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Councilmember Erik Bottcher took a crosstown walk with mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Their closeness includes complicity in the sell-out of NYCHA.

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani with Councilmember Erik Bottcher promoting more gentrification on 34th Street by closing traffic to small businesses.

Democrats will do the bidding of MAGA billionaires before they will answer to NYCHA public housing residents.

To celebrate the REBNY’s successful rezoning of the Midtown South section of Manhattan, Councilmember Erik Bottcher (D-District 3) took a walk alongst 34th Street with Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (DSA-A.D. 36). Their walk was timed to gamely show for the cameras who would make the trip fastest : The pair of Democrats or the crosstown M34 bus.

The competition between the political pedestrians and the surface mass transit was meant to promote the idea of transforming 34th Street into a busway that would eliminate vehicular traffic in favour of improving the performance of the crosstown bus route. It was a noble gesture of a manufactured, public benefit from the controversial Midtown South rezoning, even though it would likely lead to the death of small businesses in a major retail corridor, much like how 14th Street was transformed into a ghost town after its own busway conversion.

The amount of community-crushing development about to befall Chelsea, Midtown South, and Times Square is unimaginable. Non-stop gentrification was always the goal of REBNY-adjacent Democrats.

We have the Midtown South rezoning, the new Port Authority bus terminal, the Hudson Yards expansion, a possible casino (Larry Silverstein or Jay-Z), a new Trump-controlled Penn Station, a high-rise in the Meatpacking District, and now the RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of NYCHA. How much construction can we take in our community ? Democrats will roll over, spread their cheeks, and let REBNY jam its throbbing, blood funnel into anything that smells like money.

These big budget projects are why Democrats have lost their base, because there’s always money for upward transfers of wealth, like from a cash-strapped NYCHA to certain REBNY members in the real estate development industry, but there’s no there there to address the extremes of exploitation in late-stage Capitalism. There’s no help for the Democratic Party’s base, especially not amidst a housing crisis. 

And for Councilmember Bottcher and Assemblymember Mamdani to gaslight voters into believing that a busway on 34th Street was the perfect solution to a housing crisis, the inflation in consumer prices, and the MAGA assault on the republic was exemplary of how the Democratic Party has lost touch with reality. The Democrats are united in ending public housing, and their inferior consolation prize is a busway. Only those disassociated from reality would believe this gaslighting.

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Zohran Mamdani revealed his position on NYCHA’s RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition in Chelsea. But the Democrats closest to him refuse to hold him to account.

Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and District Leader Layla Law-Gisiko at a meeting of Manhattan Dems.

Mamdani made the revelation to a select group of Chelsea residents, who are closest to the Democratic Party machine. Was the selection of that group made on purpose ?

The Democratic mayoral candidate, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani (DSA-A.D. 36), reportedly had a discussion about the looming RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of NYCHA public housing in Chelsea. Participants in the secret conversation included at least one NYCHA resident leader, a nonprofit executive, and Democratic Party insiders, according to information obtained by Fight For NYCHA.

The Assemblymember Mamdani, the sole heir to a Bollywood fortune and the darling of the Socialist Democrats, revealed during the secretive talks that he privately opposed the demolition of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea. However, he supported aspects of the controversial RAD/PACT privatisation schemes, such as the infill of public housing, even though that represented a form of upward transfers of wealth in the form of strategic, public assets to private sector real estate developers. Infill describes when community gardens, lawns, children’s parks, and open spaces are cleared for construction of high-rise luxury apartment buildings.

Though Assemblymember Mamdani nominally opposes the RAD/PACT demolition of NYCHA, the fact that he’s remaining silent about his opposition means that he’s strategically decided to use silence to effect his coördination with President Donald Trump (R) to end public housing all together.

The hush-hush conversation was an attempt by Mamdani to relate to the plight of Chelsea residents facing the complete demolition of public housing. The attempt at humanisation was meant to thwart accountability, and it worked !

Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani with District Leader Layla Law-Gisiko at a meeting of Manhattan Dems at which Mamdani won the endorsement of the Democratic Party’s New York county committee. Fair Use

Information about the tight-lipped talks emerged today at a protest against the doyenne of Democratic Party LGBTQ progressive activists, Allen Roskoff, who gave an interview to Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, expressing support for an upward transfer of wealth from a cash-strapped NYCHA to MAGA billionaire Stephen Ross.

