Tenants PAC

Tenants PAC raises funds to help elect pro-tenant candidates for office to counter real estate's influence on our government.

We also endorse in local, state and federal races. Tenants vote - tenants lobby - tenants win! We are currently accepting questionnaire submissions through our website for 2021 NYC municipal primary elections. The deadline is March 1, 2021 so don't delay!

02/11/2026

Tenants Political Action Committee is pleased to announce that our endorsement questionnaire for the 2026 Democratic Primary election is officially LIVE!

-->>> https://tenantspac.substack.com/p/tenants-pacs-2026-endorsement-questionnaire

Since 1997, Tenants PAC has helped elect pro-tenant champions to the New York State Senate and Assembly. We endorse and contribute funds to a limited slate of candidates running in competitive races; we do not endorse in every race. Endorsement decisions are made on a rolling basis by majority vote of our Board of Directors - a team of 17 volunteer tenant leaders and advocates from across the state with decades of combined experience in electoral work and housing policy.

The questionnaire primarily contains questions about our legislative priorities for Albany, including passing the REST Act to give Upstate localities a real shot at opting into rent stabilization; the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) being fully funded at $250 Million; expanded income eligibility requirements for SCRIE/DRIE; a Winter Eviction Moratorium and statewide Right to Counsel; and taxing the richest folks and most profitable corporations in the state to fund the programs New Yorkers need to thrive.

We will be scheduling interviews starting as soon as this weekend, so please submit your questionnaire ASAP and please help us spread the word!

*If you have any questions about the endorsement process, please reach out to Esteban Girón, Tenants PAC’s Political Director at [email protected].

12/03/2025

We are holding a silent auction of items collected by Michael over the years. There is still time to bid on the items, which can be accessed via this link: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/michael-mckees-tenant-movement-memorabilia

Tonight’s memorial fundraiser for Michael and Tenants PAC, which he founded, will be livestreamed: https://youtu.be/NnZEV1m6lPg

Thank you to all that donated and made tonight possible.

11/30/2025

We are two days away from our fundraiser in memory of our founder, Michael McKee.

Courtesy of Michael’s husband, Eric Stenshoel, we will be holding a silent auction of housing movement memorabilia, such as buttons, banners, t-shirts, and books, that all belonged to Michael—all items he kept throughout his decades of organizing for tenant rights.

More information to come. And if you would like to purchase a ticket for our celebration, please check the link below. We hope to see you on Wednesday.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/a-celebration-of-the-life-of-michael-mckee

11/26/2025

Our fundraiser in memory of our founder, Michael McKee, is one week away.

We would love to count on your support. You can purchase a ticket here:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/a-celebration-of-the-life-of-michael-mckee

Event details:
Wednesday, December 3 starting at 4pm
Saint Peter's Church, 619 Lexington Ave

11/17/2025

We are part of the Rent Justice Coalition, a grassroots group of tenant organizations and non-profits who organize and fight every year against rent increases by the Mayor’s Rent Guidelines Board. Our mass actions have won 3 rent freezes so far, and as part of the tenant movement that helped elect Zohran Mamdani, we expect to win 4 more!

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani won the most votes in a mayoral election since 1969 by centering a 4-year rent freeze for rent-stabilized tenants. But Eric Adams wants to block it, siding with his landlord cronies and defying Mamdani’s democratic mandate. Adams was so unpopular that he withdrew from the election, but if he replaces 5 of the 9 members of the RGB, he could overrule over 1mil voters and block the rent freeze in 2026.

If Adams asks you to serve on the RGB, we call on you to refuse! An 11th-hour appointment from an indicted, disgraced, and corrupt mayor is deplorable. Besides, Mamdani can replace you in a year and undo your rent increase. Throughout that year, tenants will protest you every step of the way and make sure you never have a moment’s peace. So don’t make a deal with the devil or we’ll give you hell!

11/10/2025

Join Tenants PAC on December 3rd at St. Peter’s Church to celebrate the life of our founder, Michael McKee.

Last month, Michael, a longtime housing justice organizer, died peacefully at home with his husband Eric by his side. On December 3, on what would have been his 86th birthday, we will celebrate his life as we fulfill one of his last wishes, which was making his birthday celebration a fundraiser for the group he fervently stewarded for 28 years, Tenants PAC.

Tenants PAC is the only all-volunteer, tenant-run political action committee dedicated to electing tenant champions across the state of New York and winning stronger tenant protections at the municipal and state level. Join us on December 3 to continue strengthening the voice of all tenants.

10/30/2025

Michael McKee, an indefatigable tenant organizer who spent 50 years helping to strengthen rent-protection regulations in New York State against challenges by landlords, died on Oct. 21 in his rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan. He was 85.

The cause was brain cancer, his husband, Eric Stenshoel, said.

