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Scott Stringer is a Liar Liar Privatizer !

For letting Mayor de Blasio keep trying to sellout NYCHA with RAD/PACT and the Blueprint, Scott Stringer was called a “Liar Liar Privatizer !”

Members of the coälition NYCHA Is Not For Sale protested outside the luxury condo apartment building where Comptroller Scott Stringer (D-New York City) lives, drawing attention to his failures and public betrayals after having held various Government offices for decades. The protest took place on Tuesday at 25 Broad Street, at a luxury condo conversion of a former office building in the Financial District.

Chief amongst the accusations hurled by activists was Comptroller Stringer’s failure to conduct a forensic audit of the use of funding by the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA. Several NYCHA resident leaders have been calling or such an audit. Comptroller Stringer has had eight years of power and authority to conduct or order such an audit, but he has failed to do so. That failure has cost NYCHA credibility in the eyes of the public, and amongst its own residents, because the public and residents believe that NYCHA is used as a corrupt patronage mill for the mayor and the possible source of corrupt Government contracts for political insiders.

The activists confronted Comptroller Stringer outside his luxury condo apartment building, and he didn’t deign to address any of the concerns posed by the activists, and he never once vocalised why he believed he was qualified to serve as mayor after decades of a failed record and public betrayals.

NYCHA Is Not for Sale confronts Scott Stringer

A career of failures and public betrayals.

The activists made a second, major accusation against Comptroller Stringer, alleging that he approved of the RAD/PACT sell-out of Fulton Houses, Elliott Houses, and Chelsea Houses in Manhattan under the guidance of Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City). Comptroller Stringer’s office also participated in the mayor’s corrupt NYCHA Working Group that fabricated consent for the RAD/PACT conversion of all public housing in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. During the demonstration, the activists unfurled a street-wide banner that read, “Scott Stringer Liar Liar Privatizer.”

Prior to serving as New York City’s top financial watchdog, Comptroller Stringer served as Manhattan Borough President. At a 2011 town hall on the need for a full-service, Level I Trauma Hospital to replace St. Vincent’s Hospital, then Borough President Stringer said he believed that the finances of St. Vincent’s should have been investigated. But he never followed up on that, much less on the long, overdue, equivalent demand by public housing residents of NYCHA.

One day before the protest against Comptroller Stringer, the NYCHA Is Not For Sale coälition endorsed Joycelyn Taylor for New York City mayor in the 2021 Democratic Party Primary.

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The NYCHA Is Not For Sale coälition endorses Joycelyn Taylor in the 2021 Democratic Party primary for New York City mayor

The NYCHA Is Not For Sale coalition announces its 2021 New York City mayoral endorsement in the June 22 Democratic Party primary : Joycelyn Taylor !

The NYCHA Is Not For Sale coalition endorses Joycelyn Taylor for New York City mayor ! We urge you to vote for a working-class Democrat.

Joycelyn Taylor has said that she opposes the privatisation of NYCHA public housing by specifically saying she was against each of RAD/PACT and the Blueprint.

Rank #1 on Election Day, Tuesday, June 22.

Early voting has begun and continues until June 20. Find your early voting and regular polling places.

Learn about the mayoral candidates

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We won !

Hours after our Protest Against the NYCHA Blueprint, the Blueprint sponsors withdrew the Bills from consideration this Legislative Session.

Sometime last night, State Senator Brian Kavanagh (D-Manhattan and Brooklyn) and Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn) released a joint statement, announcing that the controversial NYCHA Blueprint scheme would not be advancing this Legislative Session.

“After consultation with public housing residents, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and other stakeholders on proposed legislation (S6999A/A7805) that would create the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust — a new public agency intended to enable NYCHA to seek higher levels of federal funding to renovate and manage up to 25,000 apartments — we have decided that further conversation, outreach, and negotiation are necessary before advancing legislation on this topic,” adding that, “For this reason, we will hold the bill in committee for the remainder of the current legislative session, which ends next week. We thank everyone who provided input and expressed their concerns about the proposal, and we look forward to continuing to discuss how best to meet the needs of public housing residents in the months ahead.”

