Rent Striking to Save the South Bronx Transcript
MP = Manny Pardilla
JG = Julian Guerrero
Narrating in Bold
Manny Pardilla: If we're dealing with the Coronavirus outside, then for many of us, we're dealing with mold, with leaks, with rats with pests, indoors. And all these things, they trigger asthma, they trigger respiratory illnesses, they trigger all these health issues that impact our community and landlords have purposely kept conditions this way.
JG:That was Manny Pardilla.
He’s the main tenant organizer for the South Bronx Tenants Movement. I interviewed Manny back on April 4th a few days after the first call for a rent strike began. A month later, the rent strikes are growing:
Media Clip: “All across the country, from Los Angeles to Philadelphia to New York tens of thousands of tenants banded together for the biggest rent strikes in decades”
But let’s go back to early April, and to Manny’s South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven, where he organizes tenants.
Manny spent four years at the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, where he learned the ropes of tenant organizing at this housing focused non-profit.
After he left the position, Manny focused on organizing tenants on his own. He realized that many South Bronx tenants live in smaller 8-12 unit buildings owned by private landlords who have generally left them in consistent disrepair. Even though recent housing reforms have provided tenants with more legal assistance and resulted in lower eviction rates across the city, the Bronx is the only borough where eviction rates have risen every year since 2010.
Each year, evictions have ravaged the Bronx where overcrowding, terrible conditions, and aggressive landlords purge thousands of tenants and their families out of their homes.
These are the same conditions that are contributing to the startling fact that Bronxites are twice as likely to be killed by Covid19 than other New Yorkers. As of May 5th, incomplete estimates put the Bronx death toll to Covid19 at 3,280 people. My interview with Manny goes into what the South Bronx Tenants Movement is doing to save the South Bronx from falling apart and why, as he explains, the Bronx is a ticking time bomb - a bomb who’s clock is being sped up by the fallout from Covid19.
JG: Who or what is the South Bronx Tenants Movement?
MP: I started organizing the building 386 and right from the jump to tenants were ready, they wanted to organize, they wanted to hold their landlord accountable and we took all sorts of action. We did a 311 campaign where we just racked up violations up to close to a hundred. And, mind you, this is an 18 unit building. Then, from there, we sent out a letter to the landlord and this was a building that was, for what it's worth, literally it was just abandoned. There was no super, in the front area where the mail would be at, you would just see countless letters of violations and city fines saying that they haven't been paying their taxes and whatnot.
The landlord had just been very neglectful of this building and that all changed when we did a press conference. Which was shortly after we sent a letter to the landlord. We gave him time to respond to the letter and he never responded to the letter. So we retaliated by making it public, that he hadn't responded and just showcasing the issues in the building. The next day the landlord, or at least some sort of manager, showed up and he did emergency repairs. Things like people's roof that collapsed, like changing the front door, things like that. He did it within 24 hours to 48 hours. And it's sad that we had to go public that we had to go protest but it served as a politicizing piece for tenants. It got them to understand that the landlord is not there to be their friend, the landlord does not have their backs, the landlord is there to make money and if the landlord really cared about them he would have easily showed that but he didn't show that.
From there on out the harassment in the building shot up because then there was a new super and he was a person that actively spoke negatively, while on payroll, about the tenant association. You know, he discouraged tenants from joining the Tenants Association and some followed his advice, others didn't, and then you had a small group of folks in the building who were kind of, like, on the fence. And I think with time, we were able to prove to them that we were here to stay and that the landlord is not necessarily here to stay.
But shortly thereafter, we filed a lawsuit against the landlord for harassment and this also encompassed harassment that came about through what kind of repairs they were doing. Or more so, how they were doing the repairs. So, for example, if they were painting the living room and they we're like spilling paint on furniture, you know, and they also, like, spilled paint on like your towels. That's an inadequate repair or, that's more like harassment, because now the tenant doesn't feel like they want those workers to even do work in their apartment. So, we were able to file a lawsuit based around that kind of stuff, and we've been in court since summer of 2018, we're still in court but now, for what it's worth, we're seeing the fruits of that.