Mr. McKee was working as a film editor in Manhattan when he became riled by his absentee landlord’s failure to fix a broken window pane in his apartment on West 17th Street in 1969 — the same year the City Council enacted the Rent Stabilization Law that extended rent regulation to about 325,000 apartments built after 1947. Then, in February 1970, the building’s boiler blew and remained busted for months.

Inspired by Jane Benedict, a union and tenant organizer and onetime Communist who founded the Metropolitan Council on Housing, and later by Marie Runyon, another liberal firebrand, Mr. McKee and fellow tenants mounted a successful rent strike. The protest culminated in what was hailed in 1977 as the first known collective bargaining agreement between a landlord and tenants.

The agreement granted the residents effective control over the building, which they later bought and converted into cooperative apartments. Mr. McKee also converted his career, becoming a full-time tenant activist.

NYT on 10/28/25

10/29/2025

Tenant Voter Alert:

Early voting is underway and the NYC 2025 Ballot Proposals are causing confusion amongst tenants and our allies. Don’t be fooled by the misinformation campaign being waged by YIMBY organizations funded by the real estate industry and venture capitalists! These proposals disempower working class tenants and will accelerate displacement, particularly in already-gentrifying neighborhoods. They are written in purposefully misleading language with no real affordability mandates.

At the voting booth, flip your ballot and vote NO on Proposals 2, 3, and 4!et

10/23/2025

Dear Tenants PAC supporters,

As many of you will have heard, Michael McKee died on Tuesday, October 21st, after a year-long battle with brain cancer. He died peacefully at home with his husband Eric by his side.

A service for Michael will be held at Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 2. The service will include the Durufle Requiem; all are welcome.

At the time of his passing, Michael was making preparations for a Tenants PAC fundraiser to be held on his birthday. As per his final wishes, we will remember and celebrate Michael’s life and legacy on what would have been his 86th birthday on December 3rd at St. Peter’s Church from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. More details to come.

In solidarity
Tenants PAC Board

05/15/2025

NY Tenants PAC is proud to endorse Zohran Mamdani for New York City Mayor.

Since the start of his campaign, he has been the only candidate consistently advocating for a rent freeze. His bold, progressive vision for renters is exactly what this city needs. It’s imperative we elect a fighter like Zohran Mamdani for New York City Mayor, particularly in this existential moment for tenants, who are fighting tooth and nail to afford to stay in the city we built.

We encourage voters to rank Zohran Mamdani first on their ballots, fill out their ballots with four other tenant-friendly candidates, and to not rank Andrew Cuomo.

And TONIGHT! Join tenants from all over our city for a rally to FREEZE THE RENT! 6pm at Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive.

10/24/2024

🥁🎵THIS FRIDAY🎵🥁 Help Tenants PAC elect tenant champions into office as we honor Sam for his 44 years of representing tenants and fighting to strengthen tenant protections!

🗓️ Friday, October 25 @ 6:30pm
📍 185 West Broadway
🍴🥂 Food and drinks will be served!
🎟️ https://www.nytenantspac.org/himmelsteintribute

Tenants PAC is New York’s only state-wide group dedicated to electing pro-tenant leaders so that tenants become a stronger electoral force. We’re an all volunteer-run organization, and all your donations will go to candidates we support and makes it possible to advocate for pro-tenant legislation.

Join us for our fundraiser this Friday, October 25, as we honor our friend and longtime colleague Sam Himmelstein! Purchase your ticket here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/himmelsteintribute

10/21/2024

A message from Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes, former member of Tenants PAC:

“It is impossible for grassroots people to run for office without money. And it’s hard for insurgent candidates like I was to raise funds when we represent a working-class community.”

“Over the last 25 years Tenants PAC helped elect many strong tenant advocates to the state legislature. We played a central role in getting rid of the “IDC” rogue Senate Democrats who cut a deal to keep the Republicans in power; and we played a central role in flipping the state senate from red to blue in 2018. I say “we” because this happened while I was still on the Tenants PAC board.”

“Tenants PAC is now trying to raise funds to support tenant champions in the November 5 election. There are six pro-tenant incumbents with serious Republican challenges, and there are two or three opportunities to replace hardcore Republicans in Albany with progressive Democrats.”

“I am writing this letter to urge you to make a contribution to Tenants PAC. You can do this through the link above. Any amount you can give — $10, $25, $50, or more if you can afford it – will be put to good use immediately in the field. Because Tenants PAC has no staff and is an all-volunteer organization, virtually everything raised goes to support pro-tenant candidates.”

Read more here: https://us5.campaign-archive.com/?e=03ad202f1f&u=267dceb18ad52e3c164369687&id=0f090f757b

And don’t forget to purchase your ticket for our fundraiser and tribute to Sam Himmelstein:

🗓️ Friday, October 25 @ 6:30pm
📍 185 West Broadway / New York Law School

https://secure.actblue.com/donate/himmelsteintribute

Address

277 Broadway Suite 608
New York, NY
10007

Website

https://linktr.ee/tenantspac

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