NYC Evictions Hit Highs Unseen In 4 Years, Data Shows

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's evictions officially have returned to pre-pandemic highs, for better or worse.

In an apt numerical coincidence, the number of residential evictions during January were nearly identical to those seen in January 2020, data shows.

The roughly 1,450 evictions seen both months show New York City's pre- and post-COVID residential worlds mirroring each other — a state of affairs that prompted concern among advocates.

Iziah Thompson, a senior policy analyst from the Community Service Society, said that it's a return to "what we like to call an assembly-line style of justice at housing court — and it's really, really impacting a lot of low-income tenants right now."

"Tenants need representation in housing court right now," Thompson said. "It's a basic thing that would completely help this."

Evictions dried up amid the coronavirus pandemic's upheaval as officials enacted a statewide moratorium on legal lockouts against tenants.

The moratorium, which lasted from March 2020 to January 2022, provided protection for renters who lost jobs and income during the pandemic — and emboldened an existing movement of advocates who pushed for wider tenant protections.

Since the moratorium's end, evictions have crept upward, but still fell under pre-pandemic levels.

Last year's roughly 12,000 legal lockouts were a far cry from the 17,000 seen in 2019, according to city data.

Advocates say the growing numbers should be a call to action for state lawmakers to enact eviction reforms, known as "Good Cause" eviction.

"Failing to do so will only allow for evictions to continue to surge, displacing families from their homes and communities onto the streets or into our already overburdened shelter system," said a spokesperson from the Legal Aid Society.

But other advocates warned Patch that the data could paint an incomplete picture of what might be happening.

"It’s also important to consider how old the cases are that were acted on as matters can stay in Housing Court for several years," said Michael Tobman, a spokesperson for the Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord advocacy group. "And where was government support and social services in these matters – vouchers, ERAP, HRA?"

A spokesperson with Homeowners For An Affordable New York blasted a recent rally in support of "Good Cause" eviction as elected officials being more aligned with "socialist organizers, self-described Marxists, and far-left lobbyists who promote unworkable, ideologically driven, and nonsensical policies, than with hard-working everyday New Yorkers who need more housing."

"Good Cause Eviction is just a continuation of New York’s failed approach to rental housing," the spokesperson said in a statement. "It does nothing to address the housing shortage, would devastate New York’s existing housing supply, raise rents for nearly every tenant, and discourage new development, leading to an increase in homelessness."