So that's 386 and as of recent we've integrated 380, which is the building next door. And this is a building that I'm currently all hands on deck with, so, you know, they currently don't have cooking gas, they haven't had it since October, so if you think about it, that means not being able to cook for Thanksgiving, not being able to cook for New Years, for Christmas, for any birthdays, you know, those are some of the issues that those families have to endure because of the landlord. So it's ironic that now the landlord, what he’s trying to do is, he’s trying to convert all the stove appliances into electric. So he's trying to install an electric system and then put in electric stoves.
But what we know, is that, tenants run the risk of being charged an MCI because of that and an MCI is a “major capital improvement” so that means that rent will go up. Tenants don't feel like it's fair for their rent to go up for an essential service. It shouldn't go up if they haven't had the ability to cook.
JG: I'm curious to hear that now that Covid-19 is here and it's gripping for the city and there's calls for shelter at home and there's something like fifty thousand cases last time I checked. How have you and the South Bronx tenant movement continue to organize or how are people taking this whole thing?
MP:I asked the tenants at 386 and at 380 where they're at and they told me some folks said that they're working and other folks said that yeah they're doing laundry and yeah that they were doing groceries here and there. And then I asked listen, with the rent, what do you guys think about doing some sort of public action? And folks would like yeah that sounds perfect because even though some of us are working not all of us are working and I think it is a bit of an insult when, in the midst of this crisis, you do have landlords who are profiting. You know this is coming from tenants, you know I'm not necessarily me. So yeah on April 1st, tenants, under the banner of the South Bronx Tenants Movement, decided to take a stand against the governor, Governor Cuomo, and let him know that if he doesn't give us a suspension of rent for the duration of time that this crisis continues, at the very least for the duration of time that we're being asked to stay home, and for the duration of time that people can't work, if he doesn't cancel rent then we're going to go on strike.
So tenants effectively went on strike right after that action. Because the Governor didn't agree to anything. The landlord on 380, he came forth to a reporter and said that he was going to charge tenants anything. But he hasn't communicated that with anybody, he just expressed that to a reporter. So it's interesting to see where these landlords are standing with all this crises and they still feel like they should be profiting despite the crisis.
So that's one thing. And another thing there is still ongoing organizing happening at 380. With this whole MCI fight, and the lack of cooking gas. Right now, we're trying to support people in filling out rent reduction orders through DHCR based on lack of services so that's going to basically mean that we have to door-knock and we have to sit down with people and go over every single little issue they have in their apartment. It gets really tedious. All in the efforts of submitting that to the state so they can approve a rent reduction order based on lack of services that, for what it's worth, may take months for them to process that. But what we're trying to do is we're trying to do it now so that the state can’t say we haven't done it or let's say that in the coming weeks, we decide to sue the landlord, that's something that we can add to the lawsuit that we also filed a rent reduction case with the landlord.
So that's some organizing that's happening even in the middle of this crisis. Some of that is happening remotely. As tenants in their buildings, they're going door knocking, door-to-door, making sure people are filling this out through the computer.
This is a time when local council members office is closed and our local representatives, whether it's in the senate or in the assembly, their offices are closed. I think it's important for community to look out for each other and to organize and some people are criticized at this moment.
____________________________________________
JG: You’re listening to Working Class Heroes Radio right here on WBAI 99.5 fm. We’re talking with Manny Pardilla about housing conditions and rent strikes in the South Bronx.
_____________________________________________
JG: So what do you think tenants should be doing right now, what would be the advice for all those folks right now who are starting to have those questions and how it might affect them in New York City?
MP: I think now more than ever tenants should consider forming tenants associations, even if it's pre-formations. And I say that for very practical reasons. I think it would help build solidarity networks, if it means just checking in on one another. Again just like speaking about one of my tenant leaders that I was organizing with while I was at Northwest Bronx, that one particular tenant he's like alone and is home all alone. You know he has neighbors and he knows them but what if, for tenants associations across the city what if they were able to look out for their elderly in very unique ways that are in the same situation as a tenant leader that I'm referring to. What if we're able to cook for each other during these times where there is price gouging happening. What if we're able to assess where our local politicians are at, like where's in the case of the South Bronx, where's Diana Ayala? Where is she? You know, she's on Facebook and she's posting a few things here and there but for the immediate community you know who probably goes to her for questions for resources, she's just closed. Where are they at and I think those are very powerful conversations to be having internally.
There's going to be a lot of landlords that are going to start non-payment cases. I think it doesn't benefit tenants, especially those who don't work, or those who are not working, now, because of the pandemic. You know how many people have gotten laid off as well. These are families who are going to get evicted not just from their homes, but from their buildings, and ultimately their communities.
