Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) has proposed to sell up to 62,000 public housing apartments in a scheme that would allow private real estate developers and investors to buy into NYCHA. This plan, as corrupt as it is in many ways, won't be challenged by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, who, has offered a new, shoddy settlement to quickly get rid of his investigation of the lead poisoning crisis at NYCHA that is silent on the sale of 1/3 of NYCHA. Before Berman became the top Manhattan Federal prosecutor, he was Rudy Giuliani's former law partner. Questions exist whether U.S. Attorney Berman respects the public opinion that informed the creation of NYCHA. NYCHA was formed in 1934 during the Great Depression after Fiorello La Guardia campaigned for mayor with the promise to create Government housing. In 1934, delegates representing 750,000 workers adopted a resolution to treat housing construction and maintenance as a social good, not unlike public transportation and public education.*
- RSVP : Sunday, Feb. 10 : Rally at City Hall and March to U.S. Attorney's Office to save NYCHA [Facebook]
Powerful men, who support Big Business elites, are turning a blind eye to the suffering of average people, who live in public housing. On top of dealing with lead poisoning, exposure to toxic mold, and no head in the winter, now public housing residents must confront private landlords, who only want want to churn through tenants as a way to get to deregulation. We say, not on our watch ! These decisions -- to keep throwing pennies on the dollar to public housing as a pretext to sell public housing -- are being made without our consent. This is wrong. We need to have a say -- so we can block any sale of NYCHA.
Shirley Chisholm said, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." Bring a folding chair with you, if you can, to our rally.
- RSVP : Sunday, Feb. 10 : Rally at City Hall and March to U.S. Attorney's Office to save NYCHA [Facebook]
- @FightForNYCHA in the News : Norman Siegel, a civil rights attorney who is representing Fight For NYCHA, said that the protests at MDC are an example of what can happen when activism takes shape and grips a city. Public housing has been a difficult issue to rally people around, he argued, because many people believe "they can't change the status quo." Yet he said he believed people would be energized once they began to learn more about what was happening to the city's public housing. "There are moments when a spark is lit. People can move quickly and they did this weekend," he said. "Hopefully on Sunday we’ll have lots of people and we’ll get that spirit going." : As City Officials Respond To 'Humanitarian Crisis' At Brooklyn Jail, Others Wonder : 'What About NYCHA ?' [Gothamist]
With your help, we can save public housing.
Join us.
Fight For NYCHA
Fight For NYCHA, a collective of tenants, activists, artists, and advocates, who are protesting Mayor Bill de Blasio's announced proposal to sell 1/3 of NYCHA (62,000 apartments) to private real estate interests in order to "save" NYCHA. We reject Mayor de Blasio's proposal because the money exists to save NYCHA. We just have to change our priorities. Follow Fight For NYCHA on Facebook and Twitter.
* See PUBLIC HOUSING ASKED BY WORKERS ; Social Control Just as in Education Is Endorsed at Meeting of 80 Delegates. MAYOR AND POST FAVOR IT LaGuardia Tells Labor Council Federal Money Will Only Begin to Meet City's Needs., The New York Times (29 June 1934), https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/29/archives/public-housing-asked-by-workers-social-control-just-as-in-education.html.
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