ALBANY â Now that itâs approved, activists are pushing the state to quickly open a program for up to 1.2 million New Yorkers behind on housing payments due to the pandemic to apply for $2.4 billion in federal rent relief in the state Legislatureâs 2021-22 budget and meet congressional spending deadlines.
The stateâs final $212 billion spending plan, which the Assembly adopted Wednesday night nearly one week after the April 1 deadline, included details of New Yorkâs Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide much-needed rent and utility bill relief to tenants and landlords in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
An estimated range of 800,000 to 1.2 million New York households owe between $1.4 billion and $2.2 billion in back housing payments.