(MSCC) Sharon Jasprizza, Posted: June 27, 2022

Tuesday, June 7, 2022, Time: 9:30 am-10:30 am ZOOM.US 

SUMMARY

Coalition for a 100% Affordable 5WTC 5, NYCHA and The Blueprint for Change, Penn Station Expansion

WELCOME | INTRODUCTIONS

John Mudd (MSCC) welcomed and outlined the purpose of the meeting 

Chairpersons: John Mudd and Sharon Jasprizza

POLICY MEETING UPDATES

Sharon Jasprizza (MSCC) summarized the 8:30 Homeless and Housing Policy meeting:

• Updates from the Health Committee’s development plans for educational flyers about protecting Medicare; press release highlighting goals, actions, and asks. Nancy Pascal is reaching out to two senior centers for participants to attend the CROC rally on June 16, 2022
• The Cross-Union Retirees Organizing Committee (CROC)
  • Rally to Tell Mayor Adams to Stop the Switch to Medicare Advantage on Thursday, June 16th at noon at Broadway b Murray St. & Park Pl. in front of City Hall Park. RSVP at crocnyc22@gmail.com
  • CROC will present an Open Letter to Mayor Adams signed by numerous City Council and State Assembly members, telling the Mayor to allow all NYC Municipal Retirees to maintain their traditional Medicare and its supplement, free of extra fees, as has been the case for many years
  • Even though CROC won all the lawsuits, Mayor Adams is proceeding with a legal appeal to switch 250,000  municipal retirees’ Medicare benefits to an inferior privatized Medicare Advantage Plan
  • Several of the elected officials who have signed the letter will speak at this event
  • CROC will continue to fight and make it clear that we do not want the Mayor to jeopardize the health and well-being of city employees by taking away their benefits
• Progress is being made on committee definitions, roles, and ways to strengthen them 

Chatbox: Robert Robinson noted that not only are the elderly on Medicare, but people receiving social security disability are also on Medicare

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION(S) AND OR UPDATES: 

Daniel Pichinson | Executive Director |Ryan Chelsea Clinton

• Expecting updates from the CDC about vaccination trials for 5-year-olds and under  

Rue Parkin |Corporation | rue@helpNYC.co | 929.220.3027 | https://www.helpnyc.co/ Resource Navigator: https://www.helpnyc.info/ Social Media: https://links.helpnyc.co/

• HOUSING VOUCHER INITIATIVE is working to educate landlords, real estate brokers and agents, and voucher holders about Housing Voucher Programs in New York City.  The Initiative meets biweekly and is currently in the discovery phase.  A Guidance Document for Housing Voucher Holders will be published in Late Summer/Early Fall. Source of income discrimination is also part of this initiative. For more information, please email rue@helpNYC.co..co:    
• COMMUNITY OUTREACH: helpNYC is now doing community outreach.  If you would like helpNYC to do outreach at your event, please email outreach@helpNYC.info
• PANTRY BAG PROGRAM: helpNYC is looking for food assistance programs that would allow us to put our outreach materials in their takeaway bags.  We also will send out 1 or 2 volunteers to help with this effort.  Please email outreach@helpNYC.info for more information
• STREET SHEETS: helpNYC is coordinating with organizations citywide to produce Street Sheets for New Yorkers in need. The sheets will be updated, printed, and distributed to community partners and others who want to use them in their work.  Please sign up to be notified when the Street Sheets will be available. https://www.helpnyc.co/updates
• LIST WITH helpNYC!  If you provide low-barrier, entry-level programs, please consider becoming a helpNYC Listing Partner.  For more information please visit: https://www.helpnyc.info/listingpartner/become-a-listing-partner and/or reach out to outreach@helpNYC.info

Chatbox: Lawrence Wheatman to Rue Perkins, “I’ll take a pdf LW13@nyu.edu” 

Julia Chambers | Shower Power

• Free Showers, hygiene products, and laundry vouchers. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 8:30-1:00 at 542 West 46th Street (between 10th and 11th)
• Reach out for more information and send referrals to julia@showerpowernyc.org
• Julia Chambers will send John Mudd a flyer to send out to our networks 
• John Mudd will send newly updated street sheets to Julia Chambers

Robert Robinson |Senior Managing Director at Student Leadership Network | New York University | rob.robinson423@gmail.com

