Evictions are Up in the Bronx, but Down in all Other Boroughs: Data

By Sasha Gonzales and Kevin Deutsch
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A new report shows evictions declining in every borough but the Bronx, with 68,935 eviction filings—or 39 percent of the citywide total—recorded locally in 2017.

The NYU Furman Center’s new data brief, “Trends in Housing Court Eviction Filings,” shows that citywide, the total number of eviction filings is decreasing. In 2017, private landlords initiated 176,590 eviction filings, down 4.6 percent from 2016 and 7.8 percent from 2010.

Of the five boroughs, the Bronx was the only one that deviated from the citywide downward trend; its number of filings increased between 2010 and 2016, and it ended 2017 with more filings than in 2010, the report found.

“The Bronx in particular stands out both for its high rates of eviction filings and the increase in those rates during the period we analyze,” the report’s authors wrote.

Lawful evictions in New York City fall into two categories: nonpayment cases, in which the landlord makes a claim to rent owed, and holdover cases, in which the landlord makes some other claim.

Landlords must warn tenants prior to filing for eviction, and provide them with the opportunity to address the stated cause. If the tenant does not, the landlord can file for eviction, receive a judgment, and, if that judgement is in their favor, obtain a warrant for eviction.

Citywide, 84.3 percent of 2017 eviction filings were nonpayment cases, the report found.

The three neighborhoods with the highest evection filing rates citywide were in the Bronx: Highbridge/Concourse, Morrisania/Crotona, and Hunts Point/Longwood, according to the report.

About Kevin Deutsch 265 Articles
Kevin Deutsch is a Staff Writer for Bronx Justice News covering the criminal justice system, drugs, and DNA use by law enforcement. An award-winning journalist, Deutsch is the author of the true crime books "Pill City" and "The Triangle." He has worked on staff at the Daily News, Miami Herald, Newsday, The Palm Beach Post, and The Riverdale Press. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, Columbia Journalism Review, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Forward, The Independent, Huffington Post, Orlando Sentinel, and the New York Post, among other publications. His numerous television appearances include spots on CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN's BookTV. He has also been featured in The New Yorker. A Bronx resident, Deutsch hosts the true crime podcast "A Dark Turn" on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network.