Q: I live in a rental building in Harlem and have always worked from home. Since the start of the pandemic, the family directly above me has been home, too, with two young children. Now that winter is here, they never seem to go out. I can hear running, jumping and shouting.

There are several conditions under which an apartment could be considered illegal, says Sam Himmelstein, a lawyer who represents residential and commercial tenants and tenant associations, and the consequences vary depending on the circumstances.

A crisis looms in the pandemic's wake: Evictions that threaten to overwhelm schools, homeless shelters and food pantries. When New York State lawmakers approved emergency legislation this week to ban evictions for at least two months, they were seeking to prevent hundreds of thousands of people from being forced from their homes during the winter, with the pandemic still raging.

The New York State Legislature recently passed a bill that was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, which puts into effect two eviction moratoriums. The first puts a stay on any eviction proceedings commenced on or before March 7th, 2020, for 60 days, while the second stays all eviction matters commenced between December 28th, 2020 and January 27th, 2021 for 60 days from filing.

The New York Legislature approved a sweeping eviction ban for tenants living in the state, giving residents fearful of losing their homes during the pandemic some relief at least until May. The law, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed late Monday, places a moratorium on residential evictions until May 1 for tenants who endured a "COVID-related hardship."

NEW YORK, NY - Applications opened this month for Manhattan residents to join one of the borough's 12 community boards, which play a key role in city policy. Community boards are tasked with weighing in on land use and development, deciding whether to issue permits such as liquor licenses, assessing neighborhood needs, and addressing community concerns.