• https://weunlock.nyc/soi-report/ An Illusion of Choice: How Source of Income Discrimination and Voucher Policies Perpetuate Housing Inequality. This 2022 report is a result of a multi-year collaboration between homeless New Yorkers, grassroots organizations, and housing data collectives to document the experiences and impacts of the source of income discrimination in New York City. 
• The above group has also built an app to collect discriminatory information to report: http://welcometocup.org/file_columns/0000/2941/recordit_reportit_singles.pdf
• There will be “Make Voucher work” rally at 9.00 AM Thursday, June 16, 2022, on the steps of City Hall, RSP jonathan@neighborstogether.org, 973-5573735
• Rue Parkin suggests that Unlock NYC should talk about their work at one of our Homeless and Housing Meetings. Robert Robinson, Rue Parkin, and John Mudd will connect to plan this

Derwin Manigault / Community Liaison / RevCore Recovery Center / Outpatient Clinic / Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder / dmanigault@revcorerecovery.com / 646-256-8259

• Derwin Manigault will connect with Robert Robinson to support clients facing voucher issues
• John Mudd will connect with Derwin Manigault to speak at one of our Homeless and Housing Meetings

Eric Strazza | Community Coordinator | Manhattan District Attorney’s Office | (212) 335-4310

| strazzae@dany.nyc.gov

• The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is addressing gun violence by partnering with NYPD’s Community Affairs Department at a community gun buyback city-comprehensive event in Central Harlem (302 West 124^th street) from 11.00 AM – 4.00 PM on Saturday, June 25, 2022
• Community members exchange their guns for a gift card. The value is determined by the category of firearm surrendered. Each gun surrendered will save three lives throughout the life cycle of the gun
• Thrive Collective and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s community partners will be hosting our 4^th Annual Art of Healing Festival. The festival will be a schoolyard party at PSMS 7, located at 160 E 120^th St, New York, NY 10035, and will take place from 12:00-4:00 pm Saturday, June 18, 2022
• This community-building event is focused on healing from gun violence trauma. Professional artists will facilitate creative arts activities, including mural painting, drawing, spoken word, music, and dance. The day will be filled with food, resources, workshops, and fun.
• Eric Strazza will share flyers and reach out to Eric for more information

Giovanna Antoniazzi | Community Speaks

• Sharon Jasprizza (Giovanna was absent) spoke about the need to complete the Community Speaks survey found in MSCC newsletters
• Reach out to John Mudd or Sharon Jasprizza for further information at hello@localhost

Kimberly Gargan | Project Manager  | New York Hotel Trades Council & Hotel Association of New York City | Inc., Employee Benefit Funds

• Located at 44^th and 8^th Avenue
• It seems there is an uptick in crime, drug deals, and homelessness seems to be an issue in this area
• Would like to support people and services in this network
• John Mudd will reach out to Kimberly Gargan to talk further about the issues and put her in touch with outreach providers in the area

Bennett Reinhardt | Open Hearts Initiatives | bennett@openheartsinitiative.org | 646-907-9052

• Welcomes neighbors into their new neighborhood and advocates for supportive services 
• Hospitality kits for new neighbors. E.g., 60 were delivered to new residents at the Park Savoy
• Counteracting NIMBYism throughout the city (see The City’s article here)
• bennett@openheartsinitiative.org, or 646-907-9052
• A recent article in THE CITY at https://www.thecity.nyc/manhattan/2022/5/25/23142257/west-side-open-hearts-spreads-shelter-support-citywide
• Everyone is welcome to be involved and join www.openheartsinitiative.org/midtown
• Jen Mallicote asked Bennett if the area of Chelsea is served. Bennett does not provide direct outreach but works with shelters in midtown and the surrounding regions to support residents needing support
• Susan Stetzer spoke about the support Open Hearts gave to the LES where residents needed support

Serafina Payne | CUCS | Serafina.payne@cucs.org

• Reach out to Serafina for support and to help clients connect to services; Street Outreach, Transitional Housing, Housing, Wellness, Financial Stability, training

COALITION FOR 100% AFFORDABLE 5WTC

Victoria Fariello | NY State Senate Candidate | Coalition for a 100% Affordable 5WTC 5 | https://affordabletower5.com | https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/affordable-5wtc

