Last Friday, when New York’s expanded rent regulations were signed into law, was not the first time I’d seen tenants cry at the state capital. For a very long time, the state capital building in Albany was the place where New York’s renters suffered crushing legislative defeats. Then, for a few years, it was where we made incremental progress, too small and too slow to beat back the rush of gentrification and displacement encouraged by rental deregulation. Last week’s gathering to celebrate the historic expansion of rent stabilization, rent control, and anti-eviction measures, however, was the first time I’d ever seen tenants in the state capital crying tears of joy.

It was a powerful moment, in every sense of the word: it held tremendous emotional power, and it was also a striking expression of tenants’ power. This victory was decades in the making, and therefore its realization was thanks in large part to tenant leaders who have fought for stronger rent laws for all those years. Some of them were there on Friday, including many friends, comrades, and former co-workers of mine. Many more did not live to see this day, including countless tenant activists who died along the way — often prematurely, undoubtedly due in part to the poor housing conditions they struggled against in their lifetimes. The tears, then, were tears of joy and mourning, exhaustion and relief, and endurance and excitement for all the work that is yet to come.