Filed under: Uncategorized
Check out this video of NYC’s homeless population building a tent city in East Harlem to take back the land!
Picture The Homeless and Allies Occupied a Vacant Lot and Builds a Tent City in East Harlem. As the foreclosure crisis festers, Bloomberg and the banks fail us. While the homeless population continues to escalate, landlords and the city continue to keep buildings empty. In fact, the total volume of potential apartments in vacant buildings and lots in Manhattan alone exceeds the number of homeless households in shelter and on the street citywide!
Filed under: Uncategorized
From the Movement for Justice in El Barrio / El Movimiento por Justicia del Barrio via ReclaimNYC:
The echo of this rebel voice transforming itself and renewing itself in other voices.
An echo that turns itself into many voices, into a network of voices that, before the deafness of the Power, opts to speak to itself, knowing itself to be one and many, acknowledging itself to be equal in its desire to listen and be listened to, recognizing itself as different in the tonalities and levels of voices forming it.
A network of voices that resist the war that the Power wages on them.
A network of voices that not only speak, but also struggle and resist for humanity and against neoliberalism.
- -The Zapatista’s Second Declaration of La Realidad, read at the First Intercontinental Encuentro for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism.
Saludos,
The Second NYC Encuentro for Dignity and Against Displacement is this Sunday!!
SECOND NYC ENCUENTRO FOR DIGNITY AND AGAINST DISPLACEMENT
SUNDAY, JUNE 7th, 4:30 PMWe hope everyone is excited and ready to make history in what we know will be an inspirational and extraordinary gathering of groups struggling against gentrification, displacement and neoliberalism on the local level from all over NYC.
Thirty organizations will come together. People will be in attendance from all over the region including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, to listen and learn from the ways that we organize our struggles against displacement in NYC.
There will be film crews and media coverage to record this historic event!
Please arrive at 4:30 pm sharp!! There are many groups who will be sharing and we want to make sure that we have time for everything!
Everyone should have their tickets by now, if you have not received your ticket yet please send us an email at movementforjusticeinelbarrio@yahoo.com.
Thank you all!
We’ll see you on Sunday!!Sincerely,
Movement for Justice in El Barrio
Filed under: Uncategorized
Check out the chart from this article at The Real Deal called “New York City’s Future Ghost Towers.” It tracks one of the many results of greedy, unaffordable development: ghost towers. Thanks to Not An Alternative for bringing this to our attention via the ReclaimNYC listserv.
In many of America’s most popular destinations, from the beaches of South Florida to the Las Vegas strip, “ghost towers” — empty or near empty buildings — mark the skyline, mere shells of their developers’ failed ambitions….
To determine which buildings in New York City are the most likely future ghost towers, The Real Deal turned to sources in the real estate, finance and legal industries who identified 23 residential condo and rental projects as among the most at risk of remaining empty for years to come.
These towers, along with brief synopses of their circumstances, are listed in the accompanying chart.
Go to chart: A look at vacant or largely unsold NYC residential projects
Picture the Homeless has an important interpretation to put things into perspective:
The city’s best hope for reducing and preventing homelessness is a commitment to addressing the skyrocketing rents and general housing shortage that plagues New York and drives New Yorkers by the thousands into homelessness. Yet at the same time as the homeless population continues to escalate, landlords and the city continue to keep buildings empty! In fact, the total volume of potential apartments in vacant buildings and lots IN MANHATTAN ALONE exceeds the number of homeless households in shelter and on the street CITYWIDE!
Filed under: Action
This came our way via ReclaimNYC:
Bail Out the People Movement <http://bailoutpeople.org/>
*Protest the Foreclosed Home Auction!
Sunday, 11:00 am
In front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel
109 E 42 Street
Between Park and Lexington in Manhattan** No more foreclosed home auctions!
* No more foreclosures and evictions!
* Demand a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions!The Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) is at it again — with another foreclosure auction called to help real estate players profit off of people who have lost their homes.
Just 2 weeks ago, a Detroit homeowner died while resisting a foreclosure eviction after a five-hour shootout with the police. The banks, the recipients collectively of over $12*Bail Out the People Movement* trillion in government handouts, are literally getting away with murder. They and mortgage firms are foreclosing homes at the rate of 15,000 a day — and with the help of firms like REDC, turning around and selling those homes to someone else.
Foreclosure auctions are advertised in the media as a chance for aspiring homeowners to get good deals. “Putting people in homes they otherwise couldn’t afford” — that was the same mantra behind the subprime mortgages cooked up by predatory lenders.
In reality, foreclosure auctions are bonanzas for these very lenders — the same home mortgage industries and real estate players that are kicking families into the street. Even individuals who manage to scrape together enough savings to bid on a home at one of these auctions can be outbid in a heartbeat by a real estate investor with millions in capital.
These foreclosure auctions are in direct violation of the laws signed by President Barack Obama — the Helping Families Save Their Home Act and the Making Home Afforable Program — which require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Chase Home Finance, CitiMortgage and Countrywide, among others, to modify mortgages.
The mortgage of the Detroit homeowner who died resisting eviction was owned by Chase Bank, which had a duty under federal law to work out a solution that should have prevented the bailiff from attempting to evict him in the first place.
The Bail Out the People Movement calls for an immediate moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Not one more person or family should be kicked out of their home or lose their life because of the out-of-control greed of the banks and real estate companies. And on Sunday, we will be in front of the Grand Hyatt to let the REDC know it is not welcome here.
The New York houses that will be sold to the highest bidder on Sunday are the homes of poor and working people who lived in places like Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Newark, Long Island, upstate New York, and Pennslyvania, who were forced out of their homes by Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan-Chase and other banks.