• Building a coalition of residents, affordable housing advocates, and grassroots organizations to fight for 100% affordable housing at the 5WTC site
• https://affordabletower5.com/about  5WTC. Three goals are: 1) 5WTC should be 100% affordable housing, including a preference for the responders, survivors, and their children of the September 11 terrorist attacks. 2) Additional community representatives should be included on any Community Advisory Committee (CAC). 3) The community advisory process should include regular meetings and be transparent and open to the public
• https://affordabletower5.com ‘The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have proposed building a new luxury residential tower on publicly owned land at World Trade Center (WTC) site 5, squandering the last opportunity to provide desperately needed affordable housing for Lower Manhattan and housing opportunity for 9.11 survivors at the WTC’
• https://affordabletower5.com/about “The LMDC was created in November 2001 to dispense federal funding to rebuild Lower Manhattan. The lack of transparency and lack of direct community engagement contradicts their published mission of an open, inclusive, and transparent planning process in which the public has a central role in shaping the future of Lower Manhattan” 
  • https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/affordable-5wtc  “Instead, the LMDC and the Port Authority seek to authorize an 80-story luxury residential tower on public land at the former 40-story Deutsche Bank building.” The LMDC offered 25% affordable housing, which is about 300 apartments. This is not enough, as we have lost thousands of affordable housing units 
• https://affordabletower5.com/about The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, LMDC, was created in November to dispense federal funding to rebuild Lower Manhattan. Despite the tens of billions promised by the LMDC, not one new affordable housing complex was built. The proposed development with Silverstein Properties and Brookfield Properties, which have already received massive subsidies, does not reflect the city’s best interests or the community’s input. 5WTC should be 100% affordable housing 
• The Coalition reached out to elected officials and neighborhood groups. The county committee and two district representatives signed a letter sent to Governor Hochul to support 100% affordable housing at 5WTC
• This is also a question of racial justice. This site is resource-rich with community gardens, transit hubs, parks, courts, assortment of jobs, jobs, and family and health resources. The racial injustice is clear with only 8% non-white people who live in the area
• The coalition is working with political clubs that have signed on to 5WTC 100% Affordable Housing initiatives 
• Coalition building is important to put the pressure on government officials
• The coalition has worked on the meaning of deeply affordable housing and has made this known
• Please sign onto this initiative/petition for affordability downtown, get involved, and if you are interested in volunteering https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/affordable-5wtc

Further discussion

• Susan Stetzer raised the concerns about the partisan collaboration and what 100% affordable means? Segregated schools can become an issue in these circumstances. Education is needed to address these issues and what affordable means
• John Mudd noted that city employees make under $50,000. He emphasized that people are rental cost burdened, paying 30, 40, 50, 70% for rent. This does not allow for stability and growth
• Vittoria Fariello noted the organization is not partisan because the collaboration is with all groups. The 9/11 survivors are being priced out of Lower Manhattan. Middle income and professionals are being pushed out of the city. Two luxury buildings were not able to sell and rent because of high prices
• John Mudd noted the AMI is used as a tool to keep people out
• Steve Marshall noted the toxic situation in Lower Manhattan is being created at Penn Station
• Robert Robinson noted that a tiered affordable housing structure must be tied to income. The AMI is flawed at city and federal levels. Instead, it should be said, “We need housing for $50,000 or less.”

ADAPTIVE REUSE: HOTELS TO HOUSING

Sharon Jasprizza | MSCC

• Outlined Ted Houghton’s (President of Gateway Housing) topic on the NYS Legislature passing Regulatory Relief to Turn Distressed NYC Hotels into Affordable Permanent Housing report
• Last week, the New York State Assembly approved A6262B, a bill providing regulatory relief to facilitate the conversion of distressed hotels in NYC quickly and efficiently into apartments for low-income and formerly homeless tenants. Governor Hochul is expected to sign it in the coming days
• Suggested by Gateway Housing, the bill amends the NYS Multiple Dwelling Law to allow some transient hotels to be used as affordable permanent housing while retaining their existing hotel Certificates of Occupancy. It eliminates the need to do cost-prohibitive gut rehabs of the hotel buildings. It will also make about 100 existing NYC hotels in light manufacturing zones now eligible for use as permanent housing, as long as they are within two blocks of zones that allow residential use (to be legally rezoned, these hotels would still be required to go through ULURP). The bill codifies precedents previously used in the 1990s to convert hotels to flagship supportive housing residences like the Times Square and Prince George Residences
• Passage of the bill was the cumulation of more than a year of consensus-building among many stakeholders. As a result, the bill was strengthened with several protections. These require hotel conversions to be:
  • Permanently affordable to low-income (60% AMI or lower) and formerly homeless households
  • Operated by a responsible nonprofit provider approved by the City
  • Approved by and subject to a regulatory agreement with HPD
  • Subject to rent stabilization tenant protections
  • Approved by both sides of a collective bargaining agreement (if the hotel is unionized)
  • Not to be located in Industrial Business Zones

