Mayor De Blasio Calls On State To Extend Eviction Moratorium

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling on the state to extend a full moratorium on evictions and give tenants a year to make any missed rent payments.

As New Yorkers continue struggling with the crushing financial impact of the coronavirus crisis, de Blasio on Friday asked the state to fully halt evictions through at least Aug. 20 and approve a yearlong grace period for tenants who can't make rent.

"Anyone who can’t pay the rent should not be evicted, period," de Blasio said during a Friday news briefing.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's blanket moratorium on evictions has so far prevented New Yorkers from losing their homes, but, as of June 20, the moratorium only protects tenants who are eligible for unemployment or experienced "financial hardship" due to the pandemic.

Housing rights groups estimate that as many as 60,000 eviction cases could be filed now that housing courts have partially reopened, according to The New York Times.

Yet there's still widespread confusion among tenants over who is protected from eviction and who isn't.