On March 22, 2023, the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for tenant organizing groups to expand the Partners in Preservation program. The program preserves rent-regulated housing units and supports tenant organizers who work with the agency and tenants to fight harassment, displacement, and poor living conditions.
The program promotes the following goals: that organized tenants be empowered to act collectively; to inform tenants of their rights; improve living conditions and prevent displacement in organized buildings; build tenant organizing capacity and institutional support for partnering organizations; and to have more effective coordination and integration of City resources and responses to tenant harassment and displacement. HPD is working with the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit’s Tenant Support Unit, the Department of Social Services’ Office of Civil Justice and other agencies.
The program launched as a pilot program in three communities in the Bronx and northern Manhattan in 2019. City agencies, tenant organizing groups, and legal service providers worked together to combat tenant harassment in rent-regulated buildings. As a result of the program, 272 buildings were canvassed, 72 new tenant associations were established, 117 tenant leadership workshops were held, and the program developed 356 new tenant leaders and floor captains.
The program will fund organizations to build anti-displacement strategies with tenants, local stakeholders and government partners in selected areas around the city. The four Contract Areas include Northern Manhattan; the Bronx; Central Brooklyn and the North Shore of Staten Island; and North Queens, North Brooklyn, the Lower East Side, and SoHo-NoHo.
In the RFP, teams need to demonstrate extensive knowledge of the needs of rent-regulated tenants in the neighborhoods the teams intend to serve, an active history of organizing tenants, and the capacity to help HPD expand Partners in Preservation as a displacement prevention tool. HPD will work with the selected teams to customize the program to fit the unique needs of the communities the teams will work with. The city is investing $4 million for this expansion of Partners in Preservation.
The agency will hold a pre-submission conference on April 5, 2023 at 1 PM over Zoom. Proposals are due by 2 PM on May 3, 2023. For more information about the program and how to submit a proposal, click here.
Mayor Eric Adams stated, “No New Yorker should be bullied or harassed out of their home. Our administration is fighting for tenants every day, and this $4 million investment to expand a proven, successful program will help us fight even more effectively. Our neighbors and our city depend on it.”
HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión stated, “Fighting bad landlords, standing up for working New Yorkers, and protecting rent regulated apartments is not only our priority, it’s our mission. Together with our tenant organizing partners throughout the City we are working to create a city where safe, stable and regulated housing is a reality for more New Yorkers.”
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the CityLaw fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)
How do i find the guidelines for applying to become a Tenant Organizer and Partnering Organization? Thanks Alex