Who We Are

CHTU is an autonomous, democratic union of tenants who live in Crown Heights and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Founded in 2013 by a multiracial, multi-generational group of tenants who believed that long term and new tenants needed to come together to collectively fight gentrification, harassment, displacement, disrepair, and illegal rent overcharges. Membership is made up of individual tenants and building-wide tenant associations – no landlords or agents of landlords allowed. Member funded and member-run, we maintain financial and political independence from government officials, developers, and nonprofits. This enables us to remain accountable, first and foremost, to each other and fellow tenants in the neighborhood. Non-hierarchical, we make decisions democratically at our general membership meetings, in our committees, and in our buildings.

What We Fight Against

  • Displacement of long-term residents

  • Refusal to do repairs

  • Overcharges in rent stabilized units

  • Landlord harassment & threats

  • Evictions, both legal & illegal

  • All rezonings

What We Fight For

  • Right to stay in our homes

  • Speedy repairs and maintenance

  • Enforcement of legal stabilized rent

  • Feeling safe where we live

  • Control of our housing

  • Stronger tenant protections (city & state)

Why We Fight

Seeking greater profits, developers and landlords squeeze working-class tenants in two directions. First, they displace longstanding tenants, especially black, brown, and elderly neighbors, by harassing them, ex- ploiting landlord-friendly laws, raising rents through legal and illegal means, and refusing to do repairs. Second, they systematically overcharge the new tenants who take their place. Overcharges continue the cycle of dis- placement by accelerating tenant turnover and raising average rents across the neighborhood.

How We Fight

  1. Build solidarity among longstanding and newer tenants in the neighborhood

  2. Organize our buildings into tenant associations

  3. Take direct action against landlords, developers, the real estate industry, and politicians who serve their interests

  4. Empower ourselves through trainings, political education, resource sharing, and cultural events

  5. Show up for one another at housing court, rallies, and for individual and building fights

Our Wins

  • Demanded the 5 year citywide rent freeze (2013), first ever citywide rent freeze (2015), three more citywide rent freezes (2015-2020)

  • Countless victories in court beating back overcharge and harassment cases (2013-2023)

  • Connected tenants with the same landlord to intensify their individual fights (2013-2023)

  • Helped launch the largest rent strike in NYC history (2020)

  • Won the strongest tenant protections in a generation with a slate of rent laws (2019)

  • Won multiple extensions of the pandemic eviction moratorium, protecting tenants from eviction for 22 months (2020 - 2022)

  • Successful eviction defenses on Dean St (2020) and Park Place (2021)

  • Secured the first collective bargaining agreement with a landlord (2022)

  • No active member of CHTU has EVER been evicted (2013-2023)

Become a member today.