About the Shalom Tenants Alliance
Tenants of the Shaloms have been defending their rights and fighting
to keep their homes for at least a decade, facing frequent court battles
and dealing with various city and state agencies. The Cooper Square
Committee and Metropolitan Council helped bring
together tenants from several Shalom buildings to share information and
coordinate their efforts and strategies. The Alliance came together in
earnest in July 2003 with the launch of a website, shalomslumlords.org (no longer active),
which has helped put numerous tenants in touch with the Alliance and helped
Shalom tenants realize, “We’re not alone.” The Shalom
Tenants Alliance has continued building a multi-neighborhood tenant campaign
and a stronger support system. It is now working with elected officials
to prompt investigations into some of the most severe issues, while also
collaborating with other tenant coalitions in mutual support network addressing
broader issues affecting tenants in the city. Shalom tenants have conducted
extensive research, compiled documentation spanning a 30-plus-year period;
hired attorneys; prepared reports for the Attorney General (with the help
of Union Local 32BJ), and initiated audits with the New York City Departments
of Buildings and Housing Preservation and Development. These efforts are
only the beginning.
Goals and Outcomes We Aim to Achieve
The Shalom Tenants Alliance aims to create a stronger organization and
prevent displacement of tenants who have a legal right to remain in their
rent-regulated apartments. We want to:
- Inform Shalom tenants of their legal rights and provide support to
help them keep their homes.
- Help organize and mobilize tenants in Shalom buildings that are not
currently organized.
- Trigger investigations by city, state and federal agencies.
- Push DHCR to audit all Shalom buildings, review their rent histories,
and re-regulate units that were illegally deregulated.
- Persuade city and state agencies to recognize and act on the patterns
evident across all Shalom buildings instead of processing complaints
on a case-by case basis.
- Get tenants involved in the movement to get the NYS Legislature to
re-open the rent laws and address the systemic abuses that are harming
our communities.
- Preserve our communities by slowing down the development of a transient
society.
Contact us for more information!
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