Arrests at the Capitol: Advocates pushing for Good Cause Eviction

ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- Around a thousand people rallying at the Capitol today pushing for the Good Cause Eviction bill to get passed, some protestors were even arrested.

With just two weeks left this session, advocates are asking lawmakers to pass this tenant protection legislation which would require landlords to justify raising their rent and only allow evictions for lawful reasons. This comes after rent prices have increased since the height of the pandemic. 

Assemblyman Harvey Epstein says 400,000 people in New York City rent an apartment, but do not have rent protection. Epstein says with this legislation, if landlords do enact a rent increase it has to be based on the average consumer price index. 

"The CPI plus three percent, so you know at a time when there’s higher inflation like now, you can do larger increases, in times when there’s lower inflation you can do lower increases, for times when you need to do extra work in your building, you can pass that along to the tenant as well," he said.

Some protestors say New York's high migration rate isn’t because people want to leave the state, but because they can’t afford to live here anymore. Supporters have been pushing for this legislation since 2020. Lawmakers say it’s a complicated piece of legislation that takes time to get approved.