Community Voices Heard

Low-Income Residents Speak Out Against $159 in Tax Money Spent on Luxury Housing

CVH Press Conferance In Front of City Hall

On Tuesday, April 29th about 40 Community Voices Heard members in Yonkers spoke out against City Hall's plans to use millions of city tax dollars to subsidize the development of luxury apartments and stores. Prior to a public hearing held by the City Council on the Steuver Fidelco Capelli (SFC) development planned for Getty Square, CVH members held a press conference demanding that the project include housing and jobs for low-income families, so that they would not be displaced.

After packing into the crowded hearing, three CVH members gave testimony and asked City Council members to attend a community forum planned for June. CVH members held up signs during the testimonies and at the end chanted "brick by brick, wall by wall, build a city for us all!" The CVH press conference and testimonies were covered by the Journal News and Channel 12 News. Click the links below to see the press release and members' testimonies.

Long-term Residents March to City Hall to Demand Inclusion of Low-Income Housing and Jobs for Local Residents in Development

Tonight low-income residents of Yonkers and members of Community Voices Heard marched to City Hall to demand that the city include housing and jobs for low-income families in the plans for development in Getty’s Square, and that no more public housing will be demolished in Yonkers.

Even though the temperature was below freezing and the snow was so bad that many buses stopped running, CVH members still marched to City Hall. We held a press conference where members gave testimony about the need for low-income Yonkers residents to have a say in the decisions affecting their lives. Adrienne Knight, a member of Community Voices Heard and resident of the Schlobohm public housing development explained why the group was out tonight, “We are here today to demand that the city invest in public housing and low-income housing – and not tear any more down. We are dropping keys off today at City Hall because we don’t want to be locked out – we are the residents of Yonkers and we have a say.”

CVH Holds New Orleans Style Funeral March to Target Obama and Clinton

This afternoon, Community Voices Heard Members from Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, and all 5 boroughs of New York City joined together for a New Orleans style funeral march to highlight the crisis facing low-income people that have been displaced from their homes in New Orleans and around the country. The group called on Senators Clinton and Obama, democratic candidates running for president, to discuss issues facing low-income people around the country—such as improving public housing and creating good jobs—in their debates and campaign speeches. Dressed in black, carrying black umbrellas and carrying a coffin, we marched on Hillary Clinton’s campaign office in midtown and then traveled to Columbus Circle where we held a press conference.

Spitzer Overlooks Public Housing in State of State Address

This afternoon New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer gave his State of the State Address. In his address, the governor committed to invest $400 million in a housing opportunity fund to build affordable housing for teachers, police officers, the elderly and disabled. While this represents a significant step towards addressing the affordable housing crisis in New York, some low-income New Yorkers are disappointed that Governor’s did not mention the critical need to invest in the existing affordable housing stock in New York, such as public housing.

City Wide Public Housing Rally

Yesterday we held the City Wide Public Housing Rally with the support of: Elected Officials: Council Member Rosie Mendez, Chair of Public Housing Subcommittee, District 2 and Melissa Mark Viverito, District 8. Unions: Teamsters Local 237, District Council 37 (DC 37). Community Groups: Community Voices Heard (CVH), Good Old Lower East Side/Public Housing Residents of the Lower East Side (GOLES/PHROLES), East River Development Alliance (ERDA), Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), Mother’s on the Move (MOM), New York City Public Housing Resident’s Alliance, Red Hook Initiative.

Public Housing Residents Seize New Orleans Government Office

Public Housing residents from around the country have just taken over the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO). The public building that they have occupied has been surrounded by the National Guard, the New Orleans Police, including a SWAT team. It is now two years after Katrina and New Orleans public housing residents are still prevented from returning to their homes. Public housing residents and advocates from Miami, New Orleans, Georgia, Texas, Rhode Island, Chicago, California, and New York have taken over the HANO offices at 4100 Touro St. to demand that public housing, both in New Orleans and around the country, is saved, preserved, and expanded. Alexa Kasdan, our Policy & Research Associate, is inside the building representing Community Voices Heard.

Grassroots Global Justice Delegation Travels to New Orleans to Support International Tribunal and Survivor’s Assembly

Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Grassroots Global Justice members will travel to New Orleans to provide logistical support for the International Tribunal and 2nd Survivor’s Assembly. Community Voices Heard and other member groups of the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance will be traveling to New Orleans to provide support.

Press Release from Governer Spitzer, He Signed the Shelter Allowance Bill!

Here is the press release that was just put out by Governor Elliot Spitzer. He has just signed the Shelter Allowance bill that Community Voices Heard has been pushing for him to sign. This bill will provide an additional $47 million in funding annually to NYCHA.

Elected Officials Take First-Hand Look at NYC Public Housing Conditions on Resident-Led Tour of Developments

This morning, public housing residents who are also members of Community Voices Heard took elected officials through the buildings, apartments, and grounds of Wagner and Drew Hamilton Houses, both public housing developments in East and Central Harlem.

The tour highlighted dilapidated playgrounds, bathrooms without walls and burnt-out hallways, conditions that exist, residents say, due to diminishing government resources for public housing. The group ended the tour with a press conference where public housing residents, elected officials and union leadership called on Governor Spitzer to sign the shelter allowance bill (S.4329/A.7905) which would significantly increase state funding to NYCHA.

Long Term Residents of Yonkers Guide State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins on a Day Living in Poverty

Today, low-income residents of Yonkers who are also members of Community Voices Heard guided State Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins through a day of living in poverty. Residents took the Senator to several sites to show her the struggles they face as low-income people and ended the day by proposing solutions that she can take to address the problems presented to her.

Research Report “Failure to Comply” Finds Implementation Flaws in $200 Million City Program

According to the report we released this morning, the approximately $66.6 million per year that the Human Resources Administration (HRA) allocated to a program to serve an annual 45,600 public assistance recipients with barriers to employment, is neither addressing their barriers nor helping them move towards self-sufficiency. New York City Council Member Bill de Blasio, Chair of the General Welfare Committee introduced the report at today’s press conference. He said, "This is about accountability. WeCARE is intended to help people with complex or multiple disabilities reach their maximum level of self-sufficiency."

Low-Income New Yorkers React to the Release of Plan by Mayor’s Commission for Economic Opportunity

At 12:00 today, the Mayor’s Commission for Economic Opportunity released its plan on how to reduce poverty in New York City. The Commission, which was established in March 2006, was to release its plan by Labor Day 2006. Following the release of the plan, members of Community Voices Heard responded to the content and future steps of this final plan. Members of the group are calling on Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs to create a strong plan to monitor and evaluate the Commission’s work and to include low-income New Yorkers in the monitoring process.

On Day Census Bureau Releases Annual Poverty Statistics, Low-Income New Yorkers Call on Mayor Bloomberg’s CEO to offer solutions

At 12:30pm today, shortly after the Census Bureau released its annual poverty statistics, 50 unemployed and low-income New Yorkers, members of Community Voices Heard (CVH), held a press conference to testify about personal experiences living in poverty and to offer recommendations to Mayor Bloomberg’s Commission for Economic Opportunity. On this same day, one year ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast, exposing the economic and racial divide in the United States. The group gathered today, weeks before the Mayor’s Commission is due to release its final plan for poverty reduction, to call attention to the poverty crisis in New York City and demand that the Commission create a bold and concrete plan.