“When the COVID-19 pandemic began 17 months ago, the Legislature put in place an eviction moratorium to ensure no New Yorker would be left homeless due to a pandemic-related loss of employment or income but failed to put in protections and mechanisms to protect small landlords. After 17 months and several extended eviction moratoriums which I opposed for this reason, the financial toll has finally reached a breaking point for so many North Country landlords, and the state has continued to fail them in getting them relief funds they rightfully are owed.

"That is why today I again voted against extending the eviction moratorium because there are simply too many landlords in the North Country who have yet to receive any financial assistance to help them through the last 17 months. Previously, I supported allocating $2.3 billion in federal and state relief funds to help landlords and tenants. Unfortunately, the state has been unacceptably slow in getting this money out the door and into the hand of already strapped landlords.Too many of my constituents continue to call my office because they cannot afford their property taxes since their hands are tied and they cannot evict delinquent tenants. These are not big corporations contacting me about their problems due to lack of rent- these are regular North Country folks who invested in small properties as part of their retirement and are now worried about their futures. Extending the eviction moratorium will just continue to put an undue burden on landlords and my colleagues and I must focus on a solution that makes sure that landlords receive the assistance that was promised to them.”