And if rent control goes, there will only be more motivation for landlords to buy people out or get them out otherwise. Hey, I have squeezed a few tenants out myself in the past. Everyone is aware of what is happening in a neighborhood with a long history of landlord abuses, tenant organizing and fights over public housing. Each Hasidic purchase of a building belonging to Latinos is talked about. Longtime residents can tick off the buildings on Grand Avenue that have become occupied by Manhattan emigres.
Rent strikes are under way on numerous blocks.
Indeed, the city, in an attempt to relieve tensions and increase housing, is on the verge of making a commitment to a multimillion-dollar plan to clear the way for more affordable housing for both the Latinos and Hasidim. Some who are players in the transformation recognize the awkward dynamic. Artists, including poor artists, have always been at the forefront of gentrification. It's clearly going on here. Rabbi David Niederman, a Hasidic leader, said welfare-dependent Hasidic residents would be just as vulnerable as Latinos to the combined effect of welfare reform and rent deregulation.