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New Laws Aim to Support NYC Tenants Displaced by Fire


“Displacement following a fire or a structural emergency in your home is one of the most disruptive experiences a family can have,” said Bronx Councilmember Pierina Ana Sanchez, who sponsored one of two bills passed Thursday.

fire building

Gerardo Romo/NYC Council Media Unit

A building in lower Manhattan following a fire in 2022.

During the most recent fiscal year that ended in June, 476 single adults and more than 500 families—including nearly 300 families with children—stayed in the city’s Emergency Housing Services (EHS) shelters, which house New Yorkers displaced by fires or vacate orders on their homes.

These aren’t commonly short-lived stays: individual adults spent 592 days on average in EHS shelters last year, while families with kids were there for an average of 337 days, or nearly a year, according to Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) data.

“The scene that often you see is people in total distress, with no information, overwhelmed by what has just happened to them,” Brooklyn City Councilmember Alexa Avilés said ahead of a Council meeting Thursday, referencing several residential building fires in her district over the last few years.

“While the city offers support, there’s still very little information around their rights and the responsibilities of landlords, particularly when buildings are ordered to be vacated and folks are left to their own devices while trying to pick up their lives,” she added.





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