At our protest, an agent provocateur showed up to incite division, showing us the absolute state of panic amongst Democratic Party insiders, who are invested in the Project 2025 goal of ending public housing.

In response to the Fight For NYCHA lawsuit to challenge the legality of the RAD/PACT, some of the same Democratic Party insiders, who participated in the secretive Mamdani talks, launched an astroturf fundraiser for a non-existent lawsuit against NYCHA.

In a sign of how Assemblymember Mamdani was able to pacify the Democratic Party insiders with whom he met, the astroturf group has yet to file one lawsuit against NYCHA or the City of New York over the RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of public housing in Chelsea. The Democratic Party machine activists have been silenced—not by President Trump, but by Assemblymember Mamdani and other notable Democrats !

That the Democrats support the ethnic cleansing of Chelsea should come as no surprise. It follows on the heels of Assemblymember Mamdani demonstrating that a Democrat could win a City-wide primary election race without the NYCHA vote. Just like the Republicans, the Democrats have confidently made the political calculation that NYCHA voters are expendable.

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NYCHA tenants in the Chelsea Houses senior building have received notices of 90-day forced relocation over looming RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition scheme

Seniors waited in a line to speak with a reporter about the forced relocation by NYCHA over the looming RAD/PACT demolition of public housing.

Over a dozen seniors lined up last week outside to speak with a reporter. One senior citizen had to go rest upstairs after becoming overcome by stress.

Last week, the New York City Housing Authority began delivering notices to residents of the senior building at the Chelsea Houses public housing development known as the the Chelsea Addition. The notices informed tenants that they had 90 days to agree to forced relocations do to the looming demolition of the Chelsea Addition. Residents of a public housing building on 19th Street in nearby Fulton Houses received similar notices on or about the same day.

A narrated video of part of the gathering was shared on Facebook Live and was reshared on the X social media microblogging site.

Seniors waited in a line to speak with a reporter about the forced relocation by NYCHA over the looming RAD/PACT demolition of public housing.
Seniors waited in a line to speak with a reporter about the forced relocation by NYCHA over the looming RAD/PACT demolition of public housing.

The reporter moved a report, published by Gothamist, in which it was confirmed that, “Residents of a senior housing complex in Chelsea are receiving vacate orders as the New York City Housing Authority moves forward with its plan to replace and modernize a sprawling public apartment complex with both new public housing and market-rate units.”

The Democrats in the District are supporting the upward transfer of wealth from a cash-strapped NYCHA to a MAGA billionaire.

Everyone from U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y. 12, State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-N.Y. 47), Assemblymember Tony Simone (D-A.D. 75), Councilmember Erik Bottcher (D-Manhattan 3), and LGBTQ progressive activist Allen Roskoff are complicit in the RAD/PACT demolition of public housing.

We call the American style of Government a Duopoly, because both corporate political parties agree on major issues. For example, Democrats support the wholesale end of Section 9 public housing by transferring all public housing residents to Section 8 rental assistance vouchers at the same time when President Donald J. Trump, Sr. (R) has advocated for ending Section 8 rental assistance vouchers as part of his administration’s implementation of Project 2025, the MAGA blueprint for shredding the social compact.

Although New York Democrats claim to oppose Trump’s MAGA White Nationalist agenda, in actuality, Manhattan Democrats actually support Project 2025 given the RAD/PACT demolition facing NYCHA in Chelsea. Democrats, protected by LGBTQ progressive acctivist Allen Roskoff, for example, take it a step further by supporting the upward transfer of wealth to MAGA billionaire Stephen Ross, the owner of The Related Companies, which stands to profit from the demolition and displacement of public housing residents in Chelsea.

Thus far, the only NYCHA preservation group, which has filed a lawsuit to review the RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea, has been Fight For NYCHA.

Fight For NYCHA have helped organise several news reports about the looming evictions. Our Article 78 Petition is now fully-briefed and is pending before Manhattan State Supreme Court. We’ve also been asking other groups to help residents in the Chelsea Addition and the 19th Street building to begin proceedings in Housing Court. Please donate what you can to our Go Fund Me to cover our expenses.

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When did Allen Roskoff become a MAGA foreman on Stephen Ross’ Hudson Yards plantation ?

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RAD/PACT is racist. Is that why Allen Roskoff supports it ?

Allen Roskoff markets himself as the doyenne of LGBT progressive activism in New York City. He is the president of the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club in Manhattan. As a result, he bundles donations to establishment candidates, like Councilmember Erik Bottcher (D-District 3) and hosts fundraisers attended by the corporate wing of the Democratic Party, like Gov. Kathleen Hochul.