The about-face came about hours after a protest by the new NYCHA Is Not For Sale coalition that unmasked duplicity by many self-styled “progressive” politicians.

The Blueprint scheme has been an attempt by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) to bring about the wholesale end of Section 9 housing in public housing developments not already destined for RAD/PACT conversion. According to information received by Fight For NYCHA, Mayor de Blasio had been twisting the arms of Albany Legislators to force a vote on or before June 10, just days before NYCHA owed a report-back to the U.S. District Court Judge administering the Baez class action lawsuit against NYCHA.

In pleadings filed in Manhattan Federal Court, the co-counsel for the Baez plaintiffs had argued that NYCHA was seeking to transition all public housing apartments to Section 8 as a backdoor way to abandon their core obligations to public housing residents. The U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that NYCHA can create a lower-tier, separate but unequal class of rights for Section 8 residents.

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Protest Against NYCHA Blueprint Turns Savage, as DSA Members Manhandle a Green Party Candidate, Engage In Ad Hominem Online Attacks to Obfuscate Their Corrupt Support for the Blueprint Sell-Out of Public Housing

A protest to save public housing devolves into chaos, as DSA leaders are exposed for supporting the Blueprint sell-out of NYCHA, leading to a rift amongst the political left in New York.

A new coalition of public housing activists, NYCHA Is Not For Sale, held a protest against the corrupt, neoliberal plan by Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) to bring about the wholesale end to Section 9 public housing. The plan, known as the Blueprint, would create an unaccountable, nebulous State Authority that would rewrite the apartment leases of every public housing tenant, who isn’t already destined for another corrupt, neoliberal scheme — the RAD/PACT conversions that have been the subject of legal controversies.

The protest against the Blueprint turned chaotic when members of the New York City Democratic Socialists — loyalists to the mayor’s political supporters — interrupted the public housing rally with a competing demonstration.

NYCHA Is Not 4 Sale – Protest Against Blueprint – 2 June 2021

A mature, responsible call for political unity was disrupted by the NYC-DSA.

The public housing rally began with plain clothes NYPD officers wearing no badges, names, badge numbers, or body cameras, harassing the public housing activists about their protest signs. Shortly there after, public housing residents and various political candidates denounced Mayor de Blasio’s privatisation schemes for the New York City Housing Authority and called on political unity in support of Federal funding legislation that would pay for the backlog of capital repairs that have been the cause of pain and suffering for public housing residents.

NYCHA tenant association presidents Rev. Carmen Hernandez and Melanie Aucello and NYCHA tenant activist and City Council candidate Lilithe Lozano each repudiated the political betrayal that allowed NYCHA to become nearly uninhabitable. In turn, City Council candidates Lena Melendez and Edwin DeJesus spoke of the moral reasons to fully-fund NYCHA without having to resort to privatisation schemes. And Lindsey Boylan, a candidate for Manhattan borough president, made a compelling call for Democratic Party unity to support H.R. 235, draft legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives sponsored by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY 07) that would fully-fund NYCHA. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has expressed support for H.R. 235.

A foreshadowing of trouble was observed when Public Advocate Jumaane Williams cast aspersions on the Schumer-Velázquez Federal aid package for NYCHA. Chaos ensued after the NYC-DSA attempted to undermine the public housing protest.

“You can’t shoehorn a working class movement into a corporate party.”

The public housing protest took place outside the eastern security gate to New York City Hall, which is across the street from the office building at 250 Broadway, which, in turn, houses the executive headquarters for NYCHA. Several New York State Legislators also maintain offices in the same building.

Out of sight, members of the NYC-DSA had gathered in City Hall Park for a demonstration for public control of electricity companies. Once the NYC-DSA activists emerged from the park, they acted to block traffic on Broadway between the public housing protest location and the entrance to 250 Broadway, at which point the public housing protest moved into the street.

