By Dominick C.
On Sunday, September 13th, a crowd of a few dozen organizers and tenants living at 150 and 154 Belmont Ave. swelled outside their buildings. Their voices rang out in unison: “West of Hudson, you can’t hide—tenants here are organized!”
This was the chant of working class people who were fed up with their dilapidated living conditions. Together, they rallied for change, airing their grievances over pest infestations, structural damage, water leaks, electrical issues, and skyrocketing rent costs. The tenants have grown tired of feeling ripped off and forced to pay more while receiving less each year from their landlord, Amir Ben-Yohanan.
An Emerging Movement
The rally, organized by the Jersey City Tenants Union, is representative of an emerging movement inside of Jersey City, evidenced by prior tenant strikes at 429 Bergen Ave and rallies at 19 and 25 Kensington Ave. This display of collective action represents a necessary escalation to ensure proper treatment and combat exploitative landlords by speaking the only language they know: money.
Through the withholding of rent and public protests like this, the tenants are continuing to seek an answer to their simple demand of getting what they paid for: dignified living conditions accessible to all.
Joel Brooks, the Ward B Councilmember and a DSA member, expressed his support to the tenants outside, saying, “To build power you have to keep fighting, keep organizing … if people get organized, we’re here—we’re behind you.”
Undignified Living Conditions
Luness, a longtime resident at 150 Belmont Ave highlighted the longstanding mistreatment. Dealing with rats and mice has become a constant for her. Various cracks in the ceiling and walls have gone unfixed for months. Shoddy electrical work has led to loose wires in her apartment and risk of electrocution if she touches the refrigerator with wet hands, she said. On top of all this, she now also has to pay an additional $60 a month extra for water, something she says was not in the lease when she signed. “I’ve lived in this building for 40 years plus, but nothing gets done. They want me to get out.”
Miracle and Frank, tenants at 154 Belmont Ave. are dealing with similar headaches. They too are mired by mice, roaches, and increasing rents. They explained that the rodent problem is a result of poor craftsmanship, as a gap between the baseboards and the walls has formed, allowing space for pests to get into the apartment. They have been forced to deal with illegal rent hikes, paying hundreds more each month than they should. “It went from $1600 to $1664 to $1717, but then we went to the Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations and they said it’s supposed to be $1175,” Miracle said.
Charlie, another 154 Belmont tenant, deals with leaks and a collapsing kitchen floor in his apartment. A rotted out hole in the ceiling directly above a pipe dumps dirty water into his apartment dozens of times each year. He says that everyday someone in the building is dealing with some kind of a leak. In the kitchen, the tiled floor began to collapse in on itself, which has not received a proper fix other than just a few screws to hold it together. Murphy, also in 154 in an apartment a floor below, deals with leaks very similar to Charlie’s. He, too, is forced to manage frequent leaks coming from the kitchen ceiling that the landlord has failed to address.
Collective Action Must Continue
In speaking with Councilmember Brooks after the rally, he explained the importance of collective action in the battle against predatory landlords. “The idea is that, if there’s a critical mass of tenants withholding rent, they can force the landlord to act together. We haven’t seen that happen in Jersey City yet, but seeing tenants organizing successful tenant unions in Connecticut, Tennessee, Kansas City, New York City, I think that the situation is ripe for a real tenants union organizing project in Jersey City.” He continued, “Always try and organize where you are … it’s hard to do things on your own. People see this and want to organize their building or just even talk to their neighbors. It all starts with just talking with each other.”
When housing is not guaranteed, working people will be placed at the mercy of the propertied class, forced to pay whatever they demand. The privatization of housing in America is a key reason why so many people are struggling, and hundreds of thousands are without housing. Lack of regulation and improper enforcement of rent stabilization laws is why landlords like Ben-Yohanan operate with impunity. America’s housing policy is inhumane and counterintuitive to maintaining a functioning society.
The plight of the tenants at 150 and 154 Belmont Ave. is one that is all too common throughout America. The stories of Luness, Miracle, Frank, Charlie, and Murphy demonstrate how renters have been systematically taken advantage of, forced into unpleasant living conditions, compounded with continuously rising costs.
Tenant strikes can serve as an important step in achieving a future where housing is treated as a universal human right rather than a speculative asset. Rent strikes not only alleviate immediate difficulties and combat exploitative practices, but also instill confidence that the will of the many can overcome the power of the few.
Editor’s Note: Sources are presented using first names only for safety.
Interested in pursuing housing justice in your community? Join NNJ DSA and get involved with our Housing Justice Working Group!
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Garden State Socialist is a publication of the North New Jersey chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (NNJ DSA).
DSA is the largest socialist organization in the United States, with over 100,000 members and chapters in all 50 states. We believe that working people should run both the economy and society democratically to meet human needs, not to make profits for a few.
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