MSCC, December 2, 2025, 9:30 am-11:00 am, ZOOM.US

NOTE ABOUT THIS RECAP: This meeting recap, based on summaries generated by AI, has been revised for clarity and reformatted to adhere to the established style of MSCC, including edits and additional information that AI did not comprehend.  

SUMMARY

• Rob Robinson: Senior advisor at Partners in Dignity and Rights, and a human rights movement-builder with roots in New York City and networks worldwide. Recently participated in a Symposium on Human Rights at the University of Miami Law School and parallel hearings with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He highlighted the presence of key figures at the symposium, including Eric Taj, Sarah Paoletti, and Jameel Dakwar, with whom he previously worked on international human rights issues. The U.S. approach of requiring people to be “fixed” before receiving housing needs to be push backed. Public housing needs to be true social safety net instead of being handed over to the market.
• Brett Stoudt: Professor and co-author of We Deserve to be Safe (as part of Communities United for Police Reform & the Public Science Project): The report explores New Yorkers living in heavily policed communities.
• Trudy Rudnick: A key organizer from Chelsea Neighbors United and Hands Off NYC, noting their roles in labor activism and community organizing: The formation of Chelsea Neighbors United, a coalition of Penn South residents, Rise and Resist members, and other activists, to combat ICE raids and support immigrant communities. The group’s rapid response efforts include stopping a planned ICE raid in NYC through coordinated neighborhood mobilization. 
• Margarita Aguilar: A key organizer from Chelsea Neighbors United and Hands Off NYC, noting their roles in labor activism and community organizing: The Chelsea Neighbors United’s outreach strategies, include distributing whistle cards with instructions for signaling ICE presence and reporting via a hotline. The group benefited from the pre-existing activist history of the PennSouth community and the momentum from the Zoran campaign.

MINUTES: Sharon Jasprizza

POLICY MEETING UPDATES

There were no policy meeting updates.

NOVEMBER HIGHLIGHTS

• A big shoutout to all the tenants and our MSCC community who stood strong and showed their commitment to fighting for our homes and our community! Your presence and courage inspire us all. Let’s keep this momentum going! On November 5th, we witnessed an incredible show of unity and determination at the courtroom for the case of Elliott Chelsea Houses Resident Association et al v. New York City Housing Authority. With over 70 passionate individuals turning out to support our community, including 35 inside the courtroom and more than 40 outside, it was a powerful reminder of what we can achieve together! Case Filings https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=kK7Hu2x7F/WSPg0sKITBQA==&display=all
• We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Greg Cohen for his exceptional support, professional development, and invaluable advice to our MSCC Funding Committee this past November 2024. Your mentorship and guidance mean the world to us! Greg has generously provided comprehensive reading materials for the MSCC Funding Committee, available upon request. We’re also looking for passionate volunteers to join our committee! We meet four times a year, with our first meeting scheduled for 4:00 PM on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, on Zoom. If you’re interested in making a difference, we’d love to have you on board! Email John.mudd@usa.net or sharon@jasprizza.com.au for details. 
• A big shoutout to Richard Yao for stepping up and applying to the TD Bank Foundation on behalf of MSCC on November 16, 2025! Thanks to Nancy Pascal for introducing Richard to our amazing team. Your efforts in building capacity at the agency are truly appreciated and will make a significant impact. Let’s keep pushing forward together! 

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION(S) AND OR UPDATES: 

Alex Yong, WSNA NYC, RTC, Member of the End Apartment Warehousing Coalition

• 20th Annual Westside Tenant Conference is December 6th. It is open to all tenants, not just Westside tenants. Keynote Speaker: State Attorney General Letitia James. Possible Appearance: Mayor-elect Zoram Ahmdani. From 10 AM to 3 PM, with 6 workshops spread across 3 floors at Fordham Law School. An official table will be set up to raise funds and educate attendees.
• Conference on Affordability Crisis on December 10th. It focuses on the affordability crisis facing New York’s older adults. 8 AM to 10:45 AM, both in-person and online. Speakers: New York State Director of AARP, Queensborough President, President and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, President and CEO of the United Way, NYC, and more. the host is Center for an Urban Future. Topics include Surge in older adults living in poverty, with over 18% of New Yorkers aged 65 and above living below the poverty line. Nearly 20% of adults report no income from Social Security, and many seniors work past retirement age to survive.
• Documentary Screening on December 13th of “A Home Worth Fighting For” by filmmaker Natasha Florentino at The People’s Forum at 5:30 PM.
• Homeless Persons Day of Observance Memorial on December 18th, which is the winter solstice to remember those who have passed away due to homelessness or unstable housing. Includes a meal at 4:30 PM, followed by music, reading of names, viewing of artwork, and more. The program begins at 5:30 PM.
• Happy Hour Fundraiser: December 21st at the Purple Tongue Restaurant from 3 PM to 6 PM at 410 West 43rd Street.

