Shrestha, tenants rally for passage of REST Act – Daily Freeman

KINGSTON, N.Y. — Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha and tenants rights groups rallied on Thursday for the passage of the Rent Emergency Stabilization for Tenants (REST) Act, which supporters say would expand provisions of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.

Tenants filled the Ulster County Restorative Justice Center to ask state lawmakers to pass the REST Act, as the future of rent stabilization in Kingston is up in the air, with the city facing a second lawsuit from landlords over the scope of rent stabilization.

On Thursday, April 2, State Supreme Court Judge David Gandin granted a temporary restraining order blocking the city from enforcing certain aspects of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act while the suit is litigated. Gandin ruled that owners of properties in the city covered by ETPA are not required to provide tenants with new or renewal leases that are due during the litigation. The ruling blocks the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal from “processing and determining any application and/or complaint that a lease was not properly made or renewed while the temporary restraining order was in effect.”

ETPA protections currently apply to all rental properties with six or more units built before 1974.

But Gandin also ruled that all other provisions of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, including the ability for tenants to file complaints if their current or past rent exceeds the legal limit under the act, remain in place, pending the outcome of a request bu a group of landlords for a preliminary injunction in the latest suit it filed against the city over the ETPA on Wednesday, March 18.

That suit asks the court to throw out the Kingston Common Council’s January vote to continue rent stabilization for all tenants currently covered by the ETPA.

“Rent stabilization is a tool to stabilize our neighborhoods and keep our residents safe,” Shrestha said in a press release on Friday, April 10. “Without stable homes, families can’t keep their kids in schools, stay near their families, get a job or be good at it, seek educational opportunities, participate in civic life, and so on. The reality is too many of my constituents are struggling to pay rent, which has doubled over the last few years, while wages have not kept pace.

Shrestha blasted landlords’ years-long effort to end rent stabilization and “preserve their ability to hike rents and kick people out of their homes at will.”

“We must pass my bill, the REST Act, this year to give localities the power to preserve affordable housing,” Shrestha said.

Shrestha’s office said that communities like Kingston currently can only opt into rent stabilization via “costly and legally vulnerable study.”

The 2025 Kingston vacancy study, completed by the city’s Office of Housing Initiatives, has drawn the ire of tenants and tenant rights advocates and some officials. They alleged manipulation by landlords, including the warehousing of apartments and the listing of occupied apartments as vacant to raise the vacancy rate.

Shrestha’s office said the REST ACT would update ETPA by allowing localities to opt in using publicly available data such as eviction rates, permitting municipalities to extend protections down to a minimum of four units, and extending protections only to buildings built within the last 15 years on a rolling basis. Rent stabilization covers only 20% of rental units in Kingston, her office added.

Shrestha’s office also said that Ulster County workers who rent a one-bedroom apartment are currently spending 54% of their income on rent. Her office noted that the average hourly wage for renters last year was $14.57, half of what’s needed to rent a one-bedroom apartment without being rent burdened. Being rent-burdened is defined as spending more than 30% of gross income on rent and utilities.

Xaver Kander, political director of the progressive group For the Many, said in the release, “Kingston has a housing emergency and everyone knows it. But we shouldn’t have to bend over backwards to prove it in court when there are hundreds of families living in emergency hotel housing and families across the state are just one rent hike away from joining them. The legislature should move to pass the REST Act this session to empower municipalities to make rent affordable.

Tenant organizer June Nemon added, “The best way for tenants to fight evictions and rent hikes is to get organized. Talk to your neighbors, start a tenants association, and join efforts to win policies that will improve your housing conditions. No matter what happens with the current lawsuit, rent-stabilized tenants in Kingston are due lower rents.

Nemon urged ETPA tenants and their neighbors to file overcharge claims with the Division of Homes and Community Renewal. “That will put you on the strongest footing to protect your housing and keep it affordable,” Nemon said.