NYCHA Tenants Warn against NYCHA’s restructuring

Marni Halasa | MSCC 

• NYCHA residents do not want privatization because it will increase rents
• Governor Hochul will sign the NYS Preservation Trust, which passed this week in the coming days. The Trust enables NYCHA to issue bonds to pay for billions of dollars of upgrades
• NYCHA tenants worry that the language of the bill does not allow for tenants to vote by opting into the trust 

Ramona Ferreyra | Save Section 9 coalition | savesection9@gmail.com

• Housing affordability and supportive housing is addressed by public housing, so there is a need to reframe the discussion about public housing
• “What happened to Section 9 Public Housing” https://youtu.be/tbOnuz6HcKk short doco was played at the meeting and is summarized below:
  • 970,000 units of public housing in the US is spread across 50 states, with 20% in rural areas
  • All public housing is paid for under Section 9 Public Housing ACT 1937
• The fund distributes taxpayers’ money directly through HUD
• The goal was “to address the acute shortage of decent, safe and sanitary dwellings for families of low income.”
• Section 9 caps rent at 30% of resident income
• Protects rights to organize and elect a resident council 
• Under Mayor Fiorello H LaGuardia, NYCHA was created in 1935 and became the first agency in the US to provide publicly funded housing 
• People of color and welfare recipients were barred from this housing, but after years of pressure from housing advocates, the restrictions were loosened. By the 1950s, this changed
• During the Fiscal crisis of the 1970s, these increasingly diverse housing developments became targets for budget cuts and white supremacy. Reflecting this, Richard Nixon 1973 stated. “Housing projects are monstrous depressing places – rundown, overcrowded, crime-ridden.” 
• In 1973, Nixon called for all new public housing construction to be halted
• In 1974, Congress pushed low-income tenants into the private market under the new section 8 program
• Under the Reagan administration, HUD funding was slashed further from $36B in 1980 to $15B in 1988. Reagan justified these cuts concerning the Welfare Queen. (Linda Taylor, in 1974, was the real woman who Reagan mythologized into the figure of the welfare queen)
• Instead of providing adequate funding, politicians used the crisis of public housing deterioration, the crack epidemic, crime, and the welfare queen myth. Politicians stated that public housing was an outdated program. Clinton continued the Republican cycle of devastation 
• The HOPE VI program provided grants for Housing Authorities to demolish existing public housing developments. They were not required to replace the developments with the same number of low-income housing units
• Between 1993 and 2010, 98,592 units were demolished under HOPE VI
• Only 12% of original residents were able to move back into replacement housing
• The Faircloth Amendment passed in 1998 limited the number of public housing units that federal authorities could build for section 8 voucher recipients. So today, HUD can’t find any housing stock above that limit
• Decades of austerity have left NYCHA with unmet capital needs of $40b  
• Residents feel these shortfalls every day with shoddy repairs, chronic utility outages, life-threatening mold, and pest infestations
• The playbook continues with NYCHA officials and Greg Russ, CEO of NYCHA Housing, who want to use their own neglect of public housing as an excuse to eliminate Section 9 through privatization schemes such as RAD and The Blueprint for change
• Save Section 9 is a tenant-led organization with volunteers fighting for public housing https://www.savesection9.org/
• The Save Section 9 coalition was formed because NYCHA introduced the BluePrint for Change in July 2020, which transfers public housing to Section 8 and into a public trust. Thus, tenants will be stripped of their rights, and their apartments will be used as collateral in private investments
• Collective Solutions for Public Housing

1. Instruct HUD to place a moratorium on privatization i.,e. RAD/P,ACT and Section 18
2. Conduct a thorough impact study  of all project-based Section 8 privatization and determine the cost of operation per unit nationally
3. Democratize Section 8 approval processes by securing a minimum threshold with participating tenants in the application decision-making process 
4. Issue a national state of emergency for Section 9 housing
5. Reinstate federal and tenant oversight of public housing authorities
6. Allocate $100B to Section 9 for rehabilitation immediately and create a framework to increase funding to $180B by 2025
7. Restore the Section 9 housing stock to 1999 numbers and work to repeal the Faircloth Act by 2025
8. Support the sustainable and resilient rehabilitation of public housing campuses and units (40006 of the Build Back Better bill must be expanded to include Section 9 public housing)
9. Ensure that racist and derogatory beliefs surrounding public housing do not continue to impact policy making. NOTE: if we are all fighting against homelessness, do not ignore the fight for Public Housing 

