Economic impacts of pandemic and threat of eviction far worse for minority New Yorkers: study
ALBANY — The looming end of New York’s eviction moratorium will adversely impact low-income and minority residents and compound economic disparities already amplified by the COVID crisis, according to a new study.
A new analysis from the Robin Hood Foundation and Columbia University found that the majority of New Yorkers who lost income during the pandemic, 55%, were low-income workers and those already living in poverty, predominately New Yorkers of color.
The study found that 25% of Black and Latino New Yorkers reported owing back rent or being unable to make a rent payment, compared to 1-in-10 white city residents.
“Make no mistake: a wave of evictions is coming that will put hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers at risk,” said Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery Jr. “This report shows exactly who will be crushed by this crisis — overwhelmingly New Yorkers of color and our lower-income neighbors who were already facing housing instability before the pandemic.”
New Yorkers who lost their jobs during the pandemic, more likely to be Black or Latino, were more than 2.5 times more likely to be behind on rent than those who worked uninterrupted.
Those who lost jobs during the pandemic were already in worse shape financially, with 22% behind on rent before COVID. That number skyrocketed to 41%, nearly double, being behind on rent during over the past two and a half years.
The study found that those who didn’t lose jobs actually fared better during the pandemic than before. Only 15% of those who remain employed throughout the crisis said they fell behind on rent, compared to 17% before.
Hochul said that while the state’s pandemic eviction moratorium will be lifted on Jan. 15, she is working with the Legislature on other solutions.
“We are very cognizant of the anxiety surrounding this,” she said during a Manhattan press conference on Tuesday. “But it has been foreseen for a long time.”
Hochul and state lawmakers have pleaded with federal partners for more money to cover New York’s rent relief program.
Robin Hood and others are proposing updates to the city’s housing voucher program, including eliminating requirements that families must have either lived in a shelter for three months or received an eviction notice and previously lived in a shelter to qualify, to help stem the tide of evictions and prevent worsening economic divides.
“The eviction moratorium was a band-aid solution for chronic housing instability in New York City – our tenants need more sustainable fixes that address the root causes of homelessness that existed long before the pandemic,” said Scott Short, CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership. “Common sense proposals, like rental vouchers that reflect the true cost of living in New York, can combat entrenched economic and racial inequality.”
