourism, which are built on the backs of our robust service industry — where we have more restaurants per capita than any other city in the New York State. With consumers now in lockdown or largely outside the region for the foreseeable future, many of these businesses are now temporarily or permanently closed. Our working class is experiencing its highest rate of unemployment in nearly 100 years.

On April 1, 2020, the City of Ithaca’s Common Council unanimously passed a resolution requesting that rent and mortgage relief be instituted by the State government. Now, months later, with no such legislation having passed despite multiple bills being drafted, it is our position that State and Federal measures have been insufficient to protect tenants. Over two-thirds of Ithaca’s tenants were rent burdened before a single COVID-19 case appeared in New York. Now, countless more face excruciating uncertainty surrounding their ability to remain housed and financially stable once the unconditional eviction moratorium expires in just two weeks.

We understand it’s complicated — but respectfully, and especially considering our federal administration, the fallout of this economic crisis cannot wait patiently for deliberations over stimulus package options. Neither can our most vulnerable residents: many do not have access to unemployment benefits, and those who do have struggled to receive them.

In light of these acute pains and the absence of comprehensive State or Federal action, we declare our intent to use our own legislation to protect renters. We again request, with increased urgency, that the State of New York not only relieve rent in the rest of its municipalities, but that it also use its State powers to ease the distinct burdens of homeowners and small landlords, including mortgage payments — something no city can do on its own.

The State does have the power to stop our emergency relief measure — but it also holds the sole power to complete it, by extending relief to homeowners and small landlords experiencing their own pressing and growing burdens.

In an era defined by necessary shelter-in-place orders, we implore the State of New York to prioritize the necessity, and defend the sanctuary, of the home.

Sincerely,
The City of Ithaca”