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Council Member Gutiérrez introduces the Back Home Act legislation package
0:10:03
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134 sec
Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez introduces and advocates for the Back Home Act, a comprehensive legislative package aimed at addressing the challenges faced by New Yorkers displaced from their homes due to emergencies like fires and floods. She emphasizes the importance of providing support, structure, and accountability in the aftermath of such disasters.
- The Back Home Act is designed to fill gaps in current services and provide orientation for displaced residents.
- Gutiérrez highlights that displacement disproportionately affects certain demographics based on race, income, and immigration status.
- She expresses disappointment that NYCEM (Office of Emergency Management) is not present to discuss their support for the bill.
Jennifer Gutiérrez
0:10:03
Thank you so much chair Sanchez and Areola for for hearing these bills.
0:10:07
The bills before us known collectively as the Back Home Act that I authored in partnership with council member Krishnan and so many of the my colleagues that are sponsors represent a comprehensive and long overdue legislative response to the crisis that so many New Yorkers face after being displaced from their homes due to fires, floods, or other emergencies.
0:10:25
This isn't hypothetical.
0:10:27
This is a devastating reality for thousands of tenants and small property owners every year, and too often they are left completely alone to navigate it.
0:10:35
We've heard heartbreaking stories from families forced to sleep on relatives couches, leave the city or find other temporary solutions, unsure of their rights, their timelines, or whether they'll ever be able to return home.
0:10:47
We've met small landlords stuck in a web of bureaucracy trying to do the right thing but with no support or clarity from the city.
0:10:54
What happens after a fire is not just an insurance issue, it's a housing matter, it's a health matter, and it's an equity matter.
0:11:01
These challenges don't fall evenly.
0:11:03
Race, income, immigration status, and household composition all shape how quickly or if someone gets back home.
0:11:10
This legislative package is designed to meet that reality head on.
0:11:13
It addresses the gaps, the inefficiencies, and the silence that often follows the sirens.
0:11:19
The Back Home Act is rooted in the lived experiences of displaced New Yorkers.
0:11:23
It offers structure where there's been chaos, accountability, where there's been confusion, and support where there's been none.
0:11:29
It's a reflection of our belief that no New Yorker should be left to navigate the aftermath of a disaster alone.
0:11:35
We can and must do better, and this is where it begins.
0:11:38
And I just wanna say that my district experienced yet another fire a couple months ago while I was out on maternity leave.
0:11:46
I don't know if those tenants will be here today, but I really would love for the administration to listen because I know everyone does their individual job and does the best that they can, but there's a lot that government can be doing, that we can be doing to fill those gaps.
0:12:00
And what these folks want is a sense of orientation, and they they just don't have that.
0:12:04
And I also just wanna double down on chair Sanchez's disappointment about not having NISM here to to join us to discuss whether or not they support the bill.
0:12:12
It would have been really vital to have their voice and their concerns expressed here today.
0:12:16
Thank you, chairs.