The following two solutions, in italics, are still being worked on:

10. Create reporting system infrastructure that allows section 9 tenants to report their rent to major credit agencies. (At the moment, tenants don’t receive any credit rating for paying their rent)
11. Issue guidance on what “affordable housing” is in different cities as it does not currently create fair and equitable housing; a 30% cap nationally expanded to address the current housing insecurity and homeless crisis and counter the lack of extremely low income (there is not a definition for many categories such as disabled, retired, elderly, working poor, etc. The AMI is not appropriate

For New York, the coalition is asking the following (NYC Statement of Demands)

1. Conduct a forensic audit of NYCHA by the end of fiscal calendar 2022.  (Found that NYCHA has only spent 6% of funds that the City Council and only 10% of what the State has given them)
2. Create a new organizational plan that does not rely on creating a new quasi-state financial institution. Instead, any new organization plan should bring more tenants to the decision-making table in multiple ways. We want the organizational plan to be inspired by the operation plans of 1965 – 1970
3. Remove Greg Russ, the NYCHA Chairman. Any chair of NYCHA should be clearly interested in preserving Section 9 public housing

• Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader since 2021, has seen the national demands and supports them. Others will be seeing these soon and are asked to sign-on
• Estimated to be losing 10,000 public units every year
• Action Opportunities:

1. Sign the petition to keep public housing public 
2. Lobbying
3. Have your own movie night to advocate for Public Housing or Section 9
4. Holding a vigil at your development of vigil support
5. Email savesection9@gmail.com for more information and to show your support
6. More actions are noted in the Chatbox information below

Marquis Jenkins | The Residents to Preserve Public Housing coalition| https://actionnetwork.org/groups/residents-to-preserve-public-housing-rpph-2

• “The Residents to Preserve Public Housing is a citywide, resident-led group of public housing resident leaders, including members of the NYCHA Citywide Council Of Presidents (CCOP) board. We aim to preserve public housing by advocating for adequate funding, improving quality of services, and increasing residents’ decision-making authority.” https://actionnetwork.org/groups/residents-to-preserve-public-housing-rpph-2
• Fighting for change since the introduction of The Blueprint for Change proposal by NYCHA in 2020
• The residents, tenant associations, service providers, experts, and others came together to dissect The Blueprint for Change and concluded it was a dangerous plan to implement for four reasons:

1. Residents were not included in the creation of The Blueprint for Change and hence violated Federal rules and regulations that govern resident participation, which clearly states residents must be involved from the  conception
2. This plan was being pushed during a global pandemic. Public residents were hit twice due to  COVID – 19 impacts and related risk factors such as the number of COVID cases and deaths
3. The Senate and Assembly recently passed a critical piece of legislation for the Blue Print for Change: the Public Housing Preservation Trust. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/vote-no-on-nychas-latest-public-housing-preservation-trust-bill

 If it is signed into law, the Trust will have the ability to do two things.

1. Convert units from Section 9 to Section 8
2. Take the funding they receive for Section 8 and leverage that funding to take on what they call Bonds. Which operate like a mortgage. The legislation is evident in the event that, if the Trust is not able to pay back the loans it borrows, the City and State may step in. However, the following sentence says the City and State have no obligation to do so. What happens if Section 8 is not funded?  Debt will be incurred, and foreclosure will occur
3. There will be no more public housing in New York if this bill is signed into law by the Governor

• The Coalition mobilized and testified and stopped the legislation. This has been repeated four times, and just before the legislative session ends, the mayor has decided to put this legislation back into action.
• This Blueprint plan generates profit for the private industry
• This week, the state legislature passed a $10B package bill for the private market with only $350M for public housing. There is money for public housing if there is $10B for private industry
• The Blueprint proposal is a 10-year plan, meaning we need to generate $4B annually. This can be found in public housing instead

