1904 New York City rent strike

Last updated

1904 New York City rent strike
1904 NYC Rent Strike - Daily Forward Politcal Cartoon.jpg
Political cartoon published by The Daily Forward during the 1904 NYC Rent Strike
DateSpring 1904
Location
Lower East Side
Caused byRent increases and housing shortage
GoalsHalt on rent increases
Resulted inRent reductions for approximately 2,000 people
Parties
Police, Landlords, Magistrates
Number
~2,000 people

The 1904 New York City rent strike was the first mass rent strike in New York City. It took place in the Lower East Side in the Spring of 1904, spreading to 2,000 families across 800 tenements and lasting nearly a month. The strike was a response to proposed rent increases amid a housing shortage. It was primarily organized by local Jewish immigrant women with organizational strategies and language learned from the 1902 kosher meat boycott and the history of labor organizing in the area. Tenant organizers, socialists, and local labor unions united as the New York Protective Rent Association; women who had initially organized the strike such as Bertha Liebson were removed from leadership positions. The strike was successful in the short term, halting the majority of proposed rent increases for the following year. However, landlords began raising rents again a year later, leading to the 1907 New York City Rent Strike.

Contents

Context

For approximately 50 years before 1904, the poor conditions in tenement slums were well-known; legislators sought to remedy the situation through legislation without tenants' input. [1]

In 1900, the Lower East Side was reportedly one of the densest known places on earth, with over 700 people per acre. Most buildings were crowded multifamily tenements that were shabbily built, were fire traps and often lacked proper sanitation services. [2] : 5 

The passage of the New York State Tenement House Act in 1901, immigration, and the demolition of old tenements, decreased the available housing. [1] The construction of the Williamsburg Bridge beginning in 1900 displaced 17,000 residents. [3]

Each year on May 1 landlords would announce rent increases across the board. The day became known as Moving Day due to the increases. [1] Landlords proposed an increase of 20–30% for May 1, 1904. [1] By spring, the New York Times reported municipal courts had approximately 800 eviction cases awaiting processing. [4]

In 1902, housewives on the Lower East Side organized a community boycott of kosher butchers in response to a price increase. [3] This developed the organizing skills for the 1904 rent strike. [3] By 1904, increasing rents saw isolated rent strikes. [5]

1904 rent strike

"Scenes Attending the East Side Tenants' Fight" - The New-York Tribune, April 12, 1904. A photograph of people standing outside a tenement during an eviction and a photograph of a mother and family who were nearly evicted during the strike. 1904 NYC Rent Strike - New-York Daily Tribune.png
"Scenes Attending the East Side Tenants' Fight" - The New-York Tribune, April 12, 1904. A photograph of people standing outside a tenement during an eviction and a photograph of a mother and family who were nearly evicted during the strike.

The rent strike of 1904 was the first mass rent strike in New York City's history [5] [1] and lasted nearly a month. [1] It was initially organized informally among Jewish immigrant women in the Lower East Side, [5] who canvassed the neighborhood for support and organized strategy meetings, pickets, and tenants unions. [3] It grew to include 800 tenement houses and 2,000 families. [1]

The strike relied on organizing tactics learned from the kosher boycott and contemporary papers such as The Daily Forward explicitly drew connections between the two events. [3] Striking residents organized picket lines, protests, marches, and hung signs in Yiddish and English asking people not to rent from landlords whose tenants were on strike. [3] The strike also borrowed the language of labor organizing in the heavily socialist Lower East Side: the tenants referred to themselves as strikers, the withholding of rent as a rent strike, tenant associations as tenant unions, and tenants who crossed the picket line as scabs. [3]

"An East Side Eviction" New Era Illustrated Magazine. May 1904 An East Side Eviction" New Era Illustrated Magazine. May 1904.png
"An East Side Eviction" New Era Illustrated Magazine. May 1904

The United Hebrew Trades, the Workmen's circle, and other local unions formed the New York Protective Rent Association (NYPRA), modeled on landsmanshaft, Jewish fraternal and mutual aid societies, [3] in early April 1904. [4] The Socialist Party of America supported the strike and participated in the NYPRA. [6] The assembly elected socialist Sam Katz as temporary chairman and Bertha Liebson, then 17 years old, as treasurer due to her canvassing of the Lower East Side for financial support for the strike. [4] The organization collected dues from members and gave small sums to evicted tenants and provided legal counsel. [1] [3]