However, in a recent report published by the New York Post, Roskoff said that he supported the controversial RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of NYCHA public housing in Chelsea. The report noted that rich White ladies living in million-dollar condos were ostensibly claiming to oppose the demolition due to inconveniences to the wealth residents of uppity Chelsea. But that’s not the whole story, obviously.

Like the late Ed Koch before him, Allen Roskoff lives in a luxury condo built by one of REBNY’s most powerful plantation owners.

Allen Roskoff has made is mark in New York political circles by claiming that he never forgave former Mayor Ed Koch (D-New York City) over the reported failure to respond to the outbreak of the AIDS crisis. Former Mayor Koch, now dead, reportedly lived his life as a closted gay man until his death.

During his final years, former Mayor Koch lived in a luxury condominium apartment at 2 Fifth Avenue, a luxury building overlooking Washington Square Park. The apartment was rented from the Rudin family, now lead by William Rudin, one of the oligarchs of New York. When it came time for the Rudin family to reportedly begin foreclosure proceedings against St. Vincent’s Hospital and the ensuing lobbying effort to close and demolish the strategic, public asset, the former mayor supported the Rudin family’s interests.

Fast-forward through all of the drama, we come to learn that Allen Roskoff has lived, since at least 2009, in a luxury condominium built by The Related Companies, which is owned by Stephen Ross, a MAGA billionaire and the plantation owner of Hudson Yards. Stephen Ross is also the owner of a range of corporations, including the Miami Dolphins football franchise, making him another of New York’s oligarchs.

For all of Allen Roskoff’s propaganda as a progressive activist, we can see clearly that he’s following in the footsteps of former Mayor Koch by his endorsement of the RAD/PACT privatisation and demolition of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea to benefit Stephen Ross. It harks back to how Ed Koch did the same for William Rudin vis-à-vis the demolition and luxury condo conversion of St. Vincent’s.

The oligarchs of New York have learned how easy it is to buy and boss the leaders, closeted or not, of New York’s LGBT community. The losers have turned out to be the people, who depended on St. Vincent’s as a charity hospital and on NYCHA for Government-owned, low-cost housing. The racial minorities and the disenfranchised suffered, even as Ed Koch and Allen Roskoff rose to eminent positions of proverbial foremen on the plantations of some of New York’s richest, White families.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio was exposed for having lied about defunding the NYPD by $1 billion, which could have been one source of possible funding for NYCHA

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would use $1 billion in cuts to the NYPD budget to advance social justice. He lied. Now, NBC News has caught him increasing the NYPD budget by $200 million.

Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City) was busted by NBC News in an investigation one year after the “defund the police” movement led to his promise to cut $1 billion from the budget of the New York Police Department and to use that funding stream, instead, to make “some transformative changes at the department,” in the words of Mayor de Blasio’s chief enabler, Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea).

Not only did the $1 billion cut made in June 2020 never materialise, but an additional $200 million was added to the NYPD budget in June 2021, according to NBC News.

Last year, outgoing Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city council moved to cut roughly $1 billion from the police’s $6 billion budget and invest it in youth and social services. De Blasio wrote in a tweet then that “Our young people need to be reached, not policed.” But just a year later, officials adopted the city’s largest budget ever, at $98.7 billion, for fiscal year 2022, which included a $200 million increase for police spending.

Mayor de Blasio has given lip service to the promise to promote racial and social justice.

In New York City, the #DefundTheNYPD movement, like respective movements across the nation, grew out of the George Floyd anti-racism protests in 2020. Mayor de Blasio promised to use the money to help youths and other social service programs. As Mayor de Blasio’s term in office comes to an end, nobody knows what happened to his broken promises for funding racial and social justice.

Mayor de Blasio has been accused of using his bi-racial family to co-opt the language of social movements and as a political cover to defend or expand race-based policing — even as he has rejected calls to hold the NYPD accountable for homicides and other acts of brutality committed by the police. As NBC News noted, Mayor de Blasio said, “Our young people need to be reached, not policed.” But that turned out to be another one of his lies. In a review of Mayor de Blasio’s two terms in office, the New York Daily News reported that Mayor de Blasio leaves behind a legacy of corruption and neglect on housing issues.

