Everyone has the right to a safe, affordable, and healthy home.
We build power to win building repairs and prevent displacement so that Bronxites can live in dignity. At the same time, we advance visionary legislation to guarantee a home for everyone in this country and enable residents to collectively own their buildings to keep them rooted in the neighborhoods they helped create.
Looking Back, Fighting Forward
In 1974, the Bronx helped birth a movement that built community-controlled housing and passed national laws to require banks to invest in poor and working class communities of color. The legacy of redlining and disinvestment left a lasting mark on our neighborhoods and housing system. Many Bronx residents still spend over half of their income on rent and face some of the highest rates of eviction and building violations in the city. But the Bronx is fighting forward to own and govern our homes and stabilize our communities for the long run.
We develop the leadership of Bronx tenants to take control of their buildings and create truly affordable, sustainable communities through a variety of strategies:
Bronx tenants are creating pathways to collectively own and govern their buildings to ensure the long-term affordability and wellbeing of their homes.
Explore our policy platforms for housing as a human right!
Our Homes, Our Power
In 2019, our statewide Housing Justice for All Coalition won landmark legislation to dramatically strengthen New York State’s rent laws and establish the most robust tenant protections in a generation. Today our coalition is fighting for transformative legislation like the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would give tenants the first right of refusal to purchase their building when their landlord sells. Additionally, we fight for expanded rent stabilization; a Housing Access Voucher Program; new, democratically-controlled social housing; and Good Cause Eviction legislation to protect tenants from unjust evictions and rent hikes.
Community Land Act
The Community Land Act is a legislative package of bills that would support the growth and implementation of CLTs across NYC. The bills include: Public Land for Public Good, which would require the city to prioritize CLTs and other nonprofit developers when disposing of publicly-owned land; the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would grant CLTs and other nonprofits a right of first offer when landlords sell their buildings; a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act resolution calling on the state legislature to offer that right directly to tenants themselves; and a set of bills to abolish and replace the extractive and discriminator Tax Lien Sale.
Right to Counsel
In 2017, our citywide Right to Counsel Coalition passed legislation that made New York City the first in the nation to enshrine the right to counsel in housing court for all tenants. Since then, we launched a statewide campaign to guarantee the right to counsel, improve existing right to counsel protections, and establish an eviction moratorium during the winter. More than 51,000 households have been forced to represent themselves in housing court, even though most of them are entitled to right to counsel by law. We hold Court Watch to make sure tenants know their rights and are prepared to request an adjournment until they have representation.
Ending Predatory Equity
NWBCCC is the Bronx Boro lead for the Stabilizing New York City Coalition, a citywide coalition to combat tenant harassment and preserve real affordable housing. Our coalition combines legal, advocacy and organizing resources into a citywide network to help tenants take their predatory equity landlords to court and prevent displacement. Previously, we won a Certificate of No Harassment to force owners of distressed buildings to prove they have not harassed tenants before receiving a permit from the Department of Buildings. We push for policies to increase accountability for owners and lenders engaged in predatory equity practices.
A National Homes Guarantee
As member of People’s Action we organize for a national Homes Guarantee to ensure that every person in the U.S. has housing that is safe, accessible, sustainable, and permanently affordable. A Homes Guarantee would build 12 million social housing units, end homelessness, reinvest in public housing, and de-comodify housing. It would slash carbon emissions and support sustainability in our homes, as well as provide restorative justice and jobs in communities impacted by racist housing policy. As a first step, we are designing a National Tenants Bill of Rights to enshrine federal protections for tenants, with input from over one million people across the country.
explore research on our models to ensure Stable, affordable, and healthy homes for all:
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