Stand Up For NYC


Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and District 2 Council Member Rosie Mendez (pictured) hosted a tour of the East Village with local business owners, community members and elected officials on Friday, May 29th. The "Follow Me Friday" event highlighted and promoted East Village businesses recovering from the aftermath of the March 26th building explosion, beginning with a moment of silence at the site of the explosion. #SaveNYC members walked alongside other New Yorkers to show their support.

Tenants United


 



  



Thousands of tenants fed up with rising rents that push them out marched from Foley Square across the Brooklyn Bridge to demand that Governor Andrew Cuomo stand with tenants, not landlords and developers.

First photograph courtesy of Pamela Dayton
All other photos via the Alliance For Tenant Power

Rally To Save One Million Homes


As if the rent wasn’t already too damn high, New York City has lost 250,000 units of affordable apartments in the past 10 years. Thanks to NYC’s weak rent laws, landlords are able to de-regulate the rent-stabilized apartments that ensure working families and seniors have a home.

That’s why this May 14th at 5PM in Foley Square, we are joining the biggest tenant mobilization in New York City this year to demand stronger rent laws now. Will you join us? 

While Mayor de Blasio announced the "most sweeping expansion of tenant protections in decades for the city’s 1 million rent-regulated apartments," 2.5 million New Yorkers are still at risk of displacement if our legislators do not pass stronger rent laws this June. If we don’t win stronger rent laws in June, our city as we know it will be lost! This is our last chance to hold onto the place we call home.

Join the March To Save New York City before it’s too late!

Artwork by Eric Drooker.

Say No To The Status Quo

#SaveNYC lends its support to the argument against the May 6 "fact-finding" roundtable on small business, sponsored by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer.  A grassroots movement dedicated to protecting and preserving the diversity and uniqueness of the urban fabric in New York City, #SaveNYC officially endorses the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (File #0402-2014) and rejects all other plans currently on the table.

No proposed legislation currently offered by city or state politicians will save or protect a single small business in New York City, with the exception of the SBJSA.  The status quo proposals being offered only provide non-binding negotiation and mediation, with one-year extensions before the tenant will be forced to move or close.  They leave business owners powerless without the basic commercial rights they need to negotiate fair lease terms and remain in business.  These are not solutions to the city’s small business crisis, but only ways of maintaining business as usual.

Between 1,000 and 1,200 small businesses close each month across all five boroughs due to dramatically increased rents and inequitable commercial lease processes.  The SBJSA is a fair, simple, and effective solution to restore economic equality.  The SBJSA will give commercial tenants ten-year leases, and protect them from rent gouging and unfair lease terms through mediation and binding arbitration.  This process takes into consideration the unique nature of every business and every business community, where the arbitrator’s decision is guided by strict criteria, and based upon a case by case basis to decide fair and reasonable lease terms.

Representing the voice of the people, #SaveNYC has attracted major media attention, from the New York Times to WNYC radio; gained thousands of members and thousands of signatures on a petition to pass the SBJSA; and gathered dozens of powerful photos and videos from everyday New Yorkers who demand strong, swift action from City Hall.  Although we are glad to see some much needed attention being paid to this issue, our hope is that the results of the upcoming roundtable will convince NYC Council Members and Mayor Bill de Blasio of what their constituents have been voicing — the alternative, the SBJSA is the only fair solution and should be brought to the table.  It’s time to listen to the voice of New York and give our small businesses and cultural institutions a fair deal—before it’s too late.