The Newburgh City Council met in a special session before the holidays to unanimously pass a resolution declaring a housing emergency citywide, citing a recent study that found Newburgh’s net vacancy rate for apartments is just 3.9 percent.
A housing emergency doesn’t sound like anything to cheer for, but in this case, Mayor Torrance Harvey says the vacancy rate clears any remaining hurdles for Newburgh to do something about it by opting into rent control under the New York Emergency Tenant Protection Act.
"I want to say congratulations to the people of the City of Newburgh," adds Harvey. "Their voices have been heard and the vote has been counted."
Effective immediately, the resolution freezes rent in more than 700 apartments across 68 buildings built before 1974. Additionally, tenants in those units are protected from being evicted without good cause — another step forward for the city, which saw its own version of a “good cause" eviction law struck down by an Orange County judge last year.
Jonathan Bix, executive director of the activist group For the Many, says the resolution is the result of about a year of advocacy in Newburgh. Earlier this month, he says a public hearing on the resolution drew more than 100 residents, both for and against the plan.
"Rents are absolutely skyrocketing for a lot of people," says Bix. "People are having to leave their homes that are super important to them because they can't afford to stay."
A 2021 housing study found roughly 60 percent of renters in Newburgh are cost burdened, spending at least 30 percent of their income on housing. According to the latest “Out of Reach” report by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, the average single renter cannot comfortably afford a one-bedroom apartment in any of the region's nine counties.
The ETPA was initially created with New York City in mind during the late 1960s, before it expanded to Nassau, Rockland, and Westchester Counties in 1974, and then statewide in 2019. Newburgh is the third Hudson Valley community to opt into rent control, behind Kingston and Nyack.
Trustees in the village of New Paltz, on the other hand, recently rejected efforts to opt into rent control — despite a vacancy rate of just 2.7 percent — saying the number of eligible units under the ETPA wouldn’t address the area’s housing crisis.
Bix says activists with For the Many are now focusing efforts in cities like Albany, Middletown, and Poughkeepsie. The city of Poughkeepsie is currently waiting for the results of a housing study. Mayor-elect Yvonne Flowers has listed housing as one of her top concerns, with plans to create a task force of both tenants and landlords.
"One of the things that is coming up is rent stabilization. We have to see whether that will work here, and what that looks like," says Flowers. "But we want to make sure we have the right people in the room. So that way we can have those conversations to see what will work for all."
In Newburgh, the resolution passed despite an 11th-hour campaign by opponents of rent control, including the New York State Association of Realtors. A spokesperson for the Association did not return a request for comment in time for broadcast.
Michelle Kelson, corporation counsel for the city of Newburgh, says the city now has 30 days to establish a nine-member Rent Guidelines Board to consider any limits on rent going forward. Kelson and Harvey say the board is open to city residents of all backgrounds, so long as they have relevant experience.
"The board consists of two members who are representative of tenants, two members who are representative of owners of property, and five public members, each of whom shall have at least five years of experience in either finance, economics, or housing," explains Kelson.
"The state is choosing the final members of the board," Harvey reiterates. "So let me repeat that: the city council does not choose."
Mayor Harvey says Newburgh is accepting applications for potential board members until 4 p.m. on January 2. You can find a link here.
