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| 1918 - 1920 New York City rent strikes | |||
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 Tenants standing outside a building in Harlem where all tenants went on strike in September 1919. | |||
| Date | 1918 - 1920 | ||
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| Methods | |||
| Resulted in | Partial tenant union victory:
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The 1918-1920 New York City rent strikes were some of the most significant tenant mobilizations against landlords in New York City history.[2] Prior to the strikes, a housing shortage caused by World War I exacerbated tenant conditions, with the construction industry being redirected to war time efforts. In addition, the new defense jobs available attracted thousands of new families to the city, further driving property vacancy rates down. Under these conditions overcrowding, poor conditions, frequent raising of rents and speculation by landlords were common.[3] These long term circumstances, and a nationwide coal shortage, which culminated in a dangerous heating crisis for tenants, would become the catalysts for the subsequent organizing and wave of rent strikes across the city.[4][2][5]
It is unclear how many tenants exactly were involved in the rent strikes from this period. But it was widespread, with the participation of both poor to middle working class and upper-class families across the city.[6] Major newspapers largely covered only a few of the largest and most dramatic strikes and, while some statements on the extent of the scope were contradictory;[7] At least several tens of thousands[c] and likely hundreds of thousands of tenants struck across the city over the two-year period. The strikes affected hundreds, potentially even thousands of apartment buildings in NYC.[17]
Overall, the rent strike wave had large implications. It led to the passage of the NY April and Emergency Rent Laws, caused a fundamental shift in tenant-landlord relations and many strikes were successful in reversing rent increases and winning concessions for many tenants. It would also set some of the organizing roots and strategies for the later NYC Great Depression rent strikes.[18][6]
- ^ "The Fight for Rent Control". Dissent Magazine. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
- ^ a b Lawson 1986a, p. 51.
- ^ Lawson 1986a, p. 51, 53.
- ^ Fogelson 2013.
- ^ "New York rent strikes during the 1918 "Spanish" influenza". openDemocracy. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- ^ a b Day 1999.
- ^ Fogelson 2013, p. 92.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:10was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Lawson 1986a, p. 63, 75.
- ^ Day 1999, p. 100,103.
- ^ Copeland 2000, p. 8.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:7was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Copeland 2000.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:15was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:16was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:17was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Fogelson 2013, p. 82.
- ^ Lawson 1986a.
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