The landlord had told them he wanted to raise the rent to $3,500 and when they complained he decided to raise it to $9,500.
“We know that our building is not rent controlled and this was something we were always worried about happening and there is no way we can afford $9,500 per month," Yumna Farooq said.
Why? In a non-artistic sense it’s just a pretentious way to say “stuff you own”. (Unless you’re saying owning things at all should be criminalized, in which case… can’t really argue with you there.)