Not long after, Mr. DeJesus used a megaphone to denounce State Sens. Julia Salazar (DSA-Brooklyn) and Jabari Brisport (DSA-Brooklyn) over their duplicity. In response, NYC-DSA members placed their hands on Mr. DeJesus, pushed him back, and attempted to take his megaphone. Some members of NYCHA Is Not For Sale rushed to use their bodies to block NYC-DSA members from escalating their physical assault. Members of NYCHA Is Not For Sale have questioned the moral clarity of NYC-DSA to claim their espousal for public power when they have allowed Mayor de Blasio to move forward with the privatisation of public housing.

Online, Sen. Salazar downplayed the acts of assault and tore into the criticism by engaging in ad hominem attacks on members of NYCHA Is Not For Sale, at one point making a scurrilous and libelous attack against the entire NYCHA Is Not For Sale coalition by calling them “grifters,” thereby telegraphing to NYC-DSA members that she would destroy the reputations of socialists, who fractured the myth that the NYC-DSA was a political monolith that was expected to serve its leaders. In recent years, politicians, who have exploited the language of social movements for power or personal enrichment, have faced political losses, such as former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-03) and former U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY 14). The political repercussions have also ensnared 2021 political candidates, like Dianne Morales.

According to activists, Mayor de Blasio is urging a vote on the Blueprint on or before June 10, so he can bring about a wholesale end to Section 9 housing before a critical June 14 hearing in the Baez Federal class action case against NYCHA. New York has long exhibited signs of political boss systems from Albany to New York City Hall — and now, apparently, to the NYC-DSA.

NYCHA Blueprint: An End to Public Housing in NYC?

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Mayor Bill de Blasio can’t work alone to sell-out NYCHA before his term is up without the help of other Democrats. Here are some of them.

A mayor left unindicted following a wide-ranging, Federal corruption investigation finds it easy to attract collaborators in the disposition of strategic public assets, like NYCHA public housing using the Blueprint scheme, for example.

As revealed by Fight For NYCHA, Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) has been pressuring fellow Democrats to vote to approve the Blueprint scheme that will convert all non-RAD/PACT public housing apartments into a new entity that will effectively bring about the end of all Section 9 public housing in New York City.

A group of New York State legislators, which appears to include State Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Bushwick), State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Bed-Stuy), Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes (D-Red Hook), and notable DSA member Cea Weaver, negotiated over the minutiae of the legislation, giving the impression that they would vote to approve or support the Blueprint with minor conditions.

Under the Blueprint scheme, Mayor de Blasio would transfer all public housing apartments not meant for RAD/PACT to a new creature of Albany that would have no political accountability for bureaucratic failure.

U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley III has ruled that public housing residents, who get converted to Section 8 vouchers, as contemplated by the Blueprint scheme, could legally receive separate but unequal rights. Under the Blueprint, for example, Section 8 residents would not receive any protections offered by the Revised Consent Decree in the Baez class action lawsuit.

The Parties to the Baez litigation owe Judge Pauley a status report by June 14. Before NYCHA must return to Court, Mayor de Blasio has been strong-arming his Albany co-conspirators to vote to approve the Blueprint on or by June 10, so that, once the Parties report-back to Judge Pauley, they can inform His Honour that Albany has approved the eventual end to Section 9 housing.

An end to Section 9 housing would be the death knell to the New Deal promise to public housing.

An estimated 600,000 individuals live in apartments owned and operated by NYCHA. Ending Section 9 housing would be the next step in the Government’s wholesale abandonment of its obligations to public housing residents, something that Conservatives have long sought.

Mayor de Blasio couldn’t be able to bring about an end to NYCHA’s New Deal promise without the help of the DSA wing of Albany Legislators and other collaborators. Corruption of this scale takes a lot of work and coördination. Not even Mayor de Blasio’s reported issues over how he appears to use Government approvals for real estate contracts in order to fundraise for his various political committees have proved to be a concern for his allies. Mayor de Blasio was left unindicted following the completion of a wide-ranging, Federal corruption investigation into his campaign finance activities.

The sell-out of NYCHA public housing by Mayor de Blasio and his allies in the DSA wing of the Democratic Party comes as Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has proposed to improve H.R. 235 to fully-fund the backlog of capital repairs to the entire Nation’s public housing stock.

Certain participants in the real estate development industry are allegedly demanding that Mayor de Blasio and other Electeds advance the approval of major real estate development projects, including the disposition of strategic public assets, before the election of the next class of Municipal Legislators poses problems for the large-scale real estate developers.

