Residents and supporters of the Hippie Hotel Tenant Union stood outside Cole Group Realty's regional office in Albany demanding a formal meeting. Although they did not get a response, tenants addressed the small crowd, detailing their living conditions.
The Hippie Hotel union represents apartment buildings managed by the New Jersey-based group at 84, 88 and 92 Willet St. in Albany.
Picketers talked about neighbors leaving the apartment due to poor management .
"It's actually really upsetting to watch our neighbors pull up with trucks, leave stuff on the side of the road, have unlocked empty apartment buildings right next door to me," said one tenant who would not give their name for fear of retribution.
Another tenant expressed their dissatisfaction with management's attempts at changes.
"We've seen surface level changes. They painted the walls. They put in new carpets, but they didn't address anything that we actually had an issue with."
The tenant union, which officially launched in June, comes as more tenant unions have been popping up throughout the city. Some unions, such as the Amsdell Tenant Union and Ida Yarborough, have found success reaching a deal with their landlords. Others, such as Hippie Hotel, say they have had a hard time getting their landlords to the bargaining table.
According to United Tenants of Albany, seven tenant unions have been launched in the city of Albany since July of last year.
The recent surge in tenant unions comes as New York state is trying to make housing more affordable. In the previous legislative session, a bill aimed at making it easier for municipalities to opt into rent stabilization failed to move out of committee before the end of the session.
Opponents of the legislation say the act would make it harder on small property owners to rent and would also make it harder to improve the quality of living for existing tenants.
According to Andrew Scherer, a law professor at the New York Law School who studied housing policy and landlord-tenant law in New York, there has been an increase in tenant unions not just in New York, but throughout the country even without a formal standard legislation on tenant unions. He also adds lack of legal protection has never really stopped labor unions of days past.
"There wasn't government legislation that governed unionization and collective bargaining and recognition of a union, and yet you know, people organized," Scherer said. "They went on strike. They won demands. They entered into contracts, and that's kind of what's going on right now. And I mean, it's it's it's interesting to see that this is happening more and more."
Back at the picketing line, organizers and tenants packed up after management did not come out to directly address the small crowd. A tenant, who is planning on moving out by the end of the month, says she is still planning to keep tabs on the union.
"It's just really up to Cole Realty to actually, I guess, take us seriously because we're not going anywhere."
Cole Group Realty did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
