Tenants and housing activists gathered at Maria Hernandez Park for a rally in the streets of Bushwick, demanding the city to cancel rent immediately. Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images Last month, the New York State Legislature approved an emergency bill to ban evictions for at least two months — preventing thousands of New Yorkers from being booted during the winter amid a raging pandemic.
My expenses have drastically changed since the pandemic hit. My income went from $3,400 a month, give or take, to roughly $1,000. It was a huge, huge loss. I was okay, and now it’s horrible. I’m right on the cusp of being eligible for food stamps — I literally make $3 over the threshold — but I’m poor enough that I can’t continue to pay my rent and eat. Sometimes I had to go to sleep hungry.
I’ve been looking for jobs, but there are people who take advantage of my situation. They don’t want to pay well. They want to pay you $5 per hour to be inside their homes. Especially if you’re going to clean, and someone has been infected, it’s not worth it. I was calling people I’ve worked for before, and no one wanted anyone in their homes. It’s understandable because of safety, right? With the need and desperation, one looks wherever one can. But nothing.
Daneiry Gonzalez worked as a home health aide until August. She owes roughly $5,000 on her Fordham apartment, on top of $4,000 she borrowed to pay her landlord. I’ve been working during the pandemic, but had to stop in August because I had to get surgery in my hand and I’m nervous about my asthma. I had two other people helping to pay the rent but they lost work in March.