Fifteen Families Evicted, April 26, 1904 Where Fifteen Families Were Evicted To-Day From One Double Tenement House, The Evening World, April 26, 1904 (cropped).png
Fifteen Families Evicted, April 26, 1904

Liebson and organizers targeted "lessees", agents of absentee tenement landlords who secured long-term leases and let out individual apartments, saving funds to purchase tenements outright. [7] They were also known as "cockroach landlords" and "listers"; tenants' bitterness was exacerbated by the fact the listers were frequently fellow Jews. [7] [8] The lead organizers planned to overwhelm the municipal courts with eviction cases and force them to dismiss them en masse. According to the New-York Tribune, tenants took "advantage of every technicality, delay and dispossess obstruction that the law permits". [7] Many tenants also began resorting to attacking landlords and rioting, to the extent that at a point conflicts with the police were a daily occurrence. [7]

The NYPRA contained approximately 1,000 members but fell under internal divisions between being explicitly socialist or focused on the single issue of tenancy. [3] [2] Liebson and others advocated for focusing on tenancy and resisted the shift but were driven from leadership. [7] Liebson was removed as treasurer on the basis women were unfit for the position; [5] by mid-April, the tenant leadership had no women. [7]

The Mayor, Chief of Police, and other city officials began to turn against the strikers. Many courts began to process more eviction cases to pressure the strikers, additionally singling out tenant leaders such as Leibson. [7] [9]

Aftermath and legacy

A socialist faction of the NYRPRA seceded and the NYPRA dissolved soon after. [3] [2]

Though the strike failed to establish a sustained institutional base for future tenant organizing, it was largely successful as newspapers reported the overwhelming majority of landlords rolled rents back to pre-strike levels and even offered tenants leases. [3] The strike empowered tenants for future organizing. A year after it ended, landlords began to raise rents again, which would soon lead to the 1907 New York City Rent Strike. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

In the United States, rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the rent of residential housing to function as a price ceiling. More loosely, "rent control" describes several types of price control:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clara Lemlich</span> Ukrainian-born Jewish American labor organizer (1886-1982)

Clara Lemlich Shavelson was a leader of the Uprising of 20,000, the massive strike of shirtwaist workers in New York's garment industry in 1909, where she spoke in Yiddish and called for action. Later blacklisted from the industry for her labor union work, she became a member of the Communist Party USA and a consumer activist. In her last years as a nursing home resident she helped to organize the staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rent strike</span> Method of protest against landlords

A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent en masse until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord. This can be a useful tactic of final resort for use against intransigent landlords, but carries the risk of eviction and lowered credit scores in some cases.

Rent regulation in New York is a means of limiting the amount of rent charged on dwellings. Rent control and rent stabilization are two programs used in parts of New York state. In addition to controlling rent, the system also prescribes rights and obligations for tenants and landlords.

City Life/Vida Urbana commonly known as "City Life," is a social justice group in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1973, a group of local residents and activists with roots in the civil rights, feminist and anti-Vietnam War movements founded the Jamaica Plain Tenants Action Group, now City Life/Vida Urbana. Since 2008, City Life has focused on preventing evictions of both former owners and renters resulting from a rise in foreclosures. City Life/Vida Urbana is currently based in Jamaica Plain, with satellite memberships in East Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Quincy, and Worcester.

The Coalition for Economic Survival (CES) is a grassroots, non-profit community organization. CES works in the greater Los Angeles area to influence policy makers to improve the lives of low and moderate income people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Workers Cooperatives</span> United States historic place

United Workers Cooperatives, also known as Allerton Coops, is a historic apartment building complex located at 2700–2870 Bronx Park East in Allerton, Bronx, New York City. The complex includes three contributing buildings and five contributing structures. The Tudor Revival style buildings were built during two construction campaigns, 1926–1927 and 1927–1929 by the United Workers' Association. The buildings feature half timbered gables, horizontal half-timbered bands topped with sloping slate roofs, corbelled and crenellated towers, and picturesque chimneys.