Source Document

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Do let’s be clear : Bill de Blasio is determined to wreck NYCHA before he leaves office. We can’t let him !

Mayor Bill de Blasio is pushing a June 10 vote by the New York State Legislature to approve the Blueprint, so he can go into Court on the Baez case on June 14 and declare that most of Section 9 is doomed to end. We can’t let him !

We have received information that Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) is pressuring Albany Legislators to vote to approve the dangerous Blueprint for NYCHA. Under the Blueprint, all public housing apartments (that wouldn’t already perish under RAD/PACT) would be converted to Section 8 housing and placed into a new State Authority that will have no political accountability. It will become another MTA — a rudderless Agency that both the Governor and the Mayor disown, even though both of them secretly angle in smoke-filled backrooms to control the MTA’s valuable procurement and construction contracts. That’s what the new Blueprint entity is going to be like.

The information we have received is that the Albany vote for the Blueprint is schedule on or about June 10. The Mayor is pushing for such an early date, because he’s deliberately trying to convert all public housing tenants from from Section 9 housing to Section 8, because U.S. District Court Judge William Pauley III has ruled in the Baez case that the New York City Housing Authority, or NYCHA, can treat Section 8 residents with substandard care. That’s what the mayor wants — he wants to create a “separate and unequal treatment” for Section 8 residents, so that public housing becomes more “attractive” to private sector landlords-investors. NYCHA owes Judge Pauley a status report on June 14, and the mayor wants nothing more than to go into Court and tell Judge Pauley that most of Section 9 is doomed to end.

This is a scam, and we have to call it all out — including the various politicians, who are enabling Mayor de Blasio — a corrupt, lame duck mayor left unindicted by the Manhattan Federal prosecutors’ office — to wreck all of public housing before he leaves office.

The same State Legislators, who whisper in each others’ ears that, “RAD has to happen,” want to negotiate to accept the Blueprint. We can’t let them !

Several self-styled “progressive” New York State Legislators from Brooklyn plan to vote as a bloc, and they have expressed interest in negotiating with NYCHA to accept the Blueprint. This is a trap, and the fact that these Legislators are using the pretexte of “negotiating” for an acceptable deal is indication that they plan to sell you out. Are you going to let them ?

From the beginning of the formation of Fight For NYCHA, several Legislators have privately expressed hesitancy about confronting Mayor de Blasio in a public rebuke of his RAD/PACT and Blueprint sell-out of NYCHA. Most prominently, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Justice Democrats-NY 14) infamously said though her staff that they were not interested in using Mayor de Blasio as a “punching bag” in order to push back on the RAD/PACT sell-out of NYCHA. Later, it was revealed that trade unions helped her negotiate her astroturf bill for NYCHA. Whenever large real estate development projects are proposed by the corrupt real estate industry that are opposed by community residents, unscrupulous politicians rely on the support of trades unions as political cover to override the will of community residents. Under this analysis, U.S. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is “union-washing” the RAD/PACT sell-out of NYCHA. It’s no different than when real estate developers overtake Community Board hearings with men in yellow jackets and hardhats and run roughshod over long-term residents during ULURP hearings.

Some of AOC’s State Legislature counterparts are doing something similar, but no less dangerous and undemocratic.

The mayor is pushing a rezoning of Gowanus, the sell-out of Governor’s Island, and the NoHo/SoHo rezoning to cash-out with the real estate industry before he mounts a clown-car campaign for New York Governor’s mansion. The outsized egos of many opportunist community group leaders, who are fighting their respective battles, prevent a coming together for the good of the City. Under this scenario of self-will run riot, the City — and public housing — doesn’t stand a chance to stand-up to Mayor de Blasio’s corrupt enablers in the New York State or the Municipal legislatures.

Since the other community groups selfishly won’t do it, we will be planning a protest that will welcome everybody.

Stay tuned.

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NYCHA is due back in court on June 14 on the Baez case to update the Judge about the future of public housing, and it looks grim.

