Community

Newspaper

National Mobilization Against

Sweatshops (NMASS)
Lower East Side Workers Center
345 Grand Street, 1E
212. 358. 0295
www.nmass.org

Spring 2015

Extells Racist
Development
Would Make
Lower East Side
Home to the 1%
Rents will skyrocket throughout
the LES/Chinatown

Sheldon Silver: Steals from Poor to Give to Rich

On January 22, 2015, long-time NYS

Since he took office in 1976, Silver has

systematically delayed and quashed plans
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was
arrested for engaging in corrupt schemes to build affordable housing on the Seward
Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA)
and eliciting bribes of over $5.3 million.
where more than 1,800 low-income, maThe U.S. Attorney charged Silver with
receiving huge kickbacks from developers jority Puerto Rican, families were forcibly
like Extell in exchange for hefty tax abate- removed from their LES apartments.
ments through the 421-a program
Then in 2012 Silver backed a deal hatched
which was intended only for developers
who build affordable housing. His record by City Council Member Margaret Chin
and the Bloomberg (continued on p. 3)
of public giveaways is long.
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Whats being built at Pathmark (227 Cherry St.)?

Extell Development Corp. plans to build a 72-story, ul-

tra-luxury tower where Pathmark once stood. In response to

public objections, Extell now says 56. Whatever the number, it
is unacceptable This skyscraper will have hundreds of luxury
units, and amenities such as a basketball court, bowling alley,
golf simulator, Turkish bath, movie theater, and two swimming pools. It will be a gated community.

If Extell is Allowed to Build this Tower, What

Will Happen to Us?
This development will cause the real estate tax and rent to
increase. Food and services will be very
expensive; working families wont be able
to afford them.
Extells tower very likely will be built
with public resources meant for building
low-income housing. Extell has applied for
over $50 million in funds from the state
and federal governments (see side box).
Extells development is racist. Separate
from its luxury tower, Extell will build
a poor door building. This affordable
housing building next door will have
rents higher than many of us can afford.
We will be made outsiders in our own
community.

How our money (public financing) will very

likely be used to fund Extell:
NY State Housing Finance Agency Bonds:
$36,765,425
Low-Income Housing Credit Equity: $11,252,387
421-A: To Be Determined

Harlem is Next
Extell also plans to build on the former site of Pathmark on
125th Street. Extell wants to take our communities. Lets join
together from the LES to Harlem to say Hell no, we wont go!

Is public housing in danger if Extell builds its

luxury tower?
Even if we live in NYCHA now, we are not safe. If we allow
luxury condos at the former Pathmark site its going to bring
in rich people and also raise the property value and rents. It
will result in the removal of public housing and low-income
residents of our community.
City housing officials have already begun selling NYCHA
buildings to put the responsibility of upkeep for the buildings
to for-profit real estate developers in order to raise the rents
and to eliminate tenants
living in public housing!
(e.g. Rutgers
was sold to
Citibank, and
L+M bought
off several including Campos Plaza and
E. 4th Rehab).
Great location,
great profits!
The public housing that were sold are in neighborhoods like
the Lower East Side, where there is a great potential for real
estate prices to go up due to gentrification. Real estate developers are allowed to cherry-pick some of the best NYCHAs
properties.
The biggest red flag in these private take-overs of NYCHA is
that after the deal expires (usually around 30 years), developers will be allowed to turn the units into luxury housing!
The only way to save our homes is to say no to Mayor DeBlasio and Extell. The time has come for us to rise and fight for
our community and our homes!
THE TIME IS NOW!!!!

A Call to Action:

The Lower East Side needs more low-income housing and affordable services, not luxury housing or hotels.
We call on everyone to join and help to organize the community. This racist skyscraper on our waterfront should not be built.
We also ask you to support the Chinatown Working Group rezoning plan to stop displacement and ensure the future development is affordable to low-income families. We need the participation of every single person in this community to make this
happen. Get involved today:

1. Pass along the newspaper!

2. Come to NMASS (345 Grand St) and pick up more newspapers to distribute.

3. Call to find out more about the anti-displacement committee at NMASS at 212-358-0295.
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Sheldon Silver: Steals from the Poor to Give to Rich

(from page 1) Administration to allow
L&M to develop a
huge development
mainly for the rich
on the nine public
lots of SPURA. This
is one of the biggest
ever public land freebies in Manhattan. At
the same time, Silver helped Extell obtain
421-a tax breaks to build luxury buildings like One57, a 90 story skyscraper
that looms over Central Park. He also
gave the green light to Extell to destroy
the Pathmark on Cherry Streetthe

only major supermarket in

LES that was affordableto
make way for another taxpayer-funded ultra-luxury
tower.

should be investigated as well.