Rent regulation is a system of laws, administered by a court or a public authority, which aims to ensure the affordability of housing and tenancies on the rental market for dwellings. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Freeman</span>

Janet Freeman was an American community organizer and activist for tenant's rights in New York City's lower Manhattan. On June 20, 2013, the corner of Elizabeth Street and Kenmare Street was co-named "Janet Freeman Way" by the New York City Council in her memory and to commemorate her activism on behalf of the community. According to NYC Streets in its listing of street names and their honorees, "Janet Freeman was a community organizer and tenant advocate. She founded the Croman Tenants Association; the Coalition to Protect Public Housing and Section 8; and Co-op Watch, to prevent evictions through phony conversions. She started campaigns to organize tenants against aggressive landlords, phony demolitions, and harassment in and around Chinatown and Little Italy."

The Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act ("Costa–Hawkins") is a California state law, enacted in 1995, which places limits on municipal rent control ordinances. Costa–Hawkins preempts the field in two major ways. First, it prohibits cities from establishing rent control over certain kinds of residential units, e.g., single-family dwellings and condominiums, and newly constructed apartment units; these are deemed exempt. Second, it prohibits "vacancy control", also called "strict" rent control. The legislation was sponsored by Democratic Senator Jim Costa and Republican Assemblymember Phil Hawkins.

Ella Donovan was a prominent figure and a full-time organiser in the Stepney Tenants Defence League, a communist led grassroots organisation that organised Rent Strikes in the 1930s. She taught tenants how to organise, determine their legal rights and collectively fight landlords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Heights Tenant Union</span> Tenant union in Brooklyn, New York

The Crown Heights Tenant Union (CHTU) is a tenants union created in October 2013 to unify old and new tenants against the gentrification of the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. The CHTU has pushed for local collective bargaining agreements between tenants and landlords to be written into the deeds of buildings that would regulate rent increases and codify repair and renovation standards. They also assist individual tenants, educating them on their rights and how to enforce them, lobby in Albany for better rent laws, and participate in direct action, targeting predatory equity real-estate companies they believe to be involved in illegal evictions and harassment tactics.

Glasgow Women's Housing Association (GWHA) was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in mid-1914 by the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee launched by Andrew McBride in 1913 and the Women's Labour League in reaction to the increasing rent prices and overcrowding exacerbated by the advent of the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eviction in the United States</span> Landlord removals of rental housing tenants in the North American country

Eviction in the United States refers to the pattern of tenant removal by landlords in the United States. In an eviction process, landlords forcibly remove tenants from their place of residence and reclaim the property. Landlords may decide to evict tenants who have failed to pay rent, violated lease terms, or possess an expired lease. Landlords may also choose not to renew a tenant's lease, however, this does not constitute an eviction. In the United States, eviction procedures, landlord rights, and tenant protections vary by state and locality. Historically, the United States has seen changes in domestic eviction rates during periods of major socio-political and economic turmoil—including the Great Depression, the 2008 Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. High eviction rates are driven by affordable housing shortages and rising housing costs. Across the United States, low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods have disproportionately higher eviction rates. Certain demographics—including low income renters, Black and Hispanic renters, women, and people with children—are also at a greater risk of eviction. Additionally, eviction filings remain on renters' public records. This can make it more difficult for renters to access future housing, since most landlords will not rent to a tenant with a history of eviction. Eviction and housing instability are also linked to many negative health and life outcomes, including homelessness, poverty, and poor mental and physical health.

The Metropolitan Council on Housing is a tenant rights organization in New York City founded in 1959. As the oldest and largest tenants' organization in the city," it has focused on issues including rent regulation and affordable public housing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cancel rent</span>

Cancel rent is a slogan and tenant rights movement in the United States, which advocates for the cancellation of rental payments and suspension of mortgage payments during the coronavirus pandemic. Activists and organizations have also presented other demands, which include the cancellation of housing-related expenses, cancellation of late fees for housing payments, the establishment of a landlord hardship fund, an increase in emergency housing, and an eviction moratorium. The movement was triggered by the economic impact of the pandemic, in which mass business closures and employee layoffs resulted in financial insecurity for many Americans. Tenants faced a range of issues, including the inability to pay rent, harassment or intimidation from landlords, and potential eviction. This situation put tenants at risk of damaged credit ratings, food insecurity, and homelessness. Consequently, activists, tenants rights organizations, and some politicians have called for the cancellation of rent.

