“Living in a healthy society necessitates laws and regulations that can restrict some personal freedoms. People are prohibited from smoking in many public places and driving recklessly on public roads to protect others. These same cohesive concepts also apply to dealing with public health emergencies that pose an imminent threat to everyone,” writes Peter Fiorentino of Rosendale.

“I am a former New Paltz tenant. I have rented apartments as an undergraduate student at SUNY New Paltz and later in life as a working professional. I have called New Paltz my home for the better part of a decade. In 2018, I left the Village to pursue an advanced degree. Now, as I attempt to make my way back, I am finding myself in the middle of a housing and affordability crisis,” writes Victoria Morrell of Queens.

“Leases have been used successfully for centuries between two consenting parties. Leases are by definition ‘a contract by which one party conveys land, property, services et cetera to another for a specified time, usually in return for a periodic payment.’ At no point should a month-to-month lease or a yearly lease become a ‘lease for life.’ After the lease expires, either party has the mutual right to continue or not continue,” writes Paul Knobloch of New Paltz.