The Legal Aid Society and housing advocates throughout New York state are bracing for what they worry will be a massive wave of evictions following the formal end of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s eviction moratorium. Many New Yorkers who were unable to pay rent this year were shielded from eviction by state and federal measures. While those measures have protected many New Yorkers from losing their homes, these acts did not cancel or curtail rent payments. Tenants who have not paid rent this year still owe the money.

“The kind of massive evictions that we could be looking at given the number of people who have not been able to pay their rent is pretty horrifying,” said Judith Goldiner, head of The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit, which pushes for more statewide protections for low-income New Yorkers. “An eviction moratorium is important because it can bridge us to longer-term solutions,” said Ms. Goldiner. “But it, in itself, is just short term. It doesn’t mean that the rent isn’t coming due.”