A tenants union, also known as a tenants association, is a group of tenants that collectively organize to improve the conditions of their housing and mutually educate about their rights as renters. Groups may also lobby local officials to change housing policies or address homelessness. As of 2018, in the United States, two states and D.C provide significant rights to tenant unions, and twenty-nine other states provide legal protections to tenant union organizing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1907 New York City rent strike</span>

The 1907 New York City rent strike or the East Side rent strike lasted from December 26, 1907, to January 9, 1908. The rent strike began in response to a proposed rent increase in the wake of the Panic of 1907 which saw tens of thousands unemployed. It began in the Lower East Side and the predominant organizers were Jewish immigrant women in the neighborhood such as Pauline Newman, who played a major role in organizing the strike. It eventually spread to other areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn, comprising approximately 10,000 tenants. The strike was taken over by the Eight Assembly District of the Socialist Party of America in early 1908. Due to mass evictions and police brutality, the strike was broken, though approximately 2,000 successfully halted rent increases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1918-1920 New York City rent strikes</span> Historical event

The 1918-1920 New York City rent strikes were some of the most significant tenant mobilizations against landlords in New York City history. Prior to the strikes, a housing shortage caused by World War I exacerbated tenant conditions, with the construction industry being redirected to war time efforts. In addition, the new defense jobs available attracted thousands of new families to the city, further driving property vacancy rates down. Under these conditions overcrowding, poor conditions, frequent raising of rents and speculation by landlords were common. These long term circumstances, and a nationwide coal shortage, which culminated in a dangerous heating crisis for tenants, would become the catalysts for the subsequent organizing and wave of rent strikes across the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1915 Glasgow rent strikes</span>

The 1915 Glasgow rent strikes were a series of tenant mobilizations by Glasgow, Scotland tenants opposing rent increases by landlords, who raised rents following a housing shortage.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Lawson, Ronald (May 1984). "The Rent Strike in New York City, 1904–1980: The Evolution of a Social Movement Strategy". Journal of Urban History. 10 (3): 235–258. doi:10.1177/009614428401000301. ISSN   0096-1442. S2CID   145008168.
  2. 1 2 3 Walkowitz, Daniel (November 29, 2021). "The Jewish Working Class in America". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.935. ISBN   978-0-19-932917-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Joselit, Jenna Weissman (1986). "1: The Landlord as Czar - Pre-World War I Tenant Activity". In Lawson, Ronald (ed.). The tenant movement in New York City, 1904 – 1984. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press. pp. 39–50. ISBN   978-0-8135-1158-0.
  4. 1 2 3 Wood, Andrew; Baer, James A. (September 2006). "Strength in Numbers: Urban Rent Strikes and Political Transformation in the Americas, 1904–1925". Journal of Urban History. 32 (6): 862–884. doi:10.1177/0096144206289347. ISSN   0096-1442. S2CID   144889427.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Lawson, Ronald; Barton, Stephen E. (1980). "Sex Roles in Social Movements: A Case Study of the Tenant Movement in New York City". Signs. 6 (2): 230–247. doi:10.1086/493794. ISSN   0097-9740. JSTOR   3173924. S2CID   144940583.
  6. ↑ Marcuse, P. (July 1999). "Housing Movements in the USA". Housing, Theory and Society. 16 (2): 67–86. doi:10.1080/14036099950150026. ISSN   1403-6096.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Day, Jared N. (1999). Urban castles: tenement housing and landlord activism in New York City, 1890 - 1943. The Columbia history of urban life. New York, NY: Columbia Univ. Press. pp. 48–49, 75–77. ISBN   978-0-231-11403-5.
  8. ↑ Lawson, Ronald (1986). "A Pictorial History". The tenant movement in New York City, 1904 – 1984. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-0-8135-1158-0.
  9. ↑ Humanities (April 12, 1904). "To Evict Miss Liebson". New-York Tribune. p. 4. ISSN   1941-0646 . Retrieved July 29, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.