Colette Baird was counting down the 90 or so days until her eviction, with no idea where she would go next or how she’d afford it on her modest disability checks.

Her landlord told her he was turning her first-floor unit in the Longwood section of the Bronx over to his daughter and wanted her out. In September 2023, the landlord won a court-ordered eviction and reached a settlement with Baird giving her until the start of the new year to leave.

But Baird, who’s 52 with late-stage cancer and severe spinal problems, was struggling to find a new apartment.

She’s one of tens of thousands of renters with disabilities and fixed incomes in the city who face rising housing costs and the risk, or reality, of homelessness. Gothamist met with Baird multiple times since the eviction order as she scrambled to find a new place to live within her limited means and had seemingly no way of securing rental assistance without first entering a homeless shelter.

Her experience highlights the financial problems still lingering for many tenants and small landlords four years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the limited options for low-income New Yorkers on the cusp of an eviction amid a citywide affordable housing crisis.

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