Alliance for Tenant Power (ATP) was a coalition of left-of-center housing activists and nonprofits in New York City, led by the successor organizations to the defunct ACORN network of left-of-center community organizing groups. It supported universal rent control and was primarily focused on changes to New York State housing policies in the latter half of the 2010s. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

ATP broadly curtailed its operations after many of its policy priories were signed into law by then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) in 2019, and it is now apparently defunct, with no posts on its social media channels since 2022. ^{6 1 7}

Background

Alliance for Tenant Power was led by New York Communities for Change (NYCC) and New York Communities Organizing Fund Inc. (NYCOFI). ^{8 9} The two organizations are generally considered to be the successors to the now-defunct ACORN network of left-of-center community organizing groups in New York City, with NYCC being founded by former New York ACORN staffers and working initially out of ACORN’s former Brooklyn offices. ^{2 3 4 5}

Advocacy

Alliance for Tenant Power was deeply critical of then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D). ^{1 7} During debates in 2016 and 2017 over the renewal of the state’s Section 421-a tax abatement for real estate developers and the planned sunset of the state’s rent control laws in 2019, ATP activists created “Cuomoville” encampments modeled on Great Depression-era “Hooverville” tent cities to place public pressure on Cuomo. ^{10 11}

ATP and its coalition members such as the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) used the social media hashtag “#CuomosHousingCrisis” to put public pressure on Cuomo to support rent control and policies that would make it harder for landlords to evict tenants who had not paid their rent or otherwise had violated the terms of their leases. In January 2018, a reported 25 ATP activists were arrested for blocking the entrance to the New York State Capitol in advance of Cuomo’s State of the State address. ¹²

In June 2019, Cuomo signed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which contained many of the ATP coalition’s policy priorities, including an indefinite extension of rent control, new limits on increases in controlled rents, new barriers to eviction, and other measures that favored tenants over property owners. ⁶

1. “Alliance for Tenant Power.” Facebook. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://www.facebook.com/alliancefortenantpower.
2. Scanlon, Terrence. “SCANLON: The Other IRS Scandal.” The Washington Times. The Washington Times, August 22, 2013. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/22/scanlon-the-other-irs-scandal/.
3. Cooke, Charles C. W. “Acorn Is up to Its Old Tricks.” National Review, July 29, 2020. https://www.nationalreview.com/2012/02/acorn-its-old-tricks-charles-c-w-cooke/.
4. “Acorn Local Chapters Declare Independence; Makeover Appears Cosmetic.” National Legal Policy Center, February 23, 2010. https://archive.nlpc.org/2010/02/23/acorn-local-chapters-declare-independence-makover-appears-cosmetic/.
5. “About.” New York Communities for Change. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.nycommunities.org/about
6. “Governor Cuomo Signs Sweeping Rent Control and Rent Stabilization Reforms into Law.” CityLand, June 19, 2019. https://www.citylandnyc.org/governor-cuomo-signs-sweeping-rent-control-and-rent-stabilization-reforms-into-law/.
7. “Tenant Power NY.” X (Formerly Twitter). Accessed May 19, 2025. https://twitter.com/tenantpowerny.
8. “New York Communities for Change Inc, IRS Form 990.” ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/271359103/202423209349321857/full.
9. “New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc..” New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc. Accessed May 15, 2025. https://www.nycofi.org/.
10. Whitford, Emma. “While Cuomo Pushes to Renew 421-a Tax Break, NYC Landlords Keep Abusing It.” Gothamist, November 22, 2016. https://gothamist.com/news/while-cuomo-pushes-to-renew-421-a-tax-break-nyc-landlords-keep-abusing-it.
11. Wilson, Simone. “‘Cuomoville’ Is Back: Tenants Rights Activists Plan Campout at Governor’s NYC Office.” NY Patch, June 14, 2017. https://patch.com/new-york/gramercy-murray-hill/cuomoville-back-tenants-rights-advocates-plan-campout-governors-nyc
12. NYC-DSA Housing. “25 Tenants Got Arrested Today for Stronger Rent Control and Low-Income Housing! #CuomosHousingCrisis.” Twitter, January 3, 2018. https://x.com/nycdsa_housing/status/948608248407576576.