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February 3, 2009 
Tenants Cheer Historic Albany Victory
By
Michelle O'Brien
/ New York is Our Home
Yesterday,
tenants and housing advocates with Housing Here and Now cheered as the New York
State Assembly passed the repeal of vacancy decontrol, and a whole package of
pro-tenant legislation. Over calls for us to quiet down, nearly 50 tenants from
New York City and Albany applauded cheered as news of the vote
came through on the Assembly session floor. This crucial victory comes
following more than a year of hard work by the entire housing justice movement
of New York City.
We rallied throughout the city, we braved the snow in endless trips to Albany, we lobbied our
legislators, and yesterday, the assembly heard our demands!
The
repeal of vacancy decontrol would halt the loss of tens of thousands of
affordable apartments from New York
City. The Assembly's passage of the repeal yesterday
is a giant victory for tenants. The final vote count is still be calculated. At
last count, the repeal of vacancy decontrol passed 91 to 52. Now, we need to
keep the pressure on to carry the bill through the Senate!
NEXT
STEPS
Next,
join Housing Here and Now on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14 for the next mass
mobilization to Albany
to push the State Senate! We're headed up for Caucus Weekend, a key time where
Democrats sets their agenda moving forward. We need a mass presence to show
them we mean business, and that the repeal of vacancy decontrol has to be the
top of their priorities.
GREAT
WORK TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE LEAD!
Great
work to all the groups that joined Housing Here and Now yesterday on the
Assembly floor to represent tenants, including ACORN, Pratt Area Community
Council, Mitchell-Lama Tenants' Association, Tenants & Neighbors, Tenants
PAC, West Side Neighborhood Alliance and Park West Village Tenants Association.
These folks turned out on short notice to show the Assembly that tenants are
behind them in this key victory.
Special
congratulations as well to all the groups who took the lead on last week's
Senate lobby visits in Albany and recent in-district lobbying, including the
above groups and North West Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, New York City
AIDS Housing Network, Community Voices Heard, Make the Road NY, New York Immigration Coalition,
Catholic Charities of Queens and Brooklyn, Real Rent Reform Campaign, Bushwick
Housing Independence Project, Interfaith Assembly on Housing and Homelessness,
Voices of Women Organizing, Picture the Homeless, and Chelsea Tenant Action
Committee.
More on: Improving Housing 
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 Historic Paid Sick Days Victory in NYC!New York City just became the largest city in the U.S.to win paid sick days! On May 8, 2013, the City Council passed legislation to require paid sick days for one million New Yorkers. Without this critical legal protection, workers risk losing their jobs for taking a sick day. When workers go in to work sick, they put the public and their co-workers at risk of disease.
Starting April 2014, all workers will be protected from being fired if they must take a sick day to care for themselves or a sick family member, and workers at larger employers will receive 5 paid days of sick leave each year.
This major workplace justice and public health victory is the product of a four-year campaign led by courageous workers and small businesses who stood up for what’s right. We thank our partners at the Working Families Party, the NYS Paid Family Leave Coalition, SEIU 32BJ, the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Quinn and Council Members Brewer and Ferreras, for standing with us for NYC’s workers. 
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