‘We have to make ourselves seen’: the New York rent strikers fighting eviction

As thousands of New Yorkers face eviction after the lifting of the pandemic eviction ban, many continue to rent strike over poor building conditions, economic hardship and lack of aid. Photograph: Natalie Keyssar/The Guardian

When the coronavirus struck New York City in March 2020, an unprecedented number of tenants stopped paying rent. Many just couldn’t afford it. Others demanded better conditions in their buildings. And some saw it as a way to call for structural change. This informal movement, organized around a call to “cancel rent”, was buoyed by a nearly two-year eviction moratorium, enacted to protect New Yorkers from losing their homes during the pandemic.