Leonard Polletta, MSCC

• Thursday, December 4th, 2025, there are two separate, but related court hearings scheduled at 71 Thomas Street in Lower Manhattan. Both hearings are part of the community’s legal fight to stop the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) from demolishing the Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses. The situation is complex, involving multiple lawsuits and a significant logistical challenge regarding courtroom space.
• Hearing 1: The Main Anti-Demolition Lawsuit at 9:30 AM. Plaintiffs The FEC Group Against Demolition and the Elliott Chelsea Tenants Council v Defendant the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The plaintiffs are arguing that NYCHA’s plan to demolish 22 buildings within the Elliott-Chelsea and Fulton Houses complex is illegal. They claim it violates two key laws: 1. Public Housing Law is not in compliance with state regulations governing public housing.  2. Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). It is a critical city process that requires public review and approval for major land use changes. The argument is that NYCHA did not properly follow this legally mandated process. Objective of the Hearing; This is a hearing on the lawsuit itself, where the judge will hear arguments from both sides regarding the legality of the demolition plan.
• Hearing 2: The Tenants’ Eviction/Holdover Cases at 10:30 AM (before the same judge, Robert Cohen) Plaintiff: The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) v Defendants: Approximately 17 to 25 senior tenants who are living in one of the buildings first targeted for demolition and have refused to leave their homes. The core legal situation is NYCHA has filed individual “summonses” (essentially eviction or holdover proceedings) against these remaining tenants to force them to vacate their apartments so the building can be demolished. Objective of the Hearing is all these individual tenant cases have been “consolidated,” meaning they are being heard together in a single proceeding. The judge will be addressing the Housing Authority’s action to remove these long-term residents from their homes.
• The courthouse at 71 Thomas Street has very small courtrooms, unlike the larger courthouses on Centre Street. This creates a major problem for community access. At a previous hearing, about 75 tenants and supporters showed up. However, the courtroom was so small that about half of them were forced to wait in the hallway and could not see or hear what was happening. There was also no livestream available, leaving them completely in the dark. An attorney for the tenants, Hill Gardner, formally wrote to the judge’s clerk requesting a larger courtroom to accommodate the expected crowd and ensure public access to these critical proceedings. It was unclear if the request for a larger room would be granted. The hearing was still scheduled for the small courtroom at 71 Thomas Street.
• Additional lawsuits are being prepared for filing in **federal court. This would be a new legal front in the fight, separate from the state-level actions happening on December 4th.
• To proceed with at least one of these federal lawsuits, additional funds are required. The legal team needs to be paid to continue the fight. The Chelsea Public Housing Legal Defense Fund has launched another fundraising appeal to help cover these legal costs. The timing is aligned with Giving Tuesday to encourage donations. The goal is to raise enough money to “keep our lawyers paid so that we can keep the fight.”

Karen Ortiz is running for office as an independent in New York’s 12th district

• Lives in Chelsea, next to Chelsea Bolton Housing, and was initially unaware of the extent of local issues. Karen is forming a coalition with other independent candidates across the country to identify impactful areas, with housing being a primary focus.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN AMERICAS SYMPOSIUM 

Rob Robinson is senior advisor at Partners in Dignity and Rights, and a human rights movement-builder with roots in New York City and networks worldwide. Agenda

