New York, NY (1888PressRelease)
May 18, 2008 - Brooklyn, NY - Several hundred families and members of Families United for Racial & Economic Equality (FUREE) held their annual convention to demand elected officials and candidates to respond to policies that affect low income families today. Speakers addressed the displacement of low income families and small businesses due to massive development in Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene, the shutting down of family day care centers, lack of quality affordable food and affordable housing, lack of jobs for youth and other issues that primarily affect low income families. The convention was held at PS 67 at 51 Edwards Street in Fort Greene Brooklyn.
Council Members Charles Barron and Leticia James; Assembly Members Hakeem Jeffries and Joseph Lentol as well as Senator Velmanette Montgomery appeared to answer questions and address members’ demands with an audience of over 400 residents, small business owners, day care providers and Brooklyn youth.
Emcee Lillian Hamilton explained, “Right now, in Fort Greene and Downtown, we are organizing to preserve quality affordable housing, prevent displacement and create economic opportunities for residents as our neighborhood has become a city-wide destination and luxury houses and skyrocketing rent are dislocating long time residents and small businesses. We’re also working to save family day care centers and make sure that family day care providers, who work so hard raising our city’s future, get the respect and pay that they deserve. We also have a strong youth organizing project that is working to build power for young people, and our voter engagement project to make sure the community votes.” Hamilton is a FUREE member and Fort Greene resident for over 20 years.
Hamilton referred to the 2004 Downtown Brooklyn Plan which drastically rezoned Downtown Brooklyn and parts of nearby Fort Greene to allow for massive development. The plan called for 5.4 million square feet of “upscale” office and retail at the Fulton Mall, a busy, successful retail district that caters to low and middle income Brooklynites, particularly from the Black and Latino communities.
“I live in an apartment building on Albee Square West. Since the City said they were gonna take down our building, everything has changed for us. The city doesn’t think about what we’re gonna do with our families. They think about how great their ideas will come up, how much money they’re gonna get,” explained Martiza Mendez, FUREE Member who is working to obtain relocation assistance for approximately 40 evicted families from her block.
Loss of services in the area hit seniors and those with mobility hardships the hardest. Member Mozella McCadney, a 65-year-old Ingersoll Houses resident for 43 years told elected officials in attendance, “We have seniors here, and it’s really hard for seniors to get around. They are terrified of losing their homes. We need the pharmacies, supermarkets, cleaners. It’s very frightening to look around and see that everything is gone.”
Since the 2004 rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn, a number of small businesses were evicted to make way for luxury development in the area. Carlos Espinoza, co-owner of Tio Pio told the audience, “The rezoning contained no protections for small businesses at all, even though many of us have been here for years, and have been part of building Downtown Brooklyn into the City’s 3rd most profitable retail district in New York City.” Espinoza continued, “Many of us were here before anyone else wanted to invest in this neighborhood. Corporations, city government and the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership caused more than 100 small businesses to be forced out –from Albee Square mall to Willoughby, Bridge and Lawrence Streets.”
Although development was a theme, candidates were questioned on other issues as well. Teresa Delagado and Carmen Garcia spoke on state safety policies that did not take the housing stock of New York City into account. Such policies are threatening and forcing hundreds of city family based day care centers to close. Closures decrease access to affordable community child care for thousands of low income and working families. Day care provider and FUREE member Garcia stated, “We are demanding that the representatives of our neighborhoods support us by proposing a revision to these regulations so that we can continue offering this quality service and work with dignity keeping in mind that we are providing the best service to our communities.”
FUREE is currently organizing for relocation assistance for family day care centers in danger of closing due to state egress policies. There are nearly 10,000 licensed family day care providers in New York City who care for about 50,000 children who receive subsidies based on their parents’ low-income.
Clayton Williams, a 16 year old FUREE youth member spoke on youth issues. “We have been surveying youth across Brooklyn to identify the issues that are most important to us. More than 300 youth representing over 30 high schools and junior high schools feel that lack of available jobs for youth, lack of school safety, harassment by police in schools and in their neighborhoods, and lack of college preparation from their schools are the biggest issues keeping us from succeeding. We would like the support from all of our elected officials every step of the way. We may be young, but we have a voice and we demand to be heard. And we’re future voters,” continued Williams., reminding elected officials that youth are taking notice of their ability to change public policy.
A march down Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn led by the Dr. Susan McKinney Marching band will follow the forum to protest lack of community involvement in upcoming development plans. Led by a 30-person youth marching band, over 400 families will march holding signs that will say “Development for our People, Not Your Profit,” and “Keep Brooklyn Diverse.” The march will stop at the former Albee Square Mall which was closed to build a 60-story luxury condominium, evicting over 20 small businesses.
FUREE is a Brooklyn-based, multi-racial member-led organization that organizes low-income and working families to build collective power to win systemic changes locally, state-wide and nationally.
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