Facing Eviction?
Don't Move,

FIGHT!

The Tenant Union is here to help.
Together, we can fight evictions.

¿Podría ser desalojado?
No te mudes,

¡LUCHA!

El sindicato de inquilinos está aquí para ayudar.
Juntos podemos luchar contra los desalojos.

Housing is a Human Right

If you're in an emergency and want to request help or advice from our 200+ allies in the Mid-Hudson Valley:
For the fastest response: join our Facebook group and post that you need help.

To read the full document presented in the live stream click here:
TANC Pandemic Organizing Guide

To follow along with the slide deck in the live stream click here:
Live Stream Deck PDF

Stay informed about actions and events:

Kingston Tenants Union is led by its dues-paying tenants. To find out about upcoming meetings, join our mailing list.

We organize horizontally and have no hierarchy; we help Kingston tenants organize themselves in their buildings, complexes or blocks.

Any tenant can become a voting, dues-paying member, and any ally can become a non-voting dues-paying member. Our meetings for members and prospective members are held at different locations throughout Kingston.

KTU Community Agreement:

By entering this space, I agree to the following:

  • I will not take photos, videos, or audio recordings of members without their consent
  • I will interact in a way that is positive and productive
  • I will adhere to physical and emotional boundaries
  • I understand that if I violate these agreements, I may be ejected from the space for the safety of others. We will not call the police.

Points of Unity

1. Housing is a human right
Everyone deserves a home for themselves and their family regardless of income, occupation, socioeconomic status, and identity.

2. Kingston tenants will lead
The movement for housing justice will be one that is led by the tenants of Kingston for the tenants of Kingston, including those who have been displaced or live in the surrounding areas. This means prioritizing above all else in our organizing what the tenants want, aspire for, and hope for in terms of policy and in building our movement.

3. Under the current system, profit stands in the way of building a just Kingston community for its tenants
We are working together in the struggle against property developers, landlords, and all those who seek to elevate making profit over peoples’ housing needs.

4. The fight for housing justice means ending patriarchy, misogyny, heteronormativity, and white supremacy
We recognize that the fight for housing justice is connected to the fight for abolishing the police and ICE, and to the struggle for jobs in which workers are paid a living wage, are unionized and can make final decisions relating to their workplaces. This means struggling against policies that reinforce white supremacy, colonialism, transphobia, patriarchy, misogyny and heteronormativity.

Learn the facts and hear from the community about the massive public-private development known as the “Kingstonian” that will, if built, have a huge impact on our city.

Read more...

Stories

Six Shocking Facts about Airbnb in Ulster County and New York State

Six Shocking Facts about Airbnb in Ulster County and New York State

December 9, 2019

Airbnb didn’t exist in 2007. Today, three out of every 100 Ulster County housing units is listed on Airbnb. Every real estate sale, rent increase and property tax assessment in New York State takes into account how much the property could earn if it was listed on Airbnb. Some examples: An investor might offer $180,000 … Read More

13 Reasons Why Kingston Needs Rent Stabilization

13 Reasons Why Kingston Needs Rent Stabilization

October 17, 2019

The City of Kingston might opt into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA). It is a law that was enacted to help protect renters in places where there’s a 5% vacancy rate or below. A 6-10% vacancy rate is typically cited as a healthy vacancy rate for towns. The ETPA includes rent stabilization, the right … Read More

Good Cause Evictions Would Protect 3,000 Kingston Families from Gentrification

Good Cause Evictions Would Protect 3,000 Kingston Families from Gentrification

May 16, 2019

There are a total of 5,897 apartment units in Kingston. 1,197 of them are already subsidized in some way through grants or other funding sources. Examples: Broadway East Town Homes, Ulster Gardens, The Lace Mill, Rondout Gardens  That leaves 4,700 families renting in the free market, with no protections against price increases or unfair evictions. … Read More

Will the Kingstonian help or hurt our housing crisis?

Will the Kingstonian help or hurt our housing crisis?

April 5, 2019

In 2016: the Bonura Group proposed the $30M Water Club; 136 “market-rate” apartments in Poughkeepsie’s downtown, featuring a parking garage, private pool, gym, and rooftop terrace. The target market, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal article, was “millennials and empty-nesters looking to downsize,” within walking distance to Poughkeepsie’s restaurants and shops. The public-private partnership was made … Read More

Study: Ulster County Evictions Increased by 57% Since 2013

Study: Ulster County Evictions Increased by 57% Since 2013

March 18, 2019

The story of local real estate and housing is a tale of two Ulster counties: on one hand, the median home sale price increased from $200,000 in 2016 to $218,000 in 2018, there are over 1,800 Airbnbs that can generate up to three times as much income as a standard rental, and market rate housing projects … Read More

Featured Videos

Capital City: Gentrification & Real Estate Talk with Author Samuel Stein

Power, Politics, and Planning: Gentrification Talk with YouTuber Justin Roczniak aka Donoteat01

Press

The Real Deal: Game Over

July 1, 2019

“As multifamily landlords weigh the potential benefits of leaving the city behind, recent efforts to introduce tighter rent laws upstate in Kingston could complicate those plans. That city is considering opting into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, which would allow areas outside NYC to adopt rent regulations if the vacancy rate is below 5 percent. … Read More

The River: The Rent is Too Damn High in the Hudson Valley

June 27, 2019

“If there’s one city where rampant development and housing reform have been on a collision course, it’s Kingston, a place that figures to be a testing ground for the efficacy of the new law. Rents are on the rise in Kingston, along with major capital investment in the form of new hotels and mixed-use development … Read More

Hudson Valley One: Passed by state, rent reform coming to the Hudson Valley

June 20, 2019

Major changes to New York’s housing laws could offer additional protections to renters here in the Hudson Valley. The revamped version of 1974’s Emergency Tenant Protection Act will also open the door, for the first time, to rent stabilization laws in upstate communities. The package of bills emerged from a deal between the state Assembly … Read More

Hudson Valley One: Tenants mobilize in the Hudson Valley and beyond

June 18, 2019

“With Nassau County-based developer E&M Management on the verge of purchasing the Stony Run apartment complex on Hurley Avenue in Kingston, tenant-advocacy groups held a press conference on June 6 with New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams at Lakeshore Villas, a Port Ewen property already owned and managed by E&M. They had concerns to … Read More

The Nation: In the Heart of Real-Estate Power, a Housing Movement Nears Victory

June 17, 2019

“By noon, loud chants filled the vaulted lobby outside Cuomo’s executive suite as roughly 100 tenants with the Upstate-Downstate Housing Alliance pressed their government for new protections. “Whose housing crisis?” the crowd chanted. “Cuomo’s housing crisis!” “Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a human right!” the demonstrators yelled, as organizers with groups like Make the Road New … Read More