State Assembly 54 Samy Nemir-Olivares

Website: samyfornewyork.com

Social media: @samynemir @samyforbrooklyn

What type of housing do you currently live in?
Unregulated Rental Apt
Are you, or have you ever been, a landlord?
No
1. If yes, where & how many apts. do/did you own?
  I would never be a landlord.
Does your campaign accept contributions from real estate developers (including related individuals), corporate lobbyists, organizations that participate in the carceral system, and/or landlords?
No
Have you ever worked in, or had another affiliation with, the Real Estate industry? No
Have any of your campaign or advisory staff held a position as a corporate lobbyist or an executive role with the Real Estate industry?
No
1. If so, how can we be assured you will have tenants’ interests in mind? (250 characters)
  N/A

Values and Vision

Do you believe housing is a human right?
Yes
- If so, what does that mean to you? (500 characters)
  Ensuring that housing is a basic human right that is guaranteed to all people in our city is an issue of political will; solutions to ensure that everyone has access to a safe and secure home are at our fingertips, and we need leaders who are willing to take bold steps to ensure that no one is left unhoused anywhere in New York.
What type of action have you taken in the past around issues of housing justice? (500 characters)
I have worked closely with organizations like Housing Justice for all and Make the Road to directly apply pressure on to the incumbent in this district for not supporting Good Cause.
What do you think are the most pressing Housing issues & what action would you take to address them as a state representative? (1000 characters)
My district is undergoing a housing crisis, as gentrification is rapidly pushing up rents across North Brooklyn, including in the 54th Assembly district. Many long-term residents are being displaced, and many more can barely make the rent each month. To keep families in their homes here in North Brooklyn, our office would fight for legislation like good cause eviction in New York, which would prevent tenants from being kicked out of their homes unless landlords have a legally acceptable reason to evict them. But my office would do more than just fight for legislation; we would use all tools and organizing tactics available to expand tenant organizing and rights. This includes hosting town halls, tabling in major parks and public spaces, door knocking and making robocalls to not only provide services and distribute resources, but also to build an infrastructure of volunteers and future leaders that can assist our office in this work.
Have you or anyone close to you (relation, friend, etc) been evicted or been threatened with eviction?
Yes
Have you ever had to fight a landlord for repairs or faced harassment?
No
Do you believe that housing should be de-commodified?
Yes
- Please explain your answer (500 characters)
  Currently, social housing also looks like the presence of community land trusts (CLTS) and limited equity co-operatives. I have been personally inspired by the East New York CLT, which is forming in AD-54, and would like to work with members of the CLT to pass state legislation such as the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) that makes it easier for CLTs and/or tenants to reclaim properties in their community and convert them into social housing. To me, a future vision of fully social housing is one where NYCHA is once again a thriving place to live, where supportive housing with on-site services is available to all who may need it, and where some properties owned by large landlords and corporations have been transferred to a local, democratically-run CLT to generate community controlled social housing or converted into limited equity co-ops for those who desire opportunities for social homeownership. I would hope to see the developments of CLTs in every neighborhood in New York City, and in every municipality in the state, and if elected, I would hope to work alongside other elected leaders to build up a community land trust in Bushwick, as well as supporting the existing CLT that already exists in Cypress Hills and East New York. I will work with local elected officials in the City Council to help these CLTs acquire initial plots of vacant land owned by the city (as this is the East New York CLT’s initial strategy). Later on, however. I would hope to utilize more powerful tools such as eminent domain to help bring distressed properties, buildings with significant code violations, and vacant land owned by developers and speculators under community control for CLTs. I will be a strong voice in the Assembly for allocating increased state funds towards NYCHA to preserve the largest existing stock of social housing we currently have, and would refuse to vote for a budget that did not include increased funding for NYCHA. I will work to ensure that HONDA, converting unused hotels into affordable housing, is implemented successfully and that the act brings new social housing to residents of AD-54. I will fight hard for the passage of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) to allow for the creation of more limited equity co-ops throughout New York State, and will fight to pass legislation further cracking down on racial discrimination by co-op boards. Lastly, while democratic control in rent controlled housing is more limited, I will fight to preserve and expand rent control in New York State, and will work to pass Good Cause Eviction to work towards universal rent control for all New Yorkers. I will also seek to use our office to help rent controlled tenants expand upon their democratic power by building up tenant unions across my district. These actions will help us work towards a state where housing is a basic human right and not a luxury, and therefore, advocating for social housing will be a major priority of my campaign.
Do you believe in publicly owned and controlled housing?
Yes
What is one rent and/or eviction protection you would enact if you had the opportunity? (500 characters)
Good Cause Eviction
Do you agree that all evictions are bad?
Yes
- If no, why not? (500 characters)
  N/A
Do you support the concept of universal rent control?
Yes

Overview on Housing

Do you support the NYCHA 2.0 Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) and other privatization schemes?
No
1. Please explain why or why not (250 characters)
  RAD is privatization of a public resource. We must instead fully fund NYCHA.
NYCHA has suffered from chronic underfunding, neglect, and disrepair. What do you see as the best strategies to rectify these problems? (500 characters)
In my mind, NYCHA is the largest provider of social housing in New York State, and it is absolutely vital that we fight as hard as we can to preserve NYCHA by increasing the amount of funding NYCHA receives from the state. That funding needs to go directly to repairs and improvements of conditions in places in our district such as Hope Gardens.
Do you support setting aside 15% of all units created in new state-subsidized affordable housing projects for homeless families and individuals?
Yes
How would you use your office to put pressure on landlords to make repairs and stop harassing tenants? (500 characters)
Our office would have a strong constituent services staff and program that would be trained to support tenant and housing issues and work closely with housing and legal organizations to better serve them. Our office would support the development of tenant unions across our district, and would hold tenant support meetings to help tenants in Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and East New York build power against their landlords.
Do you support regulating the 300,000 deregulated rent-stabilized apartments?
Yes
Will you support increased funding and oversight hearings of DHCR’s Office of Rent Administration to ensure timely responses?
Yes
How will you ensure people who owe back rent due to COVID are not evicted and do not continue to owe money? (500 characters)
We must create enforcement mechanisms to ensure that tenants who get ERAP are not evicted.
Would you support financial and criminal penalties against landlords and brokers that deny a prospective tenant housing based on using a tenant blacklist?
Yes

Current Bills and Campaigns

Do you support Good Cause Eviction Protections?
Yes
If Good Cause is not passed this session, what will you do to ensure it gets passed in 2023? (500 characters)
All tenants deserve protections from eviction, and New York State needs universal rent control. Evictions are cruel, and inhumane. Good Cause Eviction legislation is the best way that we can work towards actually protecting all tenants from being unjustly forced out of their homes in New York State. I will directly lobby my colleagues to get them to support the bill, and take other actions as guided by organizations like Met Council.
Will you support ending MCIs?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding the Housing Access Voucher Program?
Yes
Do you support the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)?
Yes
How will you support tenants in your district opting into TOPA? (500 characters)
I will fight for increased funding for TOPA purchases, and will work extremely closely with tenants trying to purchase their own buildings to provide them with technical and financial support.
Do you support the move to legalize basement apartments and ADUs?
Yes
Do you support tenants’ right to collective bargaining?
Yes
Do you support 421a or Gov Hochul’s proposed 485w?
No
Do you support fully funding the Excluded Workers fund?
Yes
Do you support the “Excluded No More” bill?
Yes
Are you committed to making sure every tenant in the state has free access to counsel in Housing Court?
Yes
Will you commit to fully funding statewide Right to Counsel in 2023’s budget?
Yes