Residents of 63 Tiffany Place rally for legislature that would prevent landlords from pushing out longtime tenants.
Photo by Jada Camille
Longstanding residents of 63 Tiffany Place, an affordable housing unit bordering Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, are pushing for legislation that would protect them against rent increases and unjust evictions by the greedy landlord they say is currently trying to push them out.
Most tenants have called the building home for decades, and originally moved into the property through a Low Income Housing Tax Credit. With that affordability program expiring in 2023, the fate of those residents’ homes now lies in the hands of a landlord who has forced them to pay rent increases — or face eviction.
John Leyva, a resident of nearly 30 years, is just one of the Tiffany Place tenants who is pushing for Good Cause Eviction — a bill that would set standards to protect residents against unjust rent hikes and retaliatory evictions. The law would require property owners to justify any proposed rent increases higher than 3% and would provide lease renewal protections for residents.
“Gone will be the days of landlords doubling and tripling people’s rents just because. With no reason, just because they feel like it,” he said. “There’s no real economic reason. It’s greed, plain and simple. If there’s a real justifiable reason, then Good Cause says, prove it.”
So far, the bill has garnered support from tenant organizations including Housing Justice For All and the Southwest Brooklyn Tenant Union (SWBTU).
A handful of elected officials have shown continuous support for Good Cause Eviction, including state Sen. Julia Salazar (who introduced the bill last year), Assembly Member Jo Ann Simon, Council Member Shahana Hanif and Comptroller Brad Lander. Carlos Calzadilla, southern regional vice president of Brooklyn Young Democrats, also backed the tenants at the rally.
“The owner does not need to…
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