Human Rights Watch: Tenant Never Wins

• Formerly homeless individual who spent two and a half years on the streets of Miami and 10 months in a New York City homeless shelter. He began organizing with Picture the Homeless around 2006-2007 and has focused on homelessness and housing issues globally.
• He recently participated in a Symposium on Human Rights at the University of Miami Law School and parallel hearings with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He highlighted the presence of key figures at the symposium, including Eric Taj, Sarah Paoletti, and Jameel Dakwar, with whom he previously worked on international human rights issues. He critiqued the U.S. Constitution as flawed, contrasting it with modern constitutions like Brazil’s, which mandates land serve a social function. He discussed the negative impacts of major sporting events on communities, such as the displacement of public housing due to the Olympics. He shared powerful stories from the symposium, including an art display by the Redline collective and the testimony of Brisa D’Angeulo, a survivor of incestual violence in Bolivia. He reported on a specific hearing on homelessness with the Inter-American Commission, which promised to write to U.S. governments about the issue.
• He mentioned a separate meeting with Javier Palumo Lantes, a commissioner on economic, social, and cultural rights, who was surprised by New York City’s spending on homelessness versus housing and expressed interest in visiting. He noted that official visits from such figures often require State Department approval, which is unlikely, so they are planning alternative invitations through law schools or community groups.
• He confirmed a 2 PM conference call with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Rajagopal Balakrishnan and who is also committed to visiting New York.
• He advocated for a shift in focus from civil rights to human rights, arguing that civil law is flawed because it is based on a constitution that excluded marginalized groups.
• He used examples like segregated bathrooms and water shutoffs in Detroit and Flint to illustrate the limitations of civil law. He ended by emphasizing the importance of human rights law and promised to keep the coalition updated on potential visits from international officials.
• The discussion about public housing on the Friday meeting was with Javier Palummo Lantes, who became on September 1, 2023, the Special Rapporteurship on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
• He clarified that while he doesn’t live in public housing, he is involved behind the scenes and teaches about the issues at The New School. A student is planning a thesis project on public housing after learning from activists like Layla and Luana. A strategy to influence the mayor-elect by leveraging his connections with international figures is that the UN Special Rapporteur, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, knows the mayor-elect’s father and had already attempted to make contact but received a canned response. So, the plan is to “put our foot on the gas” now that the election is over and to “infiltrate his administration” to raise the idea of human rights. It is proposed using the existing NYC Commission on Human Rights as a point of leverage to hold the city accountable for its treatment of housing and homelessness. The goal is to be effective within the new administration’s first 100 days by bringing international rapporteurs to New York to spark a different type of conversation. A systemic change is required as the shelter system is broken. The power of storytelling as data demonstrates systemic problems. The Housing First model has over 90% success rate with a group in Lisbon, Portugal, and Finland’s achievement of “functional zero” homelessness.
• The U.S. approach of requiring people to be “fixed” before receiving housing needs to be push backed. Public housing needs to be true social safety net instead of being handed over to the market.

DISCUSSION

• Leonard Polletta asked how to bring the issue of the “homeless industrial complex” to the attention of the new mayor and his housing transition team. The team consists of housing advocates who hold a “supply-side kind of Reaganomics issue” perspective and may support the “City of Yes” and demolition projects that would work to the disadvantage of public housing. The mayor-elect may be supportive of them. It’s important to proceed to get the mayor-elect’s attention and “disabuse him of that notion.”
• Luana Green connected the criminalization of homelessness to the criminalization of NYCHA residents.
• Alex Yong asked if Rob could bring the concept of Housing First and supportive housing to the mayor-elect’s attention and asked for comments on the fact that not all supportive housing subscribes to the Housing First model.
• Rob Robinson said the UN Special Rapporteur, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, knows the mayor-elect’s father and had already attempted to make contact but received a canned response and is planning to raise the idea of human rights. He proposed using the existing NYC Commission on Human Rights as a point of leverage to hold the city accountable for its treatment of housing and homelessness. He emphasized the goal is to be effective within the new administration’s first 100 days by bringing international rapporteurs to New York to spark a different type of conversation.

POLICE REFORM & PUBLIC SAFETY

Brett Stoudt is a professor and co-author of We Deserve to be Safe (as part of Communities United for Police Reform & the Public Science Project), a report that explores how New Yorkers living in heavily policed communities. The report is a multi-method study conducted with Communities United for Police Reform, involving over 3,300 New Yorkers in heavily policed neighborhoods. 

Key Findings:

1. Policing is Experienced as Pervasive and Harmful:

73% of respondents understood the NYPD as a constant or frequent presence in their community.