The Class-action Plaintiffs and NYCHA agreed to ask the Judge for an extension of time until June 14 to report-back to the Court.

Co-Counsel for the Plaintiffs and the Defendant in the Baez class-action case against NYCHA notified Judge William Pauley III that the parties would need until June 14 to provide the Court with a joint report about how they planned to proceed following a bombshell Court ruling, finding that NYCHA would be allowed by the Federal Court to create a separate and unequal class of tenants’ rights for Section 8 residents in NYCHA public housing, when compared with Section 9 residents.

The move comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) tries everything in his power to wreck public housing in his last, lame-duck year in office. Even though Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has teamed up with U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY 07) to fully-fund the backlog of capital repairs to the entire Nation’s public housing stock, Mayor de Blasio acts like he’s trying to help his political donors profit from the sell-out of the New York City Housing Authority.

Source Document

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Bill de Blasio’s Five Biggest Lies about RAD/PACT and Blueprint at NYCHA

Bill de Blasio is a Liar, Liar, Privatizer !

LIE # 1 : NYCHA has no money for repairs.

FACT : We don’t need RAD/PACT or the Blueprint. Sen. Charles Schumer supports H.R.235, a House bill that when updated would provide $80 billion this year to public housing nation-wide, of which $40 billion would pay for all the repairs at NYCHA. We don’t have to sell-out public housing !

LIE # 2 : Your rights are protected.

FACT : NYCHA isn’t telling you that they are deliberately moving everybody from Section 9 to Section 8 so that everybody gets weaker tenant rights. For example, you lose rights to mold repairs and protections under the Baez case after the judge approved lower-tier rights. The RAD/PACT Landlords profit this way.

LIE # 3 : You won’t get evicted, you’re safe.

FACT : At the very first RAD/PACT conversion, over 80 households were evicted. You have no access to the Federal Monitor, so nobody will investigate civil rights violations. The new Leases are rigged, you could end up paying for utilities and costs, and you are shown no mercy at Housing Court.

LIE # 4 : You still have tenant participation.

FACT : Tenant participation doesn’t mean anything, because you don’t have any say in the wording of the Leases, the House Rules, or the fines. The RAD/PACT Landlords are private sector landlords, and the last thing they want is tenants, who think they have a say in building management.

LIE # 5 : The new kitchen cabinets are worth it.

FACT : You will live with unsafe construction, like dust from lead paint and holes in walls. Of course, repairs are long-overdue, but these cosmetic changes aren’t enough. You lose elevator access during construction, and you lose all supportive services, like job training, that NYCHA used to provide.

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Spreadsheet shows New York City mayoral candidates’ positions on NYCHA public housing and RAD/PACT controversy

Fight For NYCHA is publishing internal notes about the 2021 New York City mayoral candidates to inform the public about important issues affecting public housing residents.

Fight for NYCHA is again sharing a spreadsheet that originated from our Mayoral Forum held on 25 Jan 2021. Only three, courageous candidates showed up for our Mayoral Forum : Aaron Foldenauer, Joycelyn Taylor, and Isaac Wright, Jr. Fight For NYCHA took notes and updated the spreadsheet for this re-release. Fight For NYCHA does not make political endorsements. As a result, we will not be providing any ranked-choice list of the 2021 New York City mayoral candidates. We offer this commentary only as a summary of the notes reflected on our spreadsheet.

The best

Joycelyn Taylor. During our January Zoom forum, Ms. Taylor was the most affirming of the need to save public housing. She firmly opposed RAD/PACT conversions, which allow private landlords to take over the management of public housing. She also firmly opposed the Blueprint plan to convert all remaining Section 9 housing into Section 8 that rely on the use of tenant protection vouchers (that were later discredited by U.S. District Court Judge Wm. Pauley III). She has also called for a form of “condo conversion” of public housing to those, who could afford it, but she did not offer a plan to fund all outstanding capital repairs. Subsequently, she has separately expressed support for H.R. 235, a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY 07) that would fully-fund the backlog of capital repairs in the entire Nation’s public housing stock. Finally, Ms. Taylor has said she believes that NYCHA should offer a form of resident management. Because Ms. Taylor once lived in the Pink Houses, she has a lived, felt experience with public housing. Those sensibilities do inform the contours of her policy proposals. For those reasons and more, she deserves more support and attention than she has been receiving.