Discussion

• John Mudd asked about actions to support this work
• Marquis Jenkins says we must stop the Governor from signing the bill. Help is needed with research to understand the HUD and State legislation (Section 18, which is the mechanism for this transfer), the mobilizing actions recorded in the chat box, and those Ramona advocates for
• Sharon Jasprizza asked Marquis and Ramona to continue to discuss Section 18 and the mechanism at work at the next meeting
• Ramona Ferreyra noted that the coalition is headed to DC with 80 tenants to present the solutions and demands. It would be good to have someone review the demands. Please email Ramona to support this review
• Ramona referred to the petition is in the chatbot to fire Greg Russ
• Rue Parkin notes that people who are currently homeless are not able to get into NYCHA. There is a problem with vouchers
• Ramona Ferreyra answers Rue noting that we need to redesign the Public Housing Authority. The main issue is not the lack of units or funding but the current Authority’s inefficiency. Chuck Schumer said he would support a new Public Housing Authority being established
• Ramona affirms that Section 8 would not be eliminated, and any voucher can be used with private landlords
• Rue Jenkins notes that people cannot get an NYCHA voucher if they are in another system 
• Ramona notes this is the bureaucratic hurdle in HUD which needs to simplify the process
• Charism White notes this is not going to make using Section 8 simple
• Further discussion ensued after the meeting and will be outlined at the next meeting. 

Chatbox information

• Youtube link for What Happened to Section 9 Public Housing video  https://youtu.be/tbOnuz6HcKk
• We also have a library of documents to educate folks on public housing and critical programs that threaten it. Education docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bMkrOCv8jYs2tyE-EFZualgLEpyMbQ_C?usp=sharing
• We also have a great playlist that features public housing tenants. Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/16YYcTsTJe7TSEaNDd59WZ?si=59a713c654f84dca
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/savesection9/
• Website: www.savesection9.org
• Petition tinyurl.com/removeruss
• You can join us on Wednesday nights at 7:30 pm. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83727429468 Meeting ID: 837 2742 9468
• Collective Solutions/ Demands https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i7s_89ViQRgyjjOlkzynT5Sg9zJUqf_VFkyI3foG9yc/edit?usp=sharing
• Charisma White: “They don’t want public housing”
• Derwin Manigault:  “How are you linking other state organizations with the cause”
• Rue Parkin | rue@helpNYC.co:  “Send me a blurb to put in our partners email.   rue@helpNYC.co”
• Robert Robinson:  “Hi Ramona and Marquis: Our NYC Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz understands the bureaucratic roadblocks that make it difficult for people to access affordable housing.  She currently oversees HPD and NYCHA. You may reach out and have a conversation with Jessica”
• Ramona Ferreyra: “Folks are free to pursue housing outside of NYCHA, with the existing voucher options, but the reality is that Section 8 vouchers limit the renter,; the private landlords discriminate against voucher users
• The existence of “affordable” housing built using tax breaks has a life span of 15 years
• Charisma White: Regular people cannot get into public housing and that is a problem when you have a voucher
• Charisma White: “Everyone talking here is not in the situation”
• Ramona Ferreyra: “On the other hand Section 9/ NYCHA is congressionally defined, is inclusive of all peoples, and when properly funded would be the only housing in America that caps rent at 30%”
• Charisma White: “It doesn’t include the whole city. Sorry if you think it do”
• Ramona Ferreyra: “…increasing the amount of units could provide 40-60k units at 30% of income, and with access to unique rights and privileges only provided by Section 9”
• Ramona Ferreyra: “We recognize that NYCHA is a mess today, but it can be the answer, a more affordable and sustainable housing option as hotels, temp spaces, shelters are not the answers”

EMPIRE STATION DEVELOPMENT (ESD) 

Steve Marshall | Midtown Resident | Musician | Music Store Owner | 917 5535662

• The Penn Station expansion is going to cause homelessness and  Empire Station Coalition (ESC) is trying to stop this from happening
• The ESC is a coalition of organizations including MSCC
• ESC is against Vornado’s overdevelopment of river-to-river development
• ESD/Vornado development plan furthers inequality, poor living condition, and destruction of communities and businesses
• Please come to the Press Conference and community rally at St John the Baptist at 213 w30th, June 15^th, 2022, at 11.30 AM 
• Met Caroline Maloney last week. Caroline did not know about this issue
• Erik Bottcher needs to speak up more about this Penn Plan
• Write-ups are happening, but people do not believe this is happening at Penn Station

Lawrence Wheatman 

• Attended the CB 5 meeting recently, where Vornado representatives were speaking
• It’s tough to get into Penn Station and quite dangerous with the construction work 

Chatbox Information

• T. Lawrence Wheatman: “Stop the Vornado Tornado!”

AOB

NEXT Homeless and Housing Meeting: 9:30 AM Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Always the 1^st Tuesday of every month

Contact hello@localhost for more information and Zoom invitations.