56% felt unsafe with the NYPD’s presence at times.

73% had direct contact with the NYPD in their lives, and 54% reported unwanted contact.

72% reported experiencing varying degrees of harm from the NYPD, including:

 A third had physically violent encounters (hit, slapped, choked, punched).

 19% experienced bigoted, sexist, or racist language.

 9% experienced sexual violence (assault or inappropriate touching).

2: Community Safety is Rooted in Investment, Not Enforcement

When asked what is needed for safe communities, 62% of responses did not include police, prisons, or the legal system.

When asked to allocate $100 to safety priorities, 62% did not allocate any money to the police

45% gave the police $0, and 51% gave the justice system $0, indicating no priority.

56% agreed that policing is too large in size, scope, and power.

The top priorities for creating safety were housing, education, and food.

71% of participants believed at least one non-police option did more to reduce violence than the NYPD.

55% agreed to change budget priorities to fund non-policing services.

52% believed they would be safer if NYPD funding was reduced and moved to community-based programs.

There was 100% agreement across the study on the need for housing, healthcare, jobs, public schools, and food to create safety.

3: Police are Ineffective as Helpers, and Alternatives are Preferred

62% of respondents reported at least one negative experience when seeking help from the NYPD.

Over half of those who sought police help for intimate partner violence or sexual assault reported a troubling experience.

Over a third of participants were in a serious situation where they chose not to call the police and handled it themselves, often due to fear of being harmed.

68% who avoided calling the police were worried the NYPD would harm them.

85% wanted alternatives to the NYPD for emergencies to some degree.

61% indicated that community-based, non-police gun violence prevention programs (like Cure Violence) should be a high priority.

Regarding mental health crises: Over half agreed the NYPD makes mental health situations worse. 77% did not want the NYPD as first responders for a serious mental health crisis involving themselves or a loved one. Over half of those who had a mental health crisis where 911 was called desired non-police options. Respondents preferred help from medics and trained crisis counselors.

DISCUSSION

• Leonard Polletta emphasizes that the struggle against policing is not just about addressing its physical presence but also about combating its powerful ideological influence. Two books, ‘Policing White Supremacy’ by Mike German and ‘Copaganda’ by Alec Karakatsanis, illustrate this point. It is argued police departments actively use their budgets—spending thousands or even millions of dollars—on public relations campaigns to promote the narrative that police are necessary. The ideological effort to sell the idea of policing to the community must be exposed and challenged as part of the broader movement. 

Trudy Rudnick is a key organizer from Chelsea Neighbors United and Hands Off NYC, noting their roles in labor activism and community organizing.

• Described the formation of Chelsea Neighbors United, a coalition of Penn South residents, Rise and Resist members, and other activists, to combat ICE raids and support immigrant communities. The group’s rapid response efforts include stopping a planned ICE raid in NYC through coordinated neighborhood mobilization. 
• Formation of Hands-Off NYC is a coalition which began forming about a year ago, uniting groups from the “No Kings” marches, 50501, Indivisible, unions (CWA, 1199), and the New York Immigration Coalition. The goal was to create a plan to fight back against anticipated Trump administration policies, including troop deployment and increased ICE raids in NYC. It took about 6 months to develop agreed-upon principles for fighting ICE, which are available on the Hands-Off NYC website.
• The Neighborhood Group Strategy is a key strategy, inspired by events in Charlotte, to form neighborhood groups in every area to actively resist ICE operations.
• Hands-Off NYC successfully mobilized these groups to stop a planned mass raid in NYC, where 15-20 vans were prepared to deploy to various neighborhoods.
• The Formation of Chelsea Neighbors United group was formed by combining existing organizing power from the PennSouth community (organized by the ILGWU since 1962), members of Rise and Resist, and people from the recent Zoran campaign. This created a “perfect storm” of experienced organizers ready to act.
• The operations and communication involved the Chelsea Neighbors United group, which is an affiliated group of Hands-Off NYC where the primary mode of communication is through the Signal app for privacy, with numerous chats for different community and rapid response teams. Emails are still used for broader event announcements to reach people not on Signal. The training and growth involved the first Manhattan-wide Hands-Off training and which had 800 participants. There is also a Brooklyn-wide training where 1,000 people have already registered. These events serve as both training and a way to break out into smaller, community-specific groups.
• The organizing philosophy can be described as a process as “building the plane while it’s in the air,” highlighting the rapid, on-the-fly nature of their work. They are actively trying to move their 400-person mailing list into more involved, smaller committees. The national scope of the whistle campaign is growing with suppliers reporting sending out 5 million whistles across the country.

