New York is a very different city from when Mayor Ed Koch was faced with upwards of 100,000 properties having been foreclosed on for property tax arrears but current rates of delinquency are on the rise. Multifamily owners are squeezed by limitations on rent increases baked into the 2019 Housing Stability and Protection Act, rising interest rates, and costs for insurance, among other things.
Nonprofit legal providers at the Urban Justice Center and NYLAG, including housing attorneys for low-income tenants, went on strike over wages and caseloads. The political landscape is more favorable for workers than during the last major strike in 1994.