Gothamist

A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.

Gothamist

WNYC Listen Live

Donate

News

Evictions In NYC Continue To Fall In Wake Of Rent Reforms

Elizabeth Kim

Published Jan 6, 2020

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Never miss a story

Email address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .

Gothamist

Elizabeth Kim

Published Jan 6, 2020

FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

We rely on your support to make local news available to all

Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

In a positive sign for tenants, evictions in New York City dropped by more than 18 percent following the historic passage of rent reform in Albany last summer, according to an analysis of city data by The Legal Aid Society.

All told, there were 8,951 evictions carried out by city marshals between the time the new rent regulations were enacted on June 14th, 2019 through December 31st, 2019, compared to 10,958 during the same period the previous year, a drop of 2,007 evictions.

While tenant activists are celebrating the trend as part of their victory in overturning landlord-friendly rent laws that had allowed for steep rent hikes and deregulation of rent-regulated apartments, evictions have been steadily falling over the years in New York City. In 2018, the de Blasio administration announced that evictions decreased 14 percent over the previous year and 37 percent since 2013.

The city at the time attributed the decline to both stronger enforcement of tenant laws and a landmark law passed in 2017 that gives low-income tenants free legal representation in Housing Court.

Judith Goldiner, an attorney with Legal Aid, told Gothamist that with only six months worth of data, it is difficult to single out the effect of the new rent laws, but that the drop in evictions was nonetheless a real difference in the lives of a significant number of New Yorkers.

"There are 2,000 families who have homes still," she said. "That's a big deal."

Anecdotally, there is some evidence that the rent laws are a factor. She said that on the ground level, tenant lawyers are seeing landlords withdraw eviction cases. Under the new laws, which significantly limited legal rent increases for rent-regulated apartments, landlords can no longer expect to reap huge dividends if a tenant vacates.

"The incentives to drive out tenants have just really decreased," Goldiner said.

The report from Legal Aid data is consistent with others that have suggested that the new laws have had an immediate impact on housing stability. Back in November, an examination of court data by the Wall Street Journal concluded that the number of eviction filings, which represent the beginning stages of an eviction process, dropped by 46 percent compared to the same period last year.

And in an analysis for Gothamist last month, JustFix.nyc, a nonprofit technology start-up that works on tenant issues, found that both emergency and non-emergency 311 calls involving tenant issues fell 20 percent between July and November compared to the same period last year.

On the flip side, landlords have argued that the new laws will severely curtail their willingness to invest in repairs and renovations in an aging housing stock, which will make tenants worse-off in the long run. Last month, the WSJ reported that Department of Buildings records showed a 44 percent decline in renovations at rent-regulated buildings.

A spokesperson at the Rent Stabilization Association, a group that represents property owners, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the eviction data.

There are also other signs that the war over rent is far from over. Although the new laws restricted the amount of rent increases that landlords could charge for building-wide upgrades, or major capital improvements (MCIs), they did not eliminate them. As a result, tenants, many of them energized by last year's rent reform campaign, have continued to contest the policy.

Housing activists have pledged to press state legislators to improve upon the rent laws, including by passing a so-called "good cause" eviction bill, which would make evictions in market-rate apartments more difficult and a plan called Home Stability Support, which would give a rent supplement to low-income New Yorkers facing homelessness. In a press release, Goldiner said, "These measures are needed to meaningfully address our sprawling affordable housing and homelessness crises."

Tagged

evictions

rent wars

legal aid society

rent reform

Elizabeth Kim

Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

MORE news

Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park

The NYPD has not publicly identified her. People who knew her said she was an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.

Charles Lane

Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET

Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says

It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.

Liam Quigley

News

Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says

It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.

Liam Quigley

New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ

Arya Sundaram

A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.

Samantha Max

Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910

Michael Sol Warren

Never miss a story

Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.

Sign upEmail address

By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .