The rising cost of housing has been a dire issue for working people in the United States for decades. But the arrival of COVID-19 has brought this crisis to a head, throwing millions out of work and leaving them unable to afford rent.

The call for some kind of rent forgiveness legislation is growing; politicians like Ilhan Omar have introduced legislation to forgive rent and mortgages, while state representatives such as New York state senator Julia Salazar have brought similar measures to state bodies. But none of these laws have yet been enacted. While New York has passed a temporary eviction moratorium and a temporary suspension of some mortgages, no action on suspending rent has occurred. In the meantime, renters are taking matters into their own hands.

Residents of a four-story, thirty-unit apartment complex on Goodwin Pl., at the southern edge of the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, have done just that. The residents there have formed a tenants’ union and gone on rent strike since April, while they try to negotiate their demands with Dome Property Management, which also owns close to forty other buildings across Brooklyn.