Margarita Aguilar is another key organizer from Chelsea Neighbors United and Hands Off NYC, noting their roles in labor activism and community organizing.

• Discussed Chelsea Neighbors United’s outreach strategies, including distributing whistle cards with instructions for signaling ICE presence and reporting via a hotline. The group benefited from the pre-existing activist history of the PennSouth community and the momentum from the Zoran campaign. The group started its work in early November by calling a Zoom meeting, which attracted about 50 people from their email list, community boards, and political clubs. 
• Their first action was on November 15th, when about 50 people canvassed 12 locations throughout Chelsea. This initial effort successfully recruited 150 new members. Important tools and tactics include The Whistle Card which is a two-sided 4×6 “whistle card” to distribute to neighbors. The card explains the whistle signal system: three short beeps to signal ICE presence in the area, and one long tweet for an arrest. It also teaches the SALUTE acronym for documenting incidents: (Size, Actions, Location, Uniform, Time, Equipment) for documenting ICE encounters effectively. Information is reported to a hotline (currently in English and Spanish). The business canvassing involves a canvassing effort with 70 people to educate local businesses on how to protect their workers. Key advice included creating a “private area” in the business, as ICE cannot enter without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. They explained the difference between a judicial warrant and other types of warrants. Business owners were very receptive to this information. The business canvassing efforts are important as they educate owners on creating private areas to protect workers and distinguishing judicial warrants from other documents.
• The group’s growth is rapid with 150 new members from initial outreach and plans for further training and mass meetings. The importance of multilingual materials and the collaborative nature of their work are crucial. and leveraging skills from union organizing and graphic design are important. Flyers were printed in English, Spanish, and Mandarin, with help from an Indivisible group. Graphics for the flyers and whistle cards were designed by Jay and Margarita herself, who has a background in union graphic design.
• Planning another street canvassing action for December 13. Organizing a mass meeting on the 15th at St. Peter’s on West 20th Street for further Know Your Rights training and to expand the rapid response list.
• New neighborhood groups are forming by the day, including one in the Flatiron area and growing interest in Staten Island.

DISCUSSION

• John Mudd offered support for training sessions and inquired about the design and creation of promotional materials.
• Leonard Polletta commented on the ideological dimensions of policing, referencing books like “Policing White Supremacy” and “Copaganda” to highlight the role of police PR in shaping public perception. There is a need to review the NYPD’s public relations efforts and their ideological impact on communities. Leonard authored legislation 50 years ago for community policing, and the long-standing struggle against police violence dating back to slave-catching origins. Copaganda defined as a special kind of propaganda employed by police, prosecutors, and news media that stokes fear of police-recorded crime and distorts society’s responses to it. https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.26193040
• Alex Yong directed attendees to download shared materials from the chat, ensuring access to flyers and resources.
• Luana Green discussed the collective work addressing disenfranchisement and the administration’s targeting of communities of color. She acknowledged the scary trajectory of the country but found hope in the boots-on-the-ground efforts of organizers.
• Robert Robinson connected Hands Off NYC to existing eviction defense rapid response networks and offered to facilitate introductions to groups like the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project. He highlighted the technical skills of young organizers in these networks and mentioned collaboration with retired priest Frank Morales on sanctuary efforts.
• Miriam Fisher shared a personal experience of dismissive police response to obscene calls, highlighting sexism and lack of appropriate training. She questioned alternatives to police for safety in such situations, underscoring the broader issue of police inadequacy in addressing community needs.

