Abstract

Tenant Uprising

The defeat of three incumbent mayors in North Jersey cities this past year has given new hope to progressive forces in the Garden State. Much of the credit belongs to the tenant movement, led by the New Jersey Tenant Organization ( N.J.T.O). With 80,000 low- and middle-income members and one hundred citywide affiliates, N.J.T.O. has been organizing and fighting successfully for tenants' rights since 1969. Using a variety of tactics-including lobbying, rent strikes, demonstrations, coalition building and electoral politics-N.J.T.O. has altered the parameters of the debate about housing policy in New Jersey. Now most New Jersey politicians and even newspaper editorial writers believe that a landlord's need for profit must be balanced against a tenant's need for decent and affordable housing.