Met Council is the lobbying arm of Metropolitan Council on Housing, a rent control advocacy group in New York City. Together with the affiliated educational-advocacy arm Met Council Research and Educational Fund, the groups form the Metropolitan Council on Housing.

Met Council supports of left-wing housing laws such as rent control and other regulations. The organization was a part of the Housing Justice For All which is also known as the Upstate/Downstate Alliance which advocated for statewide rent control and other changes to the New York State rental housing laws in 2019.

Organization Overview

The Met Council is a left-wing tenant-advocacy organization that works with tenants who have rent-controlled and other rent-regulated apartments. It provides services such as a walk-in clinic, a toll-free telephone hotline that provides advice for tenants, and it publishes a monthly newspaper in both English and Spanish which provides news on tenant-related issues. ¹

The organization utilizes different tactics to push its agenda. It engages in direct action such as picketing landlords and developers and occupying vacant property by moving low income families into those properties. It also holds public marches and lobbies lawmakers to advance its agenda. ²

The Met Council bills itself as a mutual aid organization. In exchange for giving aid to tenants, the organization encourages the tenants that it helps to participate in actions. ³

History

The organization was founded in 1959 by opponents of urban development projects. The organization was composed of both liberals and radicals. It focused on opposition to urban development projects and demanded construction of public housing on vacant land. It also participated in the civil rights movement, participating in the 1963 March on Washington. By the late 1960s, it was forming alliances with the Black Panther Party and other radical elements. It also began to adopt more radical tactics such as rent strikes, occupation of vacant and other private property, and pickets. ⁴

2019 Housing Legislation

In 2019, New York State’s housing laws were set to expire. Far-left groups saw an opportunity to pass regulations including statewide rent control and a ban on landlords from evicting tenants without “good cause.” The real estate industry and “mom and pop” landlords opposed the legislation package. The package passed, despite the opposition of the real estate industry. ⁵

The Met Council joined forces with 70 other organizations and spent around $500,000 to get the package enacted into law. The $500,000 was spent to hire a full-time coordinator, pay for meals for tenants who were lobbying in Albany, hiring a strategic communications firm, and for some targeted Facebook ads. ⁶

The IRS does not require nonprofit organizations to disclose their revenue sources. However, real estate website The Real Deal discovered that some of the organizations the led the tenant alliance were funded by the Ford Foundation, which donated $438,000 to the Upstate/Downstate Alliance in 2017. ⁷ The Oak Foundation donated $2,000 to the Met Council. The alliance also received $150,000 from the Neighborhoods Trust Fund which is funded by the Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation, and Deutsche Bank. ⁸

The Met Council worked with Democratic Socialists of America to gather tenant stories. The two groups also canvassed New York City tenants and gathered data. ⁹

In addition to the lobbying effort, there were some direct action tactics employed to pass the package. Eleven days until New York State’s rent laws expired, a human chain of demonstrators blocked the entrances of both chambers of the New York State Assembly, letting no one in or out. ¹⁰

1. “About Us”. 2019. Metropolitan Council On Housing. Accessed September 30. http://metcouncilonhousing.org/about_us.
2. “About Us”. 2019. Metropolitan Council On Housing. Accessed September 30. http://metcouncilonhousing.org/about_us
3. “About Us”. 2019. Metropolitan Council On Housing. Accessed September 30. http://metcouncilonhousing.org/about_us.
4. “Introduction”. 2019. Metropolitan Council On Housing. Accessed September 30. http://metcouncilonhousing.org/our_history/introduction.
5. Brown, Nicole. 2019. “New York Rent Laws: How 9 Bills Could Change Regulations Across The State”. AM New York. https://www.amny.com/news/politics/rent-laws-new-york-1.30287622.
6. Kromrei, Georgia. 2019. “The Money Behind The New York Tenant Movement”. The Real Deal, , 2019.
7. Kromrei, Georgia. 2019. “The Money Behind The New York Tenant Movement”. The Real Deal, , 2019.
8. Kromrei, Georgia. 2019. “The Money Behind The New York Tenant Movement”. The Real Deal, , 2019.
9. Kromrei, Georgia. 2019. “The Money Behind The New York Tenant Movement”. The Real Deal, , 2019.
10. Kromrei, Georgia. 2019. “The Money Behind The New York Tenant Movement”. The Real Deal, , 2019.