The Legal Aid Society called for rent rollbacks ahead of Wednesday night’s final vote of the Rent Guidelines Board.

“Amid the economic devastation that COVID-19 has caused, the only appropriate action is to roll back rents for the nearly 1 million rent-regulated apartments in New York City. Our clients and all low-income tenants across the city are already at a breaking point and we must provide meaningful relief in order to avoid a wave of evictions” Adriene Holder, Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Practice, and former tenant member of the NYC Rent Guidelines Board, said in a statement.

As the economy crawls back to life, thousands of New Yorkers face long roads to recovery and financial security, particularly in communities of color where workers have been hit the hardest by the pandemic writes the New York Times.

With the eviction moratorium set to end later this summer, and without meaningful rent relief, the prospect of a new wave of evictions could further exacerbate an existing housing crisis.