Syracuse Tenants Union hold rally at City Hall on Aug. 12, 2024. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

The Syracuse Common Council voted Monday to withdraw a local law that would enact “good cause” eviction protections for city tenants. For some councilors, Monday’s meeting casts heavy doubts on the future of tenants protections. 

Patrona Jones-Rowser, a Democrat who chairs the council’s committee on housing and homelessness, said the local law would be pulled for “further investigation.” Councilors voted 5-4 in favor of withdrawing the measure. Jones-Rowser did not respond to requests for comment on her motion to pull the law from the agenda or what “further investigation” entails. 

“Based on today’s action, I don’t know what the trajectory of ‘good cause’ in Syracuse is right now,” Councilor Jimmy Monto told Central Current. Monto added that he would have supported the local law had it come to a vote Monday.

“There is never any certainty that any items on the agenda will come to a vote, what is clear today is that five of the nine did not want it on the agenda.”

Other councilors say the local law is “not going anywhere.”

“It is definitely not going anywhere,” said Councilor Rasheada Caldwell, who voted in favor of withdrawing “good cause” from the agenda. “We’re going to continue to talk about it, we are going to continue researching it.”

When asked why the council was divided on the matter, Caldwell did not respond.

“I don’t know about that. You can’t get me on that one,” she told a Central Current reporter.

“…Not that I’m against it, by no means. It’s just we have to continue to research,” Caldwell continued.

Councilors Pat Hogan, Marty Nave, Amir Gethers, Jones-Rowser and Caldwell voted to withdraw “good cause.” The other four councilors voted to keep it on the agenda.

As ‘good cause’ stalls in Syracuse, DeWitt considers the legislation

The council’s decision comes after seven months of deliberating on the bill, which if enacted would allow tenants to contest in court undue evictions and unfair rent hikes. The bill has been eyed for years by local tenant advocates, housing lawyers, and elected leaders as a no-cost tool the council could employ to stop tenant displacement and rising rents. 

It is unclear what more councilors would like to learn about the legislation’s implementation and effects. Some councilors have said they want to hear from tenant advocacy groups, others have said they want to study “data” from other cities that have passed a version of “good cause.” 

“I don’t know what they would want,” Monto said of councilors who voted to withdraw the legislation. “It is now up to them to do their own independent research. I have done my homework.”

Housing advocates say that the bill is only 12 pages and is clear and direct, and that supporting data for its effectiveness in other states has existed for decades.

“When people say we need more data, you can say that forever,” said Alex Lawson, the housing policy manager for CNY Fair Housing. 

Lawson was a part of one of the hearings the council hosted on “good cause” last fall.  

“There is never going to be any point at which more data won’t better inform your decision. But if you actually work with data, you know that there are limitations as to what it can say.”

A statewide version of the bill was stuck in the New York State Legislature for five years until last April, when state leaders included it in the state budget and allowed municipalities to opt in.. Thirteen other municipalities in New York, including the cities of Albany, Rochester, and Ithaca, have passed a version of the bill. The Town of DeWitt is currently considering opting into “good cause,” as reported by Central Current in January.

Under the bill, tenants:

  • Could challenge evictions filed in court for reasons not stated in the lease agreement.
  • Could contest at eviction hearings rent increases above 10% of the yearly rent or 5% plus the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
  • Would be allowed to renew their lease automatically if they are caught up on rent and have abided by the terms of their lease.

Timeline of stories about ‘good cause’ in Syracuse

The council has held three information sessions in what some councilors have called a “listening tour” of concerns from landlords, real estate agents, fair housing advocates, and legal advocates. 

At the last hearing, councilor Rita Paniagua, who voted “no” on the motion to withdraw “good cause” from Monday’s agenda, said the council would host one more hearing in 2025, hoping to field concerns from tenant advocacy groups.

That hearing does not seem to be happening anytime soon. Monto said the council has not organized any upcoming hearings on “good cause.”

Jocelyn Richards, a co-chair of the Syracuse Tenants Union, said she has not had any communication with councilors, including Paniagua, since that last hearing in December. STU is one of the most vocal tenant advocacy groups in the city. The group has packed the council chambers with backers of “good cause” during some of the hearings on the bill. 

Paniagua did not respond to a request for comment.

For the 1st time in more than a decade, family homelessness outpaces individual homelessness in Central New York

Other elected leaders who have advocated for “good cause” said they were disappointed with the council’s actions to withdraw the bill from Monday’s agenda.

“The people of Syracuse deserve ‘good cause’ eviction on the books, and they deserve their elected representatives to be fighting for them every single day with every single opportunity they get,” said City Auditor Alex Marion.

Marion issued a report last year highlighting the need for “good cause.” In the report, Marion argued that city tenants, who make up about 60% of Syracuse residents, are facing meteoric rent increases, poor housing conditions, and unfair evictions. 

“And my disappointment is, I’m sure, surpassed by the many people who continue to live with uncertainty over whether or not they will face inappropriate evictions going forward,” Marion concluded.

read more of central current’s coverage

Eddie Velazquez is a Syracuse journalist covering economic justice in the region. He is focused on stories about organized labor, and New York's housing and childhood lead poisoning crises. You can follow...

Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...