(New York CITY COUNCIL) Speaker Corey Johnson, June 16, 2019

The Senate and Assembly have reached a landmark agreement to overhaul our affordable housing laws, the biggest reforms to these laws in a generation. Governor Cuomo has said he will sign the bills.

This legislation extends our rent regulation laws, significantly strengthens them, and makes them permanent.

Perhaps most significantly, this legislation will finally close the loopholes that currently allow many apartments to be removed from rent stabilization when tenants move out. These provisions have led to the deregulation of approximately 300,000 apartments since 1994, and contributed to the harassment of tenants across New York City.

Click here to read more about this historic legislation from Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie. 

This is what we have been fighting for over many years. We are a city of renters, and these rent laws will help protect almost two-and-a-half million New Yorkers. Housing is the issue of our time, and this historic agreement will help us tackle the affordability crisis that is threatening everything we love about New York.

This agreement shows the power of grassroots advocacy, and although we achieved a major victory, the work is far from over and will not cease until all renters in the city are protected. 

I want to thank our State elected officials, including Senator Brad Hoylman, Senate Housing Committee Chair Brian Kavanagh, Senator Liz Krueger, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal and Assembly Housing Committee Chair Steven Cymbrowitz.

I applaud and thank Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for their leadership in forging this remarkable agreement.

I especially want to thank the advocates who refused to accept a system that disadvantaged working-class tenants. The power of the grassroots is real, and this is their victory. They traveled to Albany countless times, fought at the ballot box and on the picket line, and gave their time and treasure so that their fellow New Yorkers can have stable and affordable homes.

Click here to read a New York Times article about this development.

I will continue to fight alongside you for even stronger protections in the coming months and years. Today, let’s take a moment and celebrate all that we achieved together. We did it!

In service, 

Corey Johnson 
Speaker
New York City Council