The New York Times reports:

A few days after losing his job in March, Paul Gentile was throwing away trash outside his Brooklyn apartment building when he noticed a new sign hanging near the front door.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought life to a near standstill in New York City and caused an untold number of people to lose their jobs, tenants in the building did not need to pay April rent, it read.

“STAY SAFE, HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS & WASH YOUR HANDS!!!” the landlord, Mario Salerno, wrote on the signs, which he posted at all of his 18 residential buildings in the borough.

More than any large city in the United States, New York is made up of millions of renters, many of whom survive paycheck to paycheck and pay a large portion of their monthly income for a place to live.

The sudden collapse of the economy has left many New Yorkers stressing about how they can pay their bills, especially rent.

Across New York City, landlords have started to panic as well, as it has become clear some tenants are unable to afford rent. Several surveys conducted last month estimated that 40 percent of renters in New York City, if not more, would not make April rent, which was due on Wednesday.

The trickle-down effect could be swift and devastating, according to landlords, leaving them scrambling to find ways to pay their own bills, such as water, sewer and taxes at their buildings.

It is too soon to get an accurate gauge of how many renters withheld their April rent and what the fallout would be for landlords.

But Mr. Salerno said in an interview on Thursday that he did not care about losing his rental income in April, nor did he care to calculate the amount that he would not be collecting from his 80 apartments. He said he had about 200 to 300 tenants in total.

He is likely forgoing hundreds of thousands of dollars in income by canceling April rent.

His only interest, he said, was in alleviating stress for his renters, even those who were still employed and now working from home.

“My concern is everyone’s health,” said Mr. Salerno, 59, whose rent gesture was first reported by the local news site Greenpointers.com. “I told them just to look out for your neighbor and make sure that everyone has food on their table.” [Continue reading…]