From the top to the bottom, our elected

officials rob from us to enrich the few.
They are forcing working
people of New York to endure the most
Silver is not alone. Other lo- horrendous living and working condical officials supported May- tions ever, and harassment by
or Bloombergs racist East
police in our own homes and neighborVillage rezoning plan, which hoods. They treat people like Eric Garner,
drove luxury development into Chinaa father and husband who was
town and the Lower East Side. They sup- making a couple of dollars by selling
ported his SPURA development mainly
cigarettes on the street, like dangerous
for the wealthy. And they suppored the
criminals. This year, its time for
proposed Extell luxury development in
the real criminals to be prosecuted and
Chinatown. They stand to benefit. They
locked up for their wrongdoings.

Hello, NYCHA? Its raining on my bed.

When Louise and her growing fami-

ly were transferred to a larger NYCHA

apartment, little did they know that it
needed urgent repairs. They found out
soon after moving in. Louises son was
rained on while he slept in bed. The ceilings and walls in his room were cracked.
By the morning, the entire room was
flooded. This happened even though they
live on the second floor.

their kitchen cabinets. The fine plaster

dust falls right into her sink.

My grand-daughter and I both have

asthma, and it seems to be getting worse.
What if the plaster ends up in our food?
said Louise. She called NYCHA to report this problem in Oct. 2014. They
sent carpenters who refused to make the
repairs. They told me to caulk around
the cabinet myself. I told them, you gotta
be kidding me, this is your job. They just
Louises son went to management that
day. They told him nothing could be done shrugged their shoulders and left.
till March 2015. Now they say June. Every
It seems like NYCHA wants people to
time it rains, he still spends hours vacuuming the water out of his room. Theyve get fed up and just leave NYCHA. They
also discovered crumbling plaster behind dont care about us at all, Louise added.

If you or someone you know is a NYCHA

resident who feels that NYCHA has
neglected to do urgent repairs and wants to do
something about it, please call us at NMASS 212-358-0295
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Who is the National Mobilization Against

Sweatshops (NMASS)?
NMASS is a multi-racial community-based workers center, formed in 1996.
Our members include Latino, African,
African American, Asian American, and
white workers who work in the service
industries, factories, offices; and as fulltime mothers and grandmothers and
students. NMASS brings workers together to stand up for our rights in our workplaces and the communities where we
live, organizing for our health, economic
needs and control of our time.

In addition to our work against displacement in the LES, NMASS has also been
uniting all kinds of workers, and building
a coalition with groups around New York
State to demand a real minimum-wage
increase for all workers-tipped and nontipped. After we picketed and protested
for more than a year, Governor Cuomo finally raised the minimum wage
this past February of tipped workers to
$7.50 an hour! This is a step in the right
direction, but not enough. We are also

demanding stronger enforcement of the

labor law to make any increase real. Together with our partners in the SWEAT
Coalition, we have called for changes in
the law. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal has responded by introducing legislation to close the loopholes that allow
law-breaking bosses to escape responsibility for our stolen wages. Join us!

Call us at 212-358-0295 to get

involved!

What is the Chinatown Working Group? What is its

rezoning plan about?
Because many people spoke out against

protect Lower East Side and Chinatown

the racist East Village Rezoning Plan, the from displacement, if passed by the City.
City was forced to create the Chinatown The plan will:
Limit high-rise luxury development
Working Group. Its main goal was to creby restricting the size and height of
ate a rezoning plan for the LES and Chinew development
natown. Almost 50 diverse groups cur Prevent the City from selling public
rently participate. Some of these groups
housing property by requiring comrepresent working families and small
munity review
businesses, while others are developers
Require that any new housing built
and landlords.
on NYCHA land is 100% affordable to
low-income families
The group has recently finalized its
Encourage the development of new
special district rezoning plan that will

low-income housing by providing bonuses to developers who build at least

50% low-income housing.
While many groups that represent working families and small businesses agree
with this plan, developers within the
CWG have repeatedly tried to undermine any progress.
If you want to make sure our communitys needs are heard, call us and get
involved- 212-358-0295.