The Adams administration announced the creation of a new “Tenant Protection Cabinet” on Friday intended to help the two-thirds of New Yorkers who rent navigate city resources.
The board will consist of representatives from 25 city agencies, including the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Department of Social Services, the NYPD and the mayor’s office.
The aim, according to City Hall, is to ensure tenants can connect to the same information no matter which agency or hotline they contact. It would also “focus attention” on underutilized services and “use data strategically” to target needs and track progress, according to a press release from City Hall.
The cabinet will be co-chaired by Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer and Executive Director for Housing Leila Bozorg.
“The data is clear: the demand to live in our city is far outpacing our ability to build housing, but we will not accept a city where renters are priced out of a chance to build their future. New Yorkers need our support now, and the Tenant Protection Cabinet is going to deliver it to them,” Mayor Adams said in a statement. “Together, this cabinet will work to deliver relief for tenants and working-class New Yorkers.”
The formation of the new cabinet comes as New York has seen historically low apartment vacancy levels, record-high rents and a spate of recent headlines around poor housing conditions and crumbling building infrastructure.
The Adams administration has made a point of publicly cracking down on bad actors in recent months as a result, with the housing department helping to secure a rare arrest warrant for one of the city’s most notorious landlords earlier this week.