CHATBOX

• Charisma White discussed ongoing bathroom issues in her community. She mentioned feeling displaced and harassed at a bus stop with some school kids. She emphasized the need for her community to be reinstated and mentioned having boots on the ground for their cause. 
• Caitlin Cahill confirmed that Rob Robinson is part of the Coalition and shared multiple links related to housing advocacy, public housing legal defense, and studies on policing and community safety. Follow the Stop FEC Demolition : https://www.instagram.com/stopfecdemolition/, https://laylalawgisiko.substack.com/p/nycha-is-suing-chelsea-seniors-for, https://citylimits.org/opinion-the-david-vs-goliath-battle-over-public-land-in-chelsea/, https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing. https://www.changethenypd.org/

https://publicscienceproject.org/, https://deserve2bsafe.commons.gc.cuny.edu/. A better link to download the study at https://tinyurl.com/4bbt5x6k, https://www.changethenypd.org/, https://publicscienceproject.org/

https://deserve2bsafe.commons.gc.cuny.edu/. Here is a better link to download the study at https://tinyurl.com/4bbt5x6k, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/29/nyregion/ice-raids-protests-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5k8.M7jx.XXoOwDNMtAlH&smid=url-share. Jay was quoted following the ICE raid in Lower Manhattan: “We’re going to have to “keep improving tactics and we’re going to have to do what communities all over the country have done, which is to stand up,”

• Roberta Gelb reached out to John regarding Rob Robinson’s involvement in the NYCHA demolition fight, noting that she had contacted him multiple times without a response. She also shared details about upcoming events and supported the fight against public housing demolition. 
• Robert Robinson thanked Alex and discussed the importance of housing first policies. He provided his contact information (rob.robinson423@gmail.com, 646-509-9986) and expressed gratitude for the support and informative studies shared. He also mentioned the need to address the “shelter industrial complex” in NYC and advocated for a “right to housing.” He thanked Brett for his informative study and mentioned that he had already downloaded the reports.
• Alex Yong shared details for the following: 1. Pack the court – Judge Cohen – Thursday Dec. 4th – 9:30 AM – 71 Thomas Street lower Manhattan 2. The 20th Annual West Side Tenants Conference on December 6th at 150 West 62nd Street. 3. “The Affordability Crisis Facing NYC’s Older Adults”, Dec. 10, 8AM to 10:45 AM, general contact: Sophia Tumolo STumolo@nycfuture.org, in-person at 44 Charlton St., but also livestreamed if you can’t go in-person. 4. Saturday, December 13th, 5:30 PM, documentary screening of “A Home Worth Fighting For” by filmmaker Natasha Florentino, at The Peoples Forum, 320 W. 37 St, florentino.films@gmail.com. 

https://peoplesforum.org/events/film-screening-a-home-worth-fighting-for/ 5. Festive fundraiser for StopFECdemolition, Dec. 21, 3PM to 6PM at the Purple Tongue, 410 West 43rd St, email us for the flyer: hello@midtownsouthcc.org. 6. More info by Rob Robinson who explains “Housing First” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS2jy0Gli_g&list=PLALpzdmeHdvrHrqzq0M0RTsXjJj6MKg0O