In the biggest economic crisis since the depression of the 30s, these auctions should not be taking place; they are a symptom of the cruel and criminal mass eviction campaign that will continue to grow until people unite and say ‘No More!’
The only force that will stop foreclosures is mass grassroots mobilization. Join us on June 7 to demand an end to the auction!
* We call upon the City of New York to stop the June 7 auction and we demand an immediate stop to call foreclosures and evictions.
* We call upon the Grand Hyatt and the Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) to cancel the auction, set up to allow financial predators to profit from throwing people out on the street.
NYU has expantion plans of its own. Here’s an email from Andrew Berman, Executive Director of The Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation.
Dear friend,
On Monday, June 22 at 6:30 pm the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Greenwich Village Block Associations, and a dozen other community groups will be hosting an Open Forum on the NYU 2031 Plan. It will take place at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South at Thompson Street, and I strongly urge you to attend.
As you may know, NYU is formulating its ‘2031 Plan,’ which is intended to serve as a blueprint for its development over the next 22 years. However, outlines of the plan which NYU has shared with the public thus far indicate the potential for a very large expansion of the university in and around its core facilities in the Village, East Village, and NoHo during that time period — roughly double its rate of expansion over the last several decades.
NYU has been hosting several open houses where it has invited the public to review its planning process and submit comments. NYU has also agreed to a set of ‘Planning Principles’ which are intended to guide its development process, and the university has also been meeting with a ‘Community Task Force on NYU Development’ convened by Borough President Scott Stringer of which GVSHP and GVBA are members.
The Open Forum will be an opportunity to find out more about the NYU 2031 plan from the perspective of community groups, including concerns regarding aspects of the plan and how NYU is adhering to its commitments. It is also an opportunity to find out more about the process by which this plan is being reviewed and how you can be a part of it.
A flyer for the forum can be found HERE, and more background information can be found HERE.
Please spread the word by forwarding this e-mail and the flyer, as a large turnout will help ensure broad community participation in the effort to educate about and respond to NYU’s plans. I hope you will join us on the 22nd.
Sincerely,
Andrew Berman
Executive DirectorPS: — NYU will be presenting its plans to construct a new ‘Center for Academic and Spiritual Life’ on the former site of the NYU Catholic Center (Washington Square South at Thompson Street) to a public meeting of Community Board #2’s Institutions Committee on Tuesday, June 16th at 6:30 at 75 Morton Street (at Greenwich Street).
Check out this video of members from the Coalition to Preserve Community presenting to a human rights class. The class time was originally supposed to be a debate between university expansion staff and community members around the expansion. Columbia pulled out at the last minute and refused to attend. Of course, it’s not surprising that they wouldn’t engage the community on level terms. More updates still to come!
Filed under: Update | Tags: eminent domain, norman siegal, photos, rally, updates
Lots has happened recently around Columbia’s expansion. We’ve got updates in the works: Community Benefits Agreement updates, eminent domain court case coverage, updates on our efforts for stimulus transparency, and what’s happening over the summer. Stay tuned. Thanks Joey Shemuel for the photos of the rally!
CREDIT: Joey Shemuel FOREGROUND: Community member tells Columbia "No more hypocricy!" BACKGROUND: Civil rights attorny Norman Siegel tells the crowd about the unjust and illegal nature of Columbia's expansion.
CREDIT: Joey Shemuel - Students show solidarity with the Coalition to Preserve Community. No eminent domain!
Filed under: Action, Update | Tags: Action, CPC, demonstration, rally, stimulus
SCEG and the Coalition to Preserve Community drew nearly 100 students and community members standing in solidarity with each other last Saturday to show Columbia that their expansion plans are unacceptable and that we will not allow stimulus funds to go toward their for-profit eviction! We’re not any where near done yet!
COME STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH SCEG as we walk into Low with petitions in hand demanding that the administration commit to meeting with us about the role stimulus funding will play in the Manhattanville expansion. They’ve ignored our calls and our emails. Bollinger – as always – says he has no idea what we’re talking about. This is public, tax money with explicit provisions requiring it be used transparently. We refuse to allow public stimulus funding to go toward a project that is clearly not in public interest. The administration, however, won’t even tell us whether or not they have applied – though past statements declared they would be seeking funding. We’re demanding they commit to meeting with us to give us clear answers about stimulus funds for the expansion. TODAY, TUESDAY 1:30pm, SUNDIAL (center of campus, 116th st btwn b’way and amsterdam).
So what can you ACTUALLY do?
Come out to our demonstration Saturday May 2, noon to two pm, at the center of the Columbia campus (116th St between Broadway and Amsterdam). Bring everyone you can!
Sign our No-Dough Pledge, pledging to withhold donations to the University until it listens to community demands
Sign our petition to administrators demanding that they immediately meet with students seeking a clear answer about Columbia’s possible application for stimulus funding for the expansion
March with us to give the administration our petition asking for a meeting on Tuesday, May 5, at 1:30PM.
Sign one of our mock checks to Columbia. Make the check out for $0 and write in the memo: “No public funds for eviction!” We’ll deliver them with our petitions on Tuesday to the Administration to symbolize our opposition to the University using our tax dollars to finance their for-profit eviction of the community.
Come to a SCEG meeting – 9PM Wednesdays in the Intercultural Resource Center (552 W14th St, between Broadway and Amsterdam).
Tell your classmates, friends, and teachers about the problems with Columbia’s plan. Take the issue up within clubs or organizations you already belong to – more than anything, the community needs a wide range of allies committed to demanding justice!
Join our Facebook group to stay updated!
PRESS: Security will be tightened Saturday. You MUST enter through the gates at 116th and Broadway. Do not let campus security turn you away.
