The 2020 protests confirm that the governments response would not be to jail large protests. Even the violent rioters were often not arrested or prosecuted. A nonviolent rent strike would receive a very favorable response from the government.

Debtors prisons are illegal in the US. The likely outcome would be the government declaring a national emergency and allowing people to stay in place without paying rents. But private landlords would not be incentivized to maintain a basic level of service and could possibly try to destroy their buildings to collect on property insurance a la the Bronx is burning a few decades ago. An alternative could be public confiscation of these properties but then you have NYC as your landlord which is you ask any NYCHA resident they will tell you NYC is a slumlord. Best case would be for the landlords to coop their buildings but by that point the city would be destroyed. Best to pay your rent or move back to Iowa.