In Chinatown, Immigrant Tenants Launch Rent Strike

Press release from CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities:

May 1 2020

NEW YORK, NY--The majority of tenants in 81 Bowery in Manhattan’s Chinatown, members of CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities Chinatown Tenants Union, are on rent strike. They join nearly 15,000 renters across New York State who cannot pay their rent due to the COVID-19 health crisis. This is the biggest rent strike New York State has seen in nearly 100 years. They all have one unified demand: Governor Cuomo, #CancelRent!

81 Bowery tenants delivered a letter to their landlord to lay out their concerns. They stated, “As you know, we are in the midst of an unprecedented public health crisis that has caused countless New Yorkers to lose their incomes. 81 Bowery Tenant Association members are among those millions of New Yorkers who find themselves in this position — we are simply unable to pay rent at this time in addition to the other expensive necessities that face us. We are not willing to go hungry to pay rent during the duration of this lockdown, and so are commencing a rent strike, effective May 1, 2020.”

Chen Qi Yang, a CAAAV member and 81 Bowery tenant, added, “What is our situation now? We are working-class tenants, low-income tenants. The situation is severe. We have no income, and no way to work. I work in construction, building homes, but now my company is closed. There is no way for me to find a job. I have no income, and I need to eat. How can I keep food in my stomach and pay rent at the same time? I have lived in this building since 2004, ever since I immigrated to the U.S. This is my home."

While the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has forced their hand, 81 Bowery tenants are also responding to the long-term conditions in their building. The landlord, Donald Lee, has attempted mass evictions at least twice in the past. During one of those attempts, 81 Bowery tenants were locked out of their own homes for 6 months. Electricity in the building is inconsistent; it sometimes fails 2-3 times in a single night. Mr. Lee has a long history of harassing tenants and retaliating against them for organizing.

There is support for the rent strikers and the #CancelRent campaign across Chinatown - even from those who have not lost income and can pay their rent this month. Chen Ren Ping, a CAAAV Chinatown Tenants Union leader, stated, “We as members of the Chinatown Tenants Union support rent strikers at 81 Bowery Street. They are construction workers and unable to go to work during the current pandemic. They have no income and have no way to afford rent. We hope that landlords will be willing to also support tenants, to support people across the country who are struggling, by being willing to make a little less money these few months. To stand in solidarity with one another and help one another is the right thing to do.”

For the working class Asian tenants that make up CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities’ Chinatown Tenants Union (CTU) the solution is clear. CAAAV calls on Governor Cuomo to #CancelRent for all New Yorkers.

This press release was produced by the CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities. The views expressed here are the author’s own.