An affiliate of the US Communist Party has been playing an outsized role in the debate over “good cause” eviction currently roiling state budget negotiations.
Housing Justice For All, an advocacy organization at the heart of the fight and with deep ties to far-left lawmakers like Comptroller Brad Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is an “active partner” of the New York Young Communist League.
In a tweet from August 2021, the New York Communists said they were working with Housing Justice For All to pressure then-Gov. Cuomo to extend the state’s COVID eviction moratorium.
During the state’s current budget negotiations, Housing Justice For All has staged rallies with their progressive allies in the legislature to demand inclusion of “good cause” eviction in the state budget — which would make it illegal for landlords to evict tenants unless they violated their lease agreements and impose strict new rent regulations.
Critics say the impact would be tantamount to imposing universal rent control on the city and drive small-time landlords out of business.
Cea Weaver, a campaign coordinator for Housing Justice For All, has spent years publicly advocating unabashed Marxism on her personal Twitter account.
“Elect more Communists,” she posted in a tweet from December 2017. “Seize private property,” she added in June 2018.
“Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy,” Weaver wrote in August 2019.
Critics said the elevation of openly pro-communist organization into the state budget dialogue sets a dangerous precedent.
“For years, communist groups like Housing Justice for All and the elected officials that support them have hidden in the shadows. Now they proudly display their affiliations. Anyone pushing for Good Cause or similar legislation is working hard to bring us one step closer to the USSR and cannot be trusted,” warned Democratic City Councilman Bob Holden.
Jim Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said “Implementing a housing policy by intimidation from fringe groups, including those with communist ties, is probably not the best approach to solving New York’s growing housing crisis.”
Housing Justice For All for all began in 2017 and has been in cahoots with the state Communist party since at least 2018, social media postings show.
Housing Justice For All played a major role in lobbying for the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act.
The 2019 law was the largest single housing overhaul in a generation and offered significant new tenant protections, but critics and landlord groups argued it would degrade the city’s housing stock by discouraging landlords from making capital investment in properties.
The group has developed years-long financial ties with far-left billionaire financier George Soros.
Housing Justice For All is a statewide campaign of the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance, which in turn is “fiscally sponsored” by the nonprofit VOCAL-NY.
That nonprofit has received eight grants worth more than $1.1 million from Soros’ Open Society Foundations between 2017 and 2021, according to its website.
At least one $100,000 cash infusion went directly to Housing Justice For All, according to the grant description.
Despite their openly Communist ties, Weaver and Housing Justice for All have made deep inroads among the city’s most powerful progressives.
Allied lawmakers in the state legislature are currently refusing to sign off on a new state budget, unless it includes “good cause” eviction protections for tenants and a housing voucher program for tenants already facing eviction.
In 2021 Public Advocate Jumaane Williams attempted to name Weaver to the City Planning Commission. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gushed to her followers in April that “Housing Justice For All in New York is an absolutely incredible organization” and “constantly raising the bar for tenant and housing advocacy.”
She rallied with them over housing issues just last week.
“I absolutely commit to being deeply engaged with anti-displacement organizers & leveraging the tools of the comptroller’s office for related oversight,” said city comptroller Brad Lander in a June 2021 tweet tagging Housing Justice for all and Weaver.
State Sen. Mike Gianaris has called them his “closest friends” and Assemblywoman Phara Souffrant Forrest, another known ally of the group, preached on Tuesday that “evictions are violence.”
She rallied with Housing Justice For All last month alongside State Sen. Jabari Brisport and Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher.
Reps for Housing Justice For All, the Young Communist League and Weaver did not respond to requests for comment.
https://nypost.com/2023/04/22/communist-group-leading-charge-on-good-cause-eviction/
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