Fight For NYCHA have long argued that sources of Government funding could be found to fully-fund NYCHA. For decades, the racist divestment of public housing led to a gargantuan deficit in NYCHA’s capital repairs budget. Our funding ideas were workshopped and packaged as a People’s Budget that has been updated over time. One of the items in our People’s Budget was to defund the NYPD by $2 billion and to use that money to bond the capital repairs at NYCHA.

Duplicitous politicians and nonprofit groups continue to say they care about NYCHA, but then they corruptly take advantage of the lack of funding to benefit their donors. As Mayor de Blasio begins to reportedly wage a campaign for New York governor, he has awarded the RAD/PACT conversion at Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea to the Trump billionaire backer and Hudson Yards developer, Stephen Ross.

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Recommended Reading

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Pack the Court on Monday morning as Fight For NYCHA makes one last effort to stop RAD/PACT !

It appears that Mayor Bill de Blasio should have put RAD/PACT conversions through the ULURP Process. But he didn’t !

Because protests have not worked, the last few members of Fight For NYCHA have sued Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City), the City of New York, NYCHA CEO Greg Russ, and NYCHA to stop the RAD/PACT privatisation of public housing !

It’s been almost three years since Fight For NYCHA was formed. In that time, the activism to save public housing in New York City has been beset by division, sectarian politics, ego, obfuscation, and subversion. We had AOC refuse to stand-up to Mayor de Blasio’s use of RAD/PACT and the Blueprint to sell-out NYCHA. We had other Electeds approve of the sell-out of public housing, and they never faced any consequence for having participated in the sell-out of public housing. We had socialists and other sectarian groups promote the use of Section 8 vouchers to the disadvantage of public housing residents, which was shameful and a form of betrayal, because that was certainly no way to show class solidarity. Rather than confront Mayor de Blasio, some activists formed YouTube talk shows to promote themselves. Other groups, like Movement School, sought to use NYCHA activism as a cover for membership drives that was entirely divorced from a commitment to an outcome to saving Section 9 public housing. We also endured selfish political candidates, seeking to use NYCHA issues for their political campaigns, only to turn their backs once their campaigns floundered. Other political candidates, like Marni Halasa, used NYCHA activism for press clips ; it didn’t matter that she was leading/misleading residents in the wrong direction. All that mattered were her media mentions.

The lawsuit we filed was largely based on the lawsuit filed by Beep Gale Bewer (D-Manhattan) to stop the infill development at Holmes Tower, which she won after Mayor de Blasio backtracked from the unlawful plans for the real estate development in the Upper East Side.

We had no choice but to file this lawsuit after activism to mobilise public housing residents failed in New York City due to many “community groups” and nonprofit orgs running interference for Mayor de Blasio and other corrupt Electeds. Remember how one nonprofit hosted Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan) at a Black church in Brooklyn after it came to be known he supported the sell-out of public housing in Chelsea. Even after we exposed the truth of how some Socialist Democrats were collaborating with Mayor de Blasio in his scheme to end all Section 9 public housing, it came to a shock to many that it took direct action in the face of the DSA to put a halt to the Blueprint.

The lawsuit, filed as an Article 78 Petition, revealed that Mayor de Blasio’s implementation of RAD/PACT was illegal, since the way that Mayor de Blasio is rolling-out RAD/PACT conversions violate the City Charter and the New York State Public Housing Law. The City Charter and the Public Housing Law require large-scale projects, like RAD/PACT conversions, to be put through the ULURP Process. But Mayor de Blasio, NYCHA, CEO Russ, and the City of New York did not follow the laws. In respect of the RAD/PACT conversion of Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea, the lawsuit made a showing that the de Blasio administration admitted that they decided to act outside of the ULURP Process.

As time passed, we knew that litigation, like this, would be our last resort, if social movement building failed in the face of sectarian opposition. We ask for support, as we make it clear that all other groups must set aside self-interest and self-promotion for the common good of all. And that means seeing to it that Section 9 public housing is saved from privatisation. This must be made a priority, at long last.

Pack the Court !

Date : Monday, Nov. 15

Time : 9:30 am

Place : Supreme Court, New York County, 60 Centre St., Room 130

Update

Updated 12 Nov 2021 13:55 The Defendants have filed motions to dismiss our Article 78 petition. We need to work together to put a stop to RAD/PACT once and for all !

Source Documents

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We got this : The New York City economy is under pressure from the pandemic, and our easy economic boycott can force politicians to do right by NYCHA

The Coronavirus pandemic continues to put pressure on the New York City economy, and our stay-at-home one day a week boycott can add to the stress of neoliberal politicians.

With Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) reportedly having passed a Budget Reconciliation that may include the funding to finally end the Federal Government’s racist divestment of public housing, we can say that the fight to save NYCHA may, at first blush, appear, with some qualifications, to be approaching an end. There still remains a big question about whether the Democrats are actually united behind a new era of economic justice, since Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has said she opposes the $3.5 trillion spending measure.

Before we celebrate prematurely, let’s review how we got here. The U.S. Attorney’s Office began an investigation into the filing of false Federal lead paint certifications by NYCHA. The conclusion of that probe revealed a pattern or practise of routine neglect by NYCHA officials, and a habit of lies and deception. There was a lot of fake outrage, but there was little scrutiny focused on the Mayor, who appoints the top officials at NYCHA and who treats the public housing authority as a political patronage dumping ground.

The pennies-on-the-dollar Settlement Agreement that was the fruit of the Federal investigation into NYCHA created loopholes big enough for ongoing and continuing superclusters of corruption, like reports of fraud in the removal of lead paint, to cross over the event horizon into a supermassive black hole of an unaccountable bureaucracy.

At every turn, the movement to stop the sale of strategic public assets has been met with opposition, sabotage, or indifference. Our pro se litigation and, later, our amicus brief, were either thrown out by or not considered in the Courts. Politicians know how hard it is to organise NYCHA residents into a sustained social movement for economic justice. It’s very easy for them to divide tenants against each other with the appearance of political access or the never ending false promises of resident management corporations. Professional nonprofits or unprincipled activists with sectarian motives have, at times, aided dishonest politicians in this regard. But we have found a way forward !

The New York City economy is weakening due to the Delta variant, and this sets us up for the success of our economic boycott.

We admit we have had trouble in organising NYCHA residents. Our work at Fulton Houses and Elliott-Chelsea were undermined by politicians, including Mayor Bill de Blasio (WFP-New York City). The president of the resident council at Fulton Houses misled residents into believing that RAD/PACT would be in their best interest, and he was caught tearing down our flyers, interfering with tenant organising, which is unlawful, according to the Fair Housing Act protections against retaliation. Later, tenants were mislead into believing that forming a resident management corporation would be financially or politically possible, when it was neither. Other “community groups” deliberately mislead public housing residents into deëscalating any criticism of elected officials. In the end, RAD/PACT has almost become a fait accompli, since Mayor de Blasio has reportedly succeeded in issuing a Request For Proposal for the RAD/PACT conversion of the last parcels of public housing in the gentrified Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea.

Disreputable individuals used the pandemic to scare residents from participating in protests against then-Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss over her role in countenancing the allegations of abuse and corruption of RAD/PACT conversions. Marches against elected officials didn’t draw enough support from public housing residents, either, because community groups allied with elected officials wrongly informed residents that the Green New Deal would save them, when there was no reality to that proposition, either.

When all looked lost, it became apparent that doing nothing was the only thing we should be aiming for. During the pandemic, wildcat strikes took place as essential workers demanded personal protective equipment (PPE), paid sick leave, and health insurance benefits, amongst other demands. Expecting something larger than walkouts from labour unions is probably unrealistic, since they now largely act as get-out-the-vote operations for the Democratic Party. The true beginnings of a general strike must come from a non-union context, namely, from people experiencing extreme forms of economic oppression.

That is why Fight For NYCHA is putting our faith in residents, who intuitively know that the pandemic is not over and that the Government is seeking to continue the era of racial disparities into the future. Given all the sectarianism we’ve witnessed in public housing organising in the last two years, the political ideologies that have coöpted NYCHA organising can support the concept of a general strike against a capitalist economy that is exploitative and creates the kind of economic inequality that is experienced by NYCHA public housing residents.

Join our general strike !

With news that Mayor de Blasio has been so neglectful about the out-of-control Delta variant that the New York City economy has been driven into a proverbial ditch, we are closer to being able to convince the Government that it would be in their best interest to meet our demands for economic justice, i.e., passage of H.R.235, the fully-fund public housing bill that could put an end to the privatisation of public housing. Whereas we are focused on saving public housing, we can still build solidarity with others. We’ve already opposed vaccine passports as a way to oppose invasions of privacy and to uphold a respect for people’s right to self-determine their own medical treatment. Not coïncidentally, this position also proposes to slow down the restart of the economy.