• Miriam Fisher introduced herself as part of the Elevator Action Group and Rise & Resist, highlighting their successes in getting the MTA to approve elevators in subways and improving bus stops. She mentioned her work with Jesse Greenwald on anti-ICE protests in Chelsea.
• Luana Green greeted Karen Ortiz and discussed keeping the group in the loop. She thanked Brett for his study on the reduction of supportive services in communities of color and emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of violence. She also expressed her excitement about an event at St. Peter’s and provided her contact information.
• Karen Ortiz expressed her gratitude for meeting Luana Green at the People’s Agenda and agreed to keep the group informed. She also shared her excitement about an event at St. Peter’s and provided her contact information (karunny@gmail.com). She supported various initiatives discussed and mentioned the need to put people to work.
• Lili Lopez introduced herself as an Outreach Specialist for NY Connects at CIDNY, providing services for people with disabilities. She shared PDFs related to NY Connects and offered her contact information (646-457-5364, 646-809-1071, llopez@cidny.org) for assistance with housing applications, SNAP applications, SSI applications, benefits applications, and Medicaid applications. She also provided the NY Connects hotline number (844-862-7930). 
• John Mudd provided his phone number (917-520-3009) for Jay to call and be put on speaker. He confirmed that Brett has sharing capabilities and is now a co-host. He also discussed logistics with Alex regarding his farm office and provided advice on staying unmuted during the meeting. He mentioned that he had a logistics question for Alex regarding his 53rd Street farm office.
• Margarita Aguilar-Chelsea Neighbors United shared a link to the Hands Off NYC website (www.handsoffnyc.com), indicating her involvement in community advocacy and housing rights.
• Luana Green pointed out enforcement actions like ICE raids target specific neighborhoods and workplaces where people of color are concentrated and that the current political trajectory of the country is “very scary.” Luana emphasized the critical importance of “boots on the ground” work from everyone involved, stating that without it, “we’re in big trouble.”
• Robert Robinson spoke about the existence of many “eviction defense rapid response networks” throughout New York City and suggested that connecting with these networks would expand Chelsea Neighbors United’s reach to a citywide level. Rob described these networks as being coordinated by young people with strong technical skills who work in the tech industry but are dedicated to improving their communities. Rob offered to make introductions to specific groups, including the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project and the Housing Data Coalition, and provided his email and phone number in the chat for follow-up. Rob’s work with Frank Morales, a retired Episcopal priest and longtime Lower East Side squatter, is also well-connected to these networks and the concept of using community spaces as sanctuaries.
• Caitlin Cahill highlighted the interconnectedness of various activist fronts, including ICE resistance, public housing defense, and eviction prevention, and posed the question of how to better “interweave” these efforts and asked Brett Stoudt to elaborate on his work related to “SUS surveillance” and the concept of “watching the watchers” and how the police surveil protesters and how communities can, in turn, monitor the police.
• Brett Stoudt outlined three current projects that have evolved from his research, all related to divesting from policing and countering surveillance. Project 1 (Bronx): Partnering with the Drug Policy Alliance in the Bronx’s Echo Park to reimagine the response to issues involving houseless individuals and drug use. The goal is to move toward an investment-based model rather than a criminalizing, police-led one. Project 2 (Asbury Park): Collaborating with the Innocence Project to legally challenge the concept of “innocence” on a community level. The project argues that heavy surveillance technology, like Shot Spotters, effectively deems entire communities guilty, and seeks to establish a legal framework for community-level innocence. Project 3 (Protest Monitoring): Working with the NYCLU, Legal Aid, and the Attorney General’s office on a “sousveillance” (surveilling the surveillers) initiative following a lawsuit over the policing of 2020 protests. They are building an app to train approximately 250 protest monitors to document police behavior at demonstrations. The app will be used to evaluate whether the NYPD adheres to new, legally required tiers for responding to First Amendment activities. The collected data will be used to hold police accountable, support legal action, and work with the Inspector General.
• Caitlin Cahill connected the idea of documenting police infractions to existing initiatives like ICE Watch and Police Watch and pointed out the specific example of the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group working with ICE over the weekend as a critical infraction to document. Caitlin noted the importance of building social infrastructure for both documentation and community organizing as a means of “keeping ourselves safe. Caitlin’s reminders for the committee included: Giving Tuesday and encouraged donations to abolitionist organizations, Hands-Off NYC, and the Chelsea Public Housing Legal Defense Fund and upcoming events: a court support appearance on Thursday at 9:30 AM, the Westside Tenants Association Conference on Saturday, and Hands-Off NYC trainings in Brooklyn.
• Miriam Fisher spoke about a story of receiving obscene, threatening phone calls at 4 a.m. while alone in her Chelsea apartment and after seeking help from the 10th Precinct, officers were dismissive and sexist, suggesting it might be a “rejected boyfriend” and falsely claiming they couldn’t trace cell phone calls. The growing fear and isolation and not wanting to worry her husband who was away, meant taking her phone off the hook at night. The issue was resolved when another victim in a different precinct, who was a lawyer, had their police department successfully track the caller via his cell phone. The two victims connected, and the caller was identified as someone with significant emotional difficulties who was mandated to receive counseling. This story illustrates that police dismissiveness and sexism happen everywhere, even in a neighborhood like Chelsea and raises the broader question of what alternatives exist for seeking safety in such situations, questioning both the training police receive and the idea of calling the police at all.

NEXT Meeting Homeless and Housing Meeting: 9:30 AM Tuesday, January 6, 2026. Always the 1st Tuesday of every month. Contact hello@midtownsouthcc.org or john.mudd@usa.net for more information and Zoom invitations.