Right To The City Video

This is an excellent piece about RTTC NYC, by The Indypendent's IndyVideo Team. It features MOM leaders Cerita Parker (incorrectly listed as "Cecilia") and Tanya Fields, Housing Justice Organizer Nova Strachan, and footage from MOM's July 2009 Fish Fry & Flea Market.

Big thanks to The Indypendent and Paper Tiger for their consistent coverage of the issues facing working class and low-income New Yorkers. Dig deeper with Alex Kane's article, "Cashing in on the Housing Crisis."

UN Housing Rapporteur Visits NYC

This week the MOM Housing Justice Committee helped to welcome the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, to New York City in an event hosted by our allies at Picture the Homeless.

This was Ms. Rolnik's first official mission to the U.S., and similar events took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Pine Ridge Reservation SD, Washington DC, and Wilkes-Barre PA. In addition to the NYC town hall meeting, the Rapporteur toured the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens to investigate homelessness and housing conditions to inform her findings, reports, and recommendations to the United Nations and U.S. Government. More info on the Mission is available HERE.

At the packed Town Hall event Ms. Rolnik heard testimony from New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, foreclosures, and problems with public housing. MOM Housing Justice Committee members from Forest Houses turned out to represent for their development and for all South Bronx NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority) residents bearing the brunt of the long-term, systematic underfunding of public housing and other vital services.

MOM Housing Justice member Janette Alcava gave testimony that addressed the need for more services in public housing for families raising children with special needs, and raised concerns around the NYC Housing Authority’s (NYCHA) unjust mandatory community service requirement, which does not exempt her even though she is head of household and also the sole care provider of a special needs child. Ms. Lorraine Trent - addressed the media on the troubles faced by people in homeless shelters, and the dire situation within Public housing in and outside New York City.


More coverage of the event:

Picture the Homeless

New York Times

Village Voice

Demand YOUR Right To The City!

The Luxury Condo Boom is over!

Empty Apartments are everywhere in our neighborhoods. So are stuggling families. So are the Homeless.

STAND UP for universal housing rights for all (not just the rich)
STAND UP against developers who warehouse empty apartments in our neighborhoods! ACT NOW!!

WHAT: RALLY, press conference, live music and speak out.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 27th from 4-6 PM
(Meet at MOM's Office @ 2pm)

WHERE: ALBEE SQUARE (right off Fulton Mall in Downtown Brooklyn) 2, 3, 4, 5 trains to NEVINS ST

Join MOM and our allies in Right To The City-NYC to fight to convert EMPTY Condominiums into housing for low, middle & fixed Income and homeless families!

Brought to you by Right to the City NYC, an alliance of local grassroots groups including: CAAAV, Community Voices Heard, FIERCE, FUREE, Make The Road NY, Mothers on the Move, NYC Aids Housing Network (NYCAHN/VOCAL), Picture the Homeless, Teachers Unite, JFREJ and many wonderful allies and supporters like you!

For more info about Right To The City, go to: www.righttothecity.org

Wanda Salaman Receives "Uptown Girl" Award

Majora Carter's work in the South Bronx has long provided an example of the kind of fierce leadership which Bronx women manifest in the community and larger world.

On Wednesday, September 16, Mothers on the Move was thrilled to celebrate the life and work of one of our own. Executive Director Wanda Salaman was recognized at the Majora Carter Group's inaugural Uptown Girl Power event for her tireless work as a community organizer for social justice, and for the leadership she inspires in women of all ages.

Wanda was in good company, joining fellow Bronx natives and critically acclaimed actresses Kerry Washington and Joy Bryant as “Uptown Girl” honorees.

The event raised funds for a large-scale environmentally-themed mural at a major intersection in Hunts Point. The mural will be coordinated by the Groundswell Community Mural Project, and will engage people from the Bronx of all ages - especially women.

See event coverage from NY1 HERE.

¡Felicidades Wanda!

Housing Justice Committee takes off at Forest Houses!

This past Wednesday, September 2, the MOM Housing Justice Committee held a basebuilding meeting at Forest Houses (NYC Housing Authority - NYCHA), with resounding success.

Thanks to the outstanding outreach efforts of Forest residents (through doorknocking, phonebanking and street outreach), over 100 neighbors showed up for a meeting to air out concerns with NYC Council Member Helen Diane Foster. Folks commented that there hasn't been a turnout like that in 30 yrs, which made it even more special.

The government's disinvestment in Forest & other NYCHA Public housing developments is an everyday nightmare for most residents, who experience the constant failure of elevators, myriad severe repair needs in apartments, unkempt grounds and playgrounds, lack of usable public space, and constant plumbing issues.

The focus of the Housing Justice Meeting was to discuss the allocation of money to NYCHA through the Federal economic stimulus package, and to identify its use and misuse as it relates to the South Bronx in general, to Forest Houses in particular.

In addition, the meeting sought to gain the support of District 16 NYC Council Member Helen Diane Foster to secure a meeting with NYCHA's Housing Comissioner John B. Rhea, and to host a tour of Forest Houses for her NYC Council colleagues.

Residents chat with CM Foster after the meeting

Forest resident leaders crafted a letter that will ask the Council Member when we can expect these actions to take place. Please check back for updates as MOM will keep you posted on the outcome.

Thanks to the work of the MOM Housing Justice Committee, NYCHA residents around the South Bronx are realizing that taking leadership and building unity around a strategic campaign can have real results. NYCHA Residents want Change!!!

Right To The City-NYC Platform Released

This week saw the release of the Right To The City-NYC's policy platform document. Along with our allies in RTTC-NYC, MOM has been working hard for more than a year to bring the perspectives and experiences of South Bronx residents to this important project. Looking ahead to the important citywide elections this Fall, this platform represents the needs and vision of working class and low-income communities of color around NYC and gives a concrete set of demands for how they can be achieved. Despite the development priorities and track record of our billionaire Mayor, working class and low-income people around the City will continue to organize and fight to ensure our survival in the future of NYC.

DOWNLOAD THE RTTC PLATFORM

More about the Platform:

The Right to the City-New York City policy platform is a result of an in-depth, collaborative, and participatory process. The alliance created this document to articulate the principles and document the policy concerns most important to low-income communities of color. This platform will be shared with elected officials as the 2009 citywide elections approach, to ensure that the needs of low-income people in New York City will be met.

This platform has six sections, including: Federal Stimulus Funds; Community Decision-Making Power; Low-Income Housing; Environmental Justice & Public Health; Jobs & Workforce Development and Public Space. Right to the City emerged in 2007 to halt the displacement of low-income people, LGBTQ, and youth of color from the neighborhoods they have been living in for years.

We are a national alliance of racial, economic and environmental justice organizations. RTTC-NYC is a local chapter, made up of 16 grassroots organizations as well as policy groups, academics and other allied individuals. Urban Justice Center’s Community Development Project sits on RTTC-NYC coordinating committee and serves as a coordinator for the local alliance.

MOM wants YOU!

Environmental Justice Committee leader Tanya Fields breaks

down why your support is so important.

This year Tanya initiated the Holistic Hood project, which has been providing holistic health info and yoga classes to women in the neighborhood. Check out more of Tanya's work at Blk Grl.

Details on the Fish Fry & Flea Market are below. Don't Sleep!