A rally and a tenant town hall brought Bronx organizations together with residents to demand lawmakers consider tougher protection for tenants.

Energetic rally-goers gathered outside the New Settlement Community Center in Mount Eden Thursday, looking to get the attention of lawmakers in Albany.

They hope to establish universal rent control and to abolish MCI, or Major Capital Improvements. Organizers explained that MCI to their buildings by landlords tend to be cosmetic. Those improvements then allow landlords to raise rent, which tenants at the rally say are typically followed by evictions for residents who can't afford the price hikes.

The call for lawmakers in Albany to consider universal rent control is a statewide demand that organizers say would benefit all New Yorkers.