No one can be truly free without a safe, stable place to live and that is why the city of Kingston needs stronger tenant protections now. The city’s expansion means higher rents and people eventually being forced out of the communities they love and helped build. In a city like Kingston, where people of color are more likely to rent their homes than white people, eviction is a racial justice issue. The Kingston mayor and four council members joined tenants and housing rights advocates to introduce Good Cause Eviction legislation, which would prevent unfair evictions and unjustifiable rent hikes, helping people stay in their homes. This legislation has already passed in Albany, and is being pushed all around the state. Now that it’s been introduced by the mayor here in Kinston, we must ensure that the city council can vote to move this critical legislation forward. Our community’s residents desperately need this change.

It’s time to take action to help people keep and secure safe and affordable housing. The city is experiencing rapid growth as people flee New York City’s congestion and rising rents. As a result, Kingston is becoming too expensive for those who have always lived here. While growth is a good thing, gentrification is not. It causes people to be priced out of their homes, and the higher costs of living do not always result in quality-of-life improvements for everyday people — just more money in the hands of billionaires and corporations.

As corporations and wealthy real estate investors spot opportunities to grow their fortunes on the backs of poor and working-class families, measures like Good Cause Eviction protection will reduce displacement and homelessness. Ulster County has the highest rate of homelessness in the Hudson Valley. After New York's eviction moratorium expires on January 15 and the rent relief funds run out, we’ll be back to business as usual with tenants being evicted for arbitrary reasons. In Kingston, more than half of renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, which is unaffordable and unsustainable. This is the Kingston housing crisis which has existed since before the pandemic. Elected officials have an opportunity to show everyday people that they put them and the lives of their loved ones before wealthy real estate developers.

Guaranteeing everyone a safe, stable home is an essential step in building a healthier Kingston for all of us. Good Cause legislation is an important step in the right direction. It would guarantee all tenants the right to a lease renewal; protect them against predatory rent increases and unfair evictions; and stop unscrupulous property owners from reaping the benefits of exploitation of tenants which gives them an unfair advantage in the market.

Evictions are violence, and they weaken communities by displacing families. Along with those families, jobs also leave our communities. People lose access to their health care and education, and can become unstable for years. The people of Kingston deserve better than that. They need Good Cause eviction legislation. Kingston must follow the city of Albany’s lead and send a clear message to New York State legislators that Good Cause legislation is the will of the people. While we work to get this bill passed during the upcoming state legislative session, Kingston residents should not have to wait for these vital protections when there is desire among constituents to pass it here in Kingston first. Investments in housing is an investment in the public good — a Kingston that works for all of us.

Alim Flowers is lead organizer for Citizen Action of New York. Diana Lopez is Ulster County organizer for For the Many.