
NY pols move to extend eviction moratorium amid pandemic
ALBANY — The State Senate approved a bill Wednesday to extend a moratorium on evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, rejecting Republican claims that the legislation was written so broadly as to allow many tenants to just stop paying rent.
The eviction bill would go beyond a 90-day moratorium Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo imposed through emergency powers, by mandating that no court may issue an eviction warrant against a tenant who hasn't paid rent due to financial hardship incurred during the pandemic. An early version of the bill extended the moratorium into September, but it was amended to tie it to the end of restrictions on business operations and gatherings that the governor imposed beginning in March.
The Democratic-led state Assembly was expected to also approve the bill later Wednesday or Thursday.
It was one of more than two dozen bills the legislature began to vote on to deal with an array of COVID-19-related issues, including small business grants, vaccines and civil lawsuits. The Senate and Assembly were voting on bills for the first time since they approved the state budget April 3 and postponed the rest of its 2020 session to avoid congregating during the peak of the pandemic in New York.
Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) said the eviction moratorium was needed “so no one can be put out on the street” because of the pandemic.
Several Republicans contended the measure was flawed because it applies to a tenant’s failure to pay rent “during” the pandemic when it should have been “due to” the crisis, which they said would require more direct linkage. They said the measure would give landlords pause about filling vacancies.
“You are going to create a rental crisis,” Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) said. “No one is going to rent their multi-family dwelling or apartment if someone can live there, not pay rent for more than a year and they can’t be evicted.”
Hoylman said tenants would have to demonstrate financial hardship and landlords could seek money judgments in court for overdue rent.
It wasn’t clear if Cuomo would support the legislation.
Among other bills approved by the Senate, one measure would extend the deadline by one year for filing civil lawsuits under the “Child Victims Act,” which suspended the state’s statute of limitations for pursuing long-ago sexual molestation claims.
The deadline — originally set for Aug. 14, and moved to January by a Cuomo emergency executive order — now would be pushed back to Aug. 14, 2021. Legislators said the extension was necessary because the pandemic triggered the near shutdown of all court activity for nearly two months.
Another approved bill would allow local industrial development agencies to provide $10,000 grants to small businesses and nonprofits to help them pay for masks, plexiglass barriers and other protective gear as they prepare to reopen.
Further, it would provide loans to companies for up to $25,000 to help contend with reopening.
“All businesses want to have a safe environment where customers are going to want to enter their establishment,” state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), sponsor of the bill, said. “But, of course, that comes at a cost and the cost comes at a very difficult time they have been receiving very little income if any at all. I think this will go a long way to helping them get back on their feet.”
The Senate also approved a measure to give pharmacists the authority to administer a coronavirus vaccine as soon as 90 days after it is approved by the federal government, and one to give library districts an extra 12 months to complete construction projects funded in part by the state.
With Michael Gormley
Editor's note -- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the duration of the moratorium.