The worst

Eric Adams, Shaun Donovan, and Kathryn Garcia. These three candidates have been lumped together by the media for their support for RAD/PACT (even if it was qualified), and for their support for infill development of open, green, and playground spaces.

Mr. Adams is the most controversial of the three, not least of which is due to his support of the sale of unused air rights over public housing. In the past, he has attacked affordable housing built for LGBTQ seniors, and he’s expressed intolerant comments about Herman Badillo‘s wife. But his refusal to acknowledge the racial disparities created by Government policies he’s supported during his career disqualifies him from any further public service, particularly his support for more policing, despite the NYPD’s record on homicides, human rights abuses, police brutality, and Constitutional and civil rights violations. He’s not qualified to serve as mayor.

Mr. Donovan helped to roll-out RAD as a cabinet member of the Obama administration, and his role in selling-out public housing immediately disqualifies him as mayor.

As for Ms. Garcia, she has been shown taking RAD/PACT on a road show, falsely marketing “tenant protection vouchers” as a way to promote the disposition of strategic public assets. What is more, Ms. Garcia was never publicly considered for the position of permanent CEO of NYCHA by then U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman. It’s believed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had no faith in her ability to turn the troubled public housing authority around. Because of her support for RAD/PACT, Ms. Garcia deserves no support.

The rest

Ray McGuire. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, Mr. McGuire is the most overt Wall Street candidate, intending to oversee regressive social and economic policies. His campaign offers nothing for public housing residents.

Dianne Morales. Ms. Morales took a very long time to oppose RAD/PACT, but her choice of wording is problematic, because it indicates opportunistic posturing. For example, she has said she would like to keep public housing public. But she has done nothing to stand-up to the long march by Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) to continue the RAD/PACT sell-out of public housing. Leadership means speaking truth to power, and Ms. Morales is falling short of demonstrating the kind of bold leadership this time requires.

Scott Stringer. Mr. Stringer has seen his campaign implode due to sexual misconduct allegations. Prior to that, he was known as an opportunistic, unprincipled career politician. At Fulton Houses, he participated in and lent credibility to the sham Mayor’s NYCHA Working Group that manufactured tenant support for the RAD/PACT conversion of Fulton Houses, Chelsea Houses, Chelsea Annex, and Elliott Houses. Because we eventually expect Mr. Stringer to quit the campaign, public housing residents are certainly better served by focusing on other candidates.

Maya Wiley. Ms. Wiley was notoriously loyal to Mayor de Blasio. The zenith of this loyalty was observed when Ms. Wiley was credited with fabricating an “Agents of the City” exemption to the State’s open records laws. Her failure to hold the NYPD accountable as head of the civilian oversight board is equally disqualifying. And her meager proposal to only set aside $2 billion for public housing amounts to a continuation of racist divestment of NYCHA. This is a time to boldly confront racial disparities created by failed Government policy, and Ms. Wiley fails to live up to the standard required of our times.

Andrew Yang. Mr. Yang keeps generating controversies with his dog and pony show of a mayoral campaign. But his disconnect from the realities faced by public housing residents and people earning fixed- or low-incomes is what stands out. He’s proposed a meager universal basic income (“UBI”) that would be financed by welfare reforms that include eliminating housing vouchers, according to a review of his economic policies published by the New York Times. Nobody living in NYCHA can afford the draconian cuts to the social safety net being envisioned by Mr. Yang. He’s also refused to directly oppose the RAD/PACT sell-out of NYCHA and has, instead, adopted the neoliberal “greenwashing” of public housing made chic by the new crop of liberals, such as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY 14). This bait-and-switch is irresponsible. Mr. Yang’s failed mayoral campaign deserves to be in the history books — as a footnote to his failed presidential campaign.

Source Document

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A recovery in New York City most certainly not for us

The call by Mayor Bill de Blasio to reopen the economy, now being rushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, promises a return to the discriminatory power dynamic and social hierarchy of the past.

Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) went on State media on Thursday morning to announce by authoritarian dictate that the economy will be fully reopened in New York City by July 1, 2021. “We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open, offices, theaters, full strength,” the mayor said, according to the City-provided transcript of his on-air remarks.

A fully-reopened economy will mean that the Government can stop providing assistance to compensate people for the racial disparities that were revealed in glaring detail by the Coronavirus pandemic, namely, how the profit-driven healthcare system tolerates racial disparities in healthcare outcomes for people. It means that the free healthcare (the free Coronavirus testing and the free Coronavirus vaccines) will come to an end. It means that the emergency food banks that have been providing people with nutrition due to the rise in joblessness will come to an end. It means that the extensions of unemployment assistance will come to an end. It means that the emergency shelter being provided to people without homes will come to an end. There’s only one goal Mayor de Blasio has : “We’re going to keep driving down COVID through vaccinations.”

On the way to delivering these free vaccinations, Mayor de Blasio has conveniently forgotten about the lip service he paid to racial disparities that were exposed during his two terms in office. In March, the mayor announced the formation of a racial justice commission that was supposed to replace the racial justice commission he had announced last year and which was never formed. Damn the racial justice commission reports, at this point, the mayor just wants to reopen the economy. And Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was made jealous enough to call for a reopening sooner than July 1.

There’s no thought to end the systemic racism in our society. Even with the healthcare disparities made clear during the Coronavirus pandemic, that didn’t stop Gov. Cuomo from cutting Medicaid, and it hasn’t stopped him from trying to close still yet more hospitals in Brooklyn or Queens. In terms of business, corporate retail giants, like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, saw online sales skyrocket as local, small businesses were forced to close due to the pandemic. The politicians are focused on returning us to an economy with even more disturbing economic inequalities, including higher rates of poverty.

This is one test that reveals how wedded Mayor de Blasio is to systemic racism : His non-stop scheme for RAD/PACT and Blueprint conversions of NYCHA public housing.

Even though Mayor de Blasio was left unindicted following a wide-ranging, Federal corruption investigation into his campaign finance activities and even though Gov. Cuomo faces another round of corruption investigations coupled with an independent counsel investigation into sexual harassment allegations that are, collectively, the subject of an impeachment inquiry, they are the ones making decisions affecting our lives.

Already, a group of New York City parents and teachers filed a lawsuit last December to stop compulsory Coronavirus testing over Fourth Amendment privacy rights, including concerns that DNA samples may wind up in a database without patients’ consent, according to a report published by Gothamist. And Saturday, dozens of municipal employees protested Mayor de Blasio’s demand that 80,000 City workers return to office work this week, according to a report published by the New York Daily News. The mayor’s obsession with reopening the economy flies in the face of the relentless Coronavirus pandemic, which, world-wide, has reached a new peak of deaths and cases, according to a CBS News report broadcast on Sunday.

Of particular concern to New York City Housing Authority residents is Mayor de Blasio’s non-stop push to continue the privatisation of strategic public housing assets. Despite no basis in law, the Government has countenanced Mayor de Blasio’s failure to hold public meetings about his scheme for the the RAD/PACT conversion of public housing. For example, on April 23, the de Blasio administration announced the issuance of a Request For Proposal for the RAD/PACT conversion of the Fulton Houses, Elliott Houses, and Chelsea Houses — the last hold-outs of affordable housing in the gentrified Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.

Despite resident and community opposition, Mayor de Blasio acts like he cannot be stopped from disposing public assets — even when confronted with a very public effort by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY 07) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) to fully-fund the backlog of capital repairs across the Nation’s entire public housing stock. U.S. Rep. Velázquez and Sen. Schumer are basically teaming up to promise to end the decades of racist divestment of public housing, but Mayor de Blasio is more concerned with making sure that the economic gears resume their grinding of people of colour and people living with low incomes.

The de Blasio administration suspects that human remains and cultural items belonging to Native American tribes may be buried underneath Williamsburg Houses, but that still didn’t stop him from moving forward with RAD/PACT, in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Whether you are dead or alive, Mayor de Blasio believes that the privatisation of our heritage must go on.

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