Hi! It’s been awhile.

A lot has happened since last time I blogged on here. The end of my senior year got really busy; I just graduated, and the most important highlight is that I was accepted to law school, where I hope to earn the credibility and knowledge to defend NYC tenants’ rights.

I also started blogging quite a bit for a new LexBlog site, 99 Park Row. I highly recommend checking it out. 99 Park has daily posts from members of the LexBlog staff about anything even remotely related the world(s) of legal and digital publishing. The piece I’ve written that’s most relevant so far to my writing on here is probably this one.

During my hiatus, a lot has gone down in the world of NYC politics and housing justice too. Here’s a quick overview of some of the more recent major events relevant to what I blog about (but I recommend doing your own research too; I’ve linked a few articles throughout):

  • For starters, my last post has had a startling update; Dianne Morales, progressive superstar and my former favorite mayoral candidate, showed her anti-union hypocrisy towards her campaign, which means I’ve decided to follow her head staffers’ example in supporting progressive Maya Wiley during these last few weeks of the race.
  • Last month, the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents approximately 25,000 landlords across the five boroughs, filed a lawsuit following Gov. Cuomo’s extension of the state’s eviction moratorium to September, which was approved to support both residential and commercial renters suffering from pandemic-related financial troubles. I share the view of community leaders and activists that the lawsuit is pointless, cruel, and simply not legally sound.
  • The NYC Council recently passed a bill raising the value of NYC’s rental assistance vouchers, in an attempt to address the rising homelessness rates across the city. This article details how the new criteria expands accessibility to vouchers for the city’s unhoused population, an effort that Mayor de Blasio has been hindering for years. The article also discusses the link between racial justice and housing justice; in a year fraught with racial injustice, the platitudes peddled by the city government are meaningless without significant action on the housing front.
  • If you’re looking to learn more about homelessness rates during the pandemic, this April article shares some helpful information, and the Coalition for the Homeless offers more general information and ways to help.
  • For older legislative updates from March and April, I recommend checking out Housing Justice 4 All’s news section. Consider this my promise to be blogging much more regularly on these issues as the summer proceeds.