TNR Live: Rent Sucks

TNR Live: Rent Sucks. Reimagining How We Live Now

The New Republic presents "Rent Sucks", a conversation about the history and current state of our many housing crises amid the Covid-19 pandemic, touching on the rent grind, tenant organizing, the myths of “affordable housing,” and how we can achieve accessible housing for all. Panelists include Tara Raghuveer of KC Tenants, Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal of the L.A. Tenants Union, and Senator Julia Salazar, representing New York’s 18th state Senate district. Moderated by TNR deputy editor Katie McDonough. To read more, check out the Sold/Short series, Rent Sucks, here.

With:

Tara Raghuveer—director, KC Tenants

Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal—co-founder of the L.A. Tenants Union

Julia Salazar—senator, New York

Moderated by Katie McDonough, The New Republic deputy editor

Katie McDonough is a deputy editor at The New Republic. Previously, she worked at Jezebel. She lives in Brooklyn.

Tara Raghuveer (she/her) is the founding director of KC Tenants. She is also the Homes Guarantee Campaign Director at People’s Action, a national network of grassroots organizations committed to racial, economic, gender, and climate justice. Tara is an Australian-born, Indian American immigrant who came to the United States with her family in 1995 and grew up in Kansas City.

Tracy Jeanne Rosenthal is a co-founder of the L.A. Tenants Union, a dues-funded, autonomous union with over 2,000 members. Her writing has been published in The New Republic, The Nation, The L.A. Times, Jewish Currents, and FENCE. Her first book, Abolish Rent, written with Leonardo Vilchis, is forthcoming from Verso in 2022.

Senator Julia Salazar represents New York’s 18th State Senate district, including the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg, as well as parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and East New York. Upon her election in 2018, she became the youngest woman elected in the history of the New York State Senate. Senator Salazar is a strong supporter of housing justice, criminal justice reform, equal protection for women, and the issues of immigration. Senator Salazar is a recognized leader in the fight for tenant rights and against the power of the New York City real estate lobby. She played a key role in ensuring the enactment in 2019 of the strongest legislative protections for tenants in NYS history. This legislation eliminated loopholes making it close to impossible for most working people to afford decent quality housing. Another bill introduced by Senator Salazar, and signed by the governor, provides permanent protections for loft tenants in New York City, ending years of uncertainty for thousands previously unprotected by NYS law. Until her election to the State Senate, Julia Salazar worked as a community organizer in the neighborhoods she represents and across New York City. She began her advocacy during her time as a college student at Columbia University, where she advocated for the rights of fellow tenants and service industry workers.

Note:  This is a free Zoom event. You will be notified before the talk with the link to connect to the event.