How to join our general strike. It’s within our reach to keep us safe. Just pledge to : (i). stay home at least one day a week to decrease community spread of the Coronavirus, (ii). call 311 to request both KN95 face masks and meal deliveries from food banks, and (iii). follow Fight For NYCHA on Facebook and Twitter for more information. We will be holding a Zoom meeting soon. Stay tuned.

Recommended Reading

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Bill de Blasio agrees to meeting with Fight For NYCHA, Fulton tenants, and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez

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Bill de Blasio was confronted with two options to fully-fund NYCHA : (i). The People’s Budget, and (ii). the Public Housing Emergency Response Act (H.R.4546)

At Mayor Bill de Blasio’s disastrous NYCHA town hall in Chelsea on Thursday, 19 déc 2019, the Mayor was confronted with two options to fully-fund NYCHA : (i) the People’s Budget that proposes new taxes on the rich to fund new Government policy on housing, justice, and dignity for all New Yorkers, and (ii). U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s bill, the Public Housing Emergency Response Act (H.R.4546).

Fight For NYCHA have reached out to the office of U.S. Rep. Velázquez to schedule a meeting with Mayor de Blasio.

Read the People’s Budget

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Fulton Houses tenants elect independent officers, announce next meeting, plan next action

Fight For NYCHA co-hosts an important meeting to offer autonomy and structure to Fulton Houses residents.

At an action-planning meeting held on Saturday, 11 May, tenants of Fulton Houses made several agreements that would serve as a foundation for advocacy work to save public housing in Chelsea from being demolished and from being put into the hands of private landlords.

  • Since NYCHA is comprised of 90% Black and Latinx families, this means that the politicians, who are supporting each of the demolition of buildings at Fulton Houses and the putting of public housing into the hands of private developers, are making a political calculation that they can exploit the very visible minorities, who are public housing tenants.
  • Politicians supporting the plans announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-New York City) to demolish public housing apartment buildings and to put public housing into the hands of private landlords, are keeping quiet about the racial implications of their actions or support.
  • We must stand united in saying that what Mayor de Blasio and his supporters are doing is wrong.
  • Unless elected officials join us in this fight, we must be prepared to challenge those elected officials.
  • The processes we undertake together must have integrity, and this means that Fulton Houses tenants must agree. This also means that we cannot allow anybody to disrupt or distract or bring outside politics into the fight to save Fulton Houses or NYCHA. Fulton Houses tenants agreed that if anybody tried to derail our agenda, they would support asking that person to leave.
  • It was important to make clear that for any new, independent tenants’ associations elections that may take place for the Fulton Houses, only Fulton Houses tenants may vote.
  • Any groups wishing to show up to our events must :
    • oppose each of the demolition of apartment buildings and the RAD conversion of Fulton Houses ;
    • call-out Mayor de Blasio and his supporters ; and
    • oppose the racism of RAD and the divestment of public housing.
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Next steps

Fight For NYCHA will hold a follow-up meeting on Saturday, 18 May, at 3 pm at the same location. Tenants and activists have agreed on the first action, the plans for which will be finalised on the date of our next meeting.

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Fulton Houses tenants hold protest to stop demolition, RAD conversion

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Fulton Housing tenants are receiving scary letters from elected officials at the same time NYCHA is offering them buy-outs to leave their apartments.

A group of corporate Democrats, ranging from U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY 10), Borough President Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan), New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson (D-Chelsea), New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Chelsea), and New York Assemblymember Richard Gottfried (D-Chelsea), co-signed a letter to New York City Housing Authority Interim Chair and CEO Kathryn Garcia, asking that NYCHA consult with Fulton Houses tenants about plans announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-New York City) to demolish two apartment buildings and to put up majority market-rate luxury apartment buildings on the site of Fulton Houses.

Activists have warned Fulton Houses tenants that the consultation is a trap, since none of the public officials have neither publicly opposed the demolition of public housing buildings, nor publicly opposed the RAD conversion of public housing. Under RAD, public housing is put into the hands of private landlords, thereby turning public housing into a for-profit business. A consultation without opposition to the Mayor de Blasio’s plan would count toward the approval of Mayor de Blasio’s plan.

Following the protest, Fulton Houses Tenant President Miguel Acevedo was confronted about his refusal to forcefully oppose the demolition and RAD conversion of Fulton Houses. He changed his story at least 37 different times, according to a video of one part of the exchange.