Activist rally during a demonstration and march, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, to call on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist march across town towards New York Gov. Kathy Hochul office, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, during a demonstration to call on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist rally during a demonstration and march, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, to call on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, House Speaker Carl Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist rally during a demonstration and march, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, to call on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist march across town towards New York Gov. Kathy Hochul office during a demonstration, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
An MTA bus driver watches from her bus as activist block traffic on Third Ave. in front of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office during a demonstration, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist block traffic along Third Ave. in front of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office during a demonstration and march, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist block traffic as they march up Third Ave. towards New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office during a demonstration, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
An activist uses his bike to block traffic as other demonstrate in front of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office during a rally, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
Activist rally during a demonstration and march, Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in New York, calling on New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Speaker Carl Heastie, and and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousin to extend pandemic era eviction protections in wake of Supreme Court decision lifting the moratorium.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling the state legislature into a special session Wednesday in hopes of extending an eviction moratorium for tenants and property owners who fell behind on their rent or their mortgage because of hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hochul, a Democrat, said at a Tuesday evening news conference that she wants evictions put on hold until Jan. 15. The previous moratorium expired Tuesday.
If lawmakers decide to extend the moratorium, they will have to change how it works. In an Aug. 12 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court nixed part of the moratorium that allowed tenants to pause eviction proceedings simply by filing a form declaring they’d had a pandemic-related hardship.
Hochul said lawmakers are working on a fix that will stand up to legal scrutiny. She said she’s been discussing potential remedies with legislative leaders since before she was sworn in last week to replace former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“I want to make sure that we wipe the slate clean for landlords and tenants and let people start with a new start,” Hochul said. “Let them start with a clean slate and move beyond this pandemic, get people back to work, get them back to being able to pay for their own rent.”
Months ago, lawmakers had expected New York wouldn’t still need an eviction moratorium this fall because the state approved a $2.4 billion fund expected to help as many as 200,000 households late on their rent.
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