JG: So do you besides the rent moratorium and eviction moratorium, do you think there are other demands that you see the tenant movement sort of either starting to think about or put forward besides the two that I've listed?
MP: I think it's important to really, and we really spoke about this on April 1st in our press conference, where we had a multitude of press there but we were very adamant about addressing the lack of gas and with that, just understanding what it means to stay home for many people. I mean if we're talking about the Bronx, we're talking about a county that has some of the highest asthma rates in the whole country. We're talking about a county that has some of the highest obesity rates in the entire country. The highest opioid problems in the whole country, it's just going to affect us disproportionately and so just understanding the impact that it means to stay home for our health, if we're also, if we're dealing with the Coronavirus outside then for many of us, we're dealing with mold, with leaks, with rats with pests, indoors. And all these things, they trigger asthma, they trigger respiratory illnesses, they trigger all these health issues that impact our community and landlords have purposely kept conditions this way.
For one because they're trying to evict tenants and secondly because they don't really care repairing tenants' conditions or fixing their conditions. They Don't Really Care. And so people are already saying that the Bronx is a ticking time bomb and that the Coronavirus is set to hit us a lot harder and there’s expected to be a lot more deaths here in the Bronx. What I'd like to say is that, I think there's a very structural reason for that and that's connected to landlords and that's also connected to government and the lack of actual government response to people's 311 calls, to peoples issues, to people's concerns.
Does it matter during a crisis where people are dying? It seems to matter and we don't think that's right. So should rent matter daily where we're talking about people who are homeless because of the question of rent? See those are the types of conversations we should be having afterwards because this is a unique moment for capitalism. Capitalism is still trying to save face, it's still itself in essence, but it's still trying to put forth a public health image like stay at home and doing all these things but that's a fundamental contradiction, because people can't be healthy and still be capitalist. That's what we're learning right now during these moments, we can't be healthy and capitalist at the same time.
If they have mold and all day did was paint over it, you know that's a very cliche tactic, to just paint over mold, but we all know that mold just grows on top of any sort of paint that you coat on it. All these things, they definitely have an impact on our health and now more than ever when we live in a society where, government is trying to be responsible and is trying to let people know that they have to stay home and let people know that your health comes first but you know it's important to expose the hypocrisy of what it means to stay home. Let's talk about the conditions of tenants in their homes. In 380 they don't have cooking gas. What does that mean for a starving family? In 380, some tenants have to do with rats in their apartments, what does that mean for a tenant with asthma? For many of the tenants at 380, they're dealing with mold. What does that mean for a tenant who is just trying to take a shower and then suddenly they can't breathe. It's really really important for us to really look at this holistically and not just look at this very silo-ed and very cut-throat. It's not simple.
JG: Manny makes a compelling argument about why infection rates are so high in the Bronx.
A study done by the Association of Neighborhood Housing and Development, shows that the South Bronx has some of the largest populations of service workers and people of color in the city and it also has some of the most rent burdened neighborhoods and the second highest rate of Covid19 infections.
The South Bronx Tenants Movement shows what can be done when tenants connect and organize across a couple of buildings. They were able to lend momentum to the cancel rent campaign and stand together with tenants impacted by Covid19 more directly.
But as of May 5th, Governor Andrew Cuomo refuses to consider any rent cancellations. The New York City Council has considered proposals that extend the eviction moratorium and allows landlords to keep security deposits in place of missing rents. So while landlords and city council members chew on the fat of tenant’s security deposits, tenants are expected to pay a growing rent debt no matter how their incomes were impacted by Covid19.
The coalition behind the Cancel Rent campaign is called Housing Justice For All and they represent over 70 housing focused organizations. According to them, at least 400 families are coordinating rent strikes with over 14,000 people pledged to do the same.
Their landlords refuse to negotiate with them and they don’t see local politicians doing much for rent relief. As the months pass by, we can expect these numbers to grow.
On next week's show, Brenda Leon’s interview with Alvaro Franco explores how Bronx tenants are reacting to the different ways Covid19 affecting their neighborhoods.
Tenants have been on the losing end for decades but maybe flexing their muscles, thousands strong, might open their eyes to the power they hold. Only then, will we begin to see some real housing justice.
Thank you for listening, I am your correspondent, Julian Guerrero.