Faith leaders urge Speaker Menin to action to protect Black homeowners

Dear Speaker Menin,

We write to you not only as faith leaders, but as witnesses.

Every day, in our congregations and communities, we see the quiet strain facing working families across this city. We hear it in conversations after service, in counseling sessions, and in moments of private worry shared in confidence. The message is consistent and deeply troubling: the economic pressure on Black and Brown New Yorkers is intensifying, and the margin for stability is shrinking.

For homeowners, this means escalating homeownership costs, heightened mortgage rates, and the constant fear of a lien, foreclosure, or predatory threats like deed theft. These are not isolated concerns. They are systemic risks that undermine the very foundation of economic security for our communities. For many, the ability to remain in New York City is no longer just difficult. It is unsustainable.

The outmigration from our city, particularly among Black households, is not an abstraction. Over 200,000 Black New Yorkers have been displaced, and that number continues to grow. It is a lived reality, measured in empty pews, in families relocating to other states, in communities losing generations of history and continuity.

It is in this context that we want to acknowledge and commend you for your leadership, and more particularly your words at the National Action Network Annual Convention:

“We’re also focused in the City Council on making sure that we are protecting the Black community. And by doing that, I say we have said a hard no to raising property taxes 9.5%. That is unacceptable because if we were to do that, we would be hurting Black communities across our city.”

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Those words were a moment of clarity and relief, reflecting a deep understanding that policy decisions, especially those affecting housing costs, have real and disproportionate impacts on communities already under strain.

But we must also say this, with equal clarity: reactive protection is the first step. Proactive action is next.

That means addressing current policies that limit opportunity, undermine stability, and block families from accumulating generational wealth, including Local Law 18, a law meant

to target bad actors but instead has swept in one- and two-family homeowners and restricted their ability to offer short-term rentals. Nearly three years after its enactment, housing remains a major crisis, and our working-class homeowners, nurses, teachers, and city workers are still being denied a meaningful source of supplemental income to offset rising costs.

As faith leaders, we must be a voice against injustice and call for action when opportunities for restoration are before us.

That opportunity is here. Passing the Homeowner and Stability Protection Act, Int 879 will restore this crucial financial lifeline for homeowners.

With reform, homeowners will no longer have to make impossible choices between staying current on a mortgage or falling behind, maintaining their homes or deferring critical repairs, and holding onto a family asset or watching generations of sacrifice disappear overnight.

If the commitment is to protect the working class and Black and Brown communities, then that commitment must extend beyond preventing harm. It must include action that creates the conditions for homeowners to preserve what they have worked so hard to achieve.

We urge you and the Council to pursue reforms that reflect that balance.

Our city’s strength has always come from its people, from their perseverance, their faith, and their belief that New York offers a future worth striving for.

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