Eviction nix continuing till new year

New Yorkers unable to pay rent and facing eviction due to the pandemic have been given a reprieve through the end of the year, Gov. Cuomo said Monday.

“As New York continues to fight the pandemic, we want to make sure New Yorkers who are still struggling financially will not be forced from their homes as a result of COVID,” the governor said.

“We are extending the protections of the Safe Harbor Act through Jan. 1 because we want tenants to have fundamental stability in their lives as we recover from this crisis.”

The executive order gives just under 1,000 New Yorkers who were facing eviction on Oct. 1 three months reprieve before they can legally be kicked out of their homes, the Office of Court Administration confirmed.

The total number of people served eviction notices after March 17, classified as “postpandemic,” stands at 996, according to Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucian Chalfen.

“We are asking the governor’s office for further clarifications on the [executive order issued Monday] so we can further guidance,” Chalfen said.

Advocacy groups said Cuomo’s latest order doesn’t go far enough in explaining what will eventually happen to tenants who’ve been unable to make rent since the pandemic began. Nor is it clear how the city’s Housing Court will handle a wave of post-pandemic evictions in the new year.

“The devil is in the details, and we have yet to see an executive order with any specifics. A true moratorium will protect all tenants regardless of circumstance and not include any exemptions that landlords could exploit to drag our clients to court on frivolous grounds,” said Judith Goldiner of the Legal Aid Society.

“New York will still very much be in the midst of a public health crisis come 2021, and relief for tenants must extend well beyond the end of the pandemic.”

Cuomo’s move builds on a March 20 eviction moratorium issued by Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks that covered commercial and residential renters.