Lets face it, Greenpoint and Williamsburg are not what they used to be. Factories have been replaced with modern lofts, new restaurants, and boutiques. Old tenements and warehouses disappear daily, as luxury condos spring up in their place. Unfortunately, the economic and cultural transformation of this neighborhood is leaving behind the very residents which have sustained this community thru its more difficult times and who have also contributed to its most recent revitalization. With rents doubling and landlord harassment on the rise, tenant advocacy services and community education is often the only recourse that individuals and families have when faced with the possibility of losing their home. Tenant advocates can’t be everywhere at all times — educating people about tenant laws can go a long way towards making sure they are enforced.
At the same time, even local community organizers agree that it’s impossible to ignore the vibrancy and energy of having a diverse community as in Greenpoint/Williamsburg. What is needed is continuity and mutual understanding in the neighborhood; for both new and long-time residents to get to know and appreciate each other. The need to emphasize both the housing needs of our diverse community and to seek common ground between new and old residents has led to the development of the first Greenpoint/Williamsburg Housing Forum.
The forum will be held on Saturday, April 25th from 10am to 4:30pm at Boricua College. 186 N6th. Between Bedford & Driggs. There will be talks by community organizers who grew up in the neighborhood, local politicians addressing the issue of affordable housing, documentary screenings, and workshops on a variety of topics in english, polish and spanish. Check out the full schedule below…
10:30-12:00: Stories from the Neighborhood. By NAG Affordable Housing Group. Community organizers who were born in Greenpoint & Williamsburg talk story about the neighborhood. Speakers include Jim Rodecker who will tell the story of the battle aganist all the illegal dumps and the fight to get the Northside a waterfront park; Carol Kulikowski who will share the powerful story behind the affordable housing units @ Northside Gardens; and Patrick DiCanio who will share the stories behind the Italian immigration to Williamsburg, the Feast every July, and the impact and love the Italian community has for all of the new happenings in our neighborhood.
10:30-11:30: Affordable Housing Opportunities in NYC. By Filip Stabrowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. This workshop will discuss various affordable housing opportunities in NYC, including NYCHA project housing, Mitchell-Lama buildings, affordable housing lotteries, Section 8, SCRIE, and DRIE. Criteria for eligibility and information on how to apply to different programs will be provided.
10:30-12: Neighborhood Project: Community Mapping. Walk-in workshop. By NAG Affordable Housing Group. Do you like maps? Enjoy a nice stroll around the block with your camera? Are you constantly surprised by some new building on the street? Plug into a project to map displacement, new buildings, active and inactive construction sights, neighborhood blight, and other housing and community issues. Become part of the team that is making a community map of Greenpoint & Williamsburg. (This is not a formal, timed workshop but a continual opportunity to learn about the mapping project, meaning you can walk-in during the hours stated. If you can’t make that time, info about the project will be available all day at the NAG community table.)
11:30-12:30: Affordable Housing, Community Preservation, and our Neighborhood. Alison Cordero of St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corp. and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez will discuss the state of affordable housing and the issue of neighborhood preservation in the Greenpoint-Williamsburg community.
12:30-1:30: How to get repairs in your apartment. (English & Spanish) By Jerry Urbaez & Cathy Pinto of Los Sures. Learn your rights as a tenant to live in habitable conditions and what actions you (as an individual and collectively in your building) can take to get the services and repairs you are entitled to. The Warrant of Habitability will be reviewed, tenant initiated Housing Court actions (HP and Article 7A) will be explained as well as rent strike procedures and “repair and deduct” rules.
12:30-1:30: How to form a tenant association. (English & Spanish) Debbie Medina & Annie Vega of Los Sures. Learn your rights as tenants in a building to form a tenant association, to hold meetings in your building, and the advantages to working together to assert your rights for building improvements, and to prevent displacement.
12:30-1:30: Neighborhood project: How to build a better protest. By Kurt Hill of Peoples Firehouse Inc. Learn how to organize a protest and how to make simple props for different actions, like informational picket-lines, sit-ins, rallies, protest marches, etc. This workshop will also cover how to write a press release, how to deal with the media and police, and the permit process for marches and sound equipment.
12:30-1:30: Lo que un inquilino necisita saber (En espanol) By Jacqueline Aristy of St. Nicks.
2-3pm: Community in Action: Screening of “Metropolitan Avenue” Watch an inspiring doc from 1986 about a group of women who strive to combine new roles and old values in our rapidly changing society. This film introduces a group of low-income working class families who must go up against developers who want to bulldoze their neighborhood to put up a shopping mall, an act which would leave many of them without a place to call home. The doc shows what life is like in this close knit neighborhood; the friendships between families, the celebrations, the problems caused by racial tensions, cuts in municipal services, etc. We also see their organized protests and their pleas to various elected officials. In the end their actions save their neighborhood as a group of “traditional’ homemakers from varied ethnic backgrounds rise to the challenge and become leaders in the effort to save their community.
2-3pm: Rent Regulation Primer By Jacek Bikowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. Do you know if your building in rent regulated? If it was built before 1974 and has more than 6 units, there is a large chance that your unit is stabilized. Come learn your rights…
2-3pm: Loft Tenants, Housing Rights, and Community Displacement By the NAG Affordable Housing Group. This workshop will give an overview of the history of live/work loft tenancy in Williamsburgh/Greenpoint, focusing on the extension of the New York City Loft Law to the outer boroughs in the 1980s and subsequesnt court rulings affecting live/work loft tenants.
2-3pm: Guide to Housing Court (English with Polish translation) By Brooklyn Legal Corp A. Learn the basics of housing court.
3:30-4:30pm: Community in Action: The Story of the Berry St. Houses Take-Over By Barbara Schliff of Los Sures. Have you been following the stories of squatters and foreclosures across the country wondering if that could ever happen here…Well, come hear about the last time it went down in Williamsburg. Learn how a successful, but risky community action was conceived and undertaken and the short and long-term results. The Berry St. Houses is an 82-unit NYCHA project located in the Southside of Williamsburg. When it was set to open, the community was not about to allow business as usual regarding waiting lists, quotas, and who would get to live there—they decided to take action to get their fair share of housing…
3:30-4:30pm: What Co-op Shareholders need to Know By Rolando Guzman of St Nicks
3:30-4:30pm: Guide to Housing Court (En espanol) By Brooklyn Legal Corp A. Learn the basics of housing court.
3:30-4:30pm: Rent Regulation Primer in Polish By Jacek Bikowski of North Brooklyn Development Corp. Do you know if your building in rent regulated? If it was built before 1974 and has more than 6 units, there is a large chance that your unit is stabilized. Come learn your rights…
There will also be an all day community “fair” with tables and propoganda from various community groups. Come join the fun and drop in for any part of the day and learn more about the housing issues that affect all of us in the community.