Welfare Warriors

Winter 2008

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  Winter 2008

New Yorkers March for Public Housing

Dressed in black, dancing and singing with tambourines, they carried black umbrellas and coffins through the streets of New York City.  Low-income activists from NYC, Yonkers, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie held a New Orleans style funeral march on January 26.  Members of Community Voices Heard, they were protesting the crisis facing poor people displaced from their public housing in New Orleans and around the country.

The action was part of the Global Day of Action called for at the US Social Forum. It targeted Senators Clinton and Obama, demanding that they discuss issues facing poor people in their debates. What will they do to improve public housing and create good jobs? Will they reinvest in public housing if elected? They also urged them to push for passage of Senate Bill 1668 right now. If passed, it will help New Orleans’ families save their homes.

The group marched on Hillary Clinton’s campaign office in Midtown Manhattan. After chanting in the lobby and negotiating with volunteers, they won a meeting with Campaign Director Karen Persichilli Keogh.

Keogh stated that Clinton often talks about jobs and affordable housing. “That’s true. But we don’t hear about jobs for those that don’t yet have them, or about public housing. That’s what we want to hear!” said Joyce Holmes of Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Keogh said that Senator Clinton was already a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 1668. The group pointed out that sponsoring legislation is not the same as fighting to get it out of committee and up for a vote. Keogh agreed to bring their concerns to the national campaign reps and to report the outcome to them.

Leaving five members with Keogh, the rest of the group – about 50 strong – took the subway to 59^th Street. Then they marched across town along the south side of Central Park and though the Time Warner mall. They were chanting all the way, “Oh when  C.V.H. Go Marching In…” and “Public Housing Under Attack! What do we do? Stand up! Fight back! Poor People Under Attack! What do we do? Stand up! Fight back!”

They continued chanting as Obama supporters marched into Columbus Circle. They talked to State Senator Bill Perkins who agreed to get a meeting between the group and Obama.

Then Community Voices Heard held its own press conference. Tyletha Samuels, said, “We want to tell Senators Obama and Clinton to talk about the issues facing low-income people—from New Orleans to New York City. We want to hear them speak publicly about jobs, public housing and the crisis in the gulf coast.”

 “I am here today, as a public housing resident, standing in solidarity with the public housing residents of New Orleans. Their homes are being demolished not by storms but by the government that should be rebuilding them,” said Ann Valdez, of Gravesend Houses in Brooklyn.

80% of all affordable housing in New Orleans was lost after Hurricane Katrina. The City, State and Federal Governments have made no efforts to repair and rebuild these communities. Instead, HUD plans to demolish over 5,000 units of mostly undamaged public housing, replacing it with only 700 units.

“Hurricane Katrina is still an important issue. And it is not being addressed by the candidates. We demand they push Senate bill 1668,” said Shenia Rudolph, public housing resident from the Bronx.

The Gulf Coast Recovery Act (SB 1668) would guarantee one-for-one replacement of all lost units of public housing. It also provides appropriations to rebuild and repair low-income housing. It is being held up in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee because of opposition from Senator David Vitter (R-LA).

As in New Orleans, the financial crisis facing the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) threatens the existence of public housing. The agency’s $250 million deficit has yielded rent hikes, reduction in services, delays in repairs and the sale of property to private developers.

cvhaction.org

Community Voices Heard is fighting for changes in our communities. We are mostly

 public housing residents and public assistance survivors organizing to save public housing in NYC. And we work to reverse disinvestment in public housing on the City, State and Federal level