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June 28, 2023

Tenants Rally Against Planned Demolition of Manhattan Public Housing Complexes
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In Manhattan, public housing tenants rallied on Tuesday to demand the
city halt its controversial $1.5 billion plan to demolish two public
housing complexes and replace them with new high-rise apartments.
Officials say the plan to tear down the Fulton and Chelsea-Elliott
Houses is more cost-effective than repairing the apartments. But tenants
argue the demolition will drive further privatization, gentrification
and displacement. Some tenants opposed to the demolition reported they
were turned away by city authorities Tuesday as they tried to attend a
resident engagement meeting. This is George Weaver, a Fulton tenant
since 1993.

George Weaver: "We got a mental crisis. We got a homeless crisis. Look
at it. It's going to get worse if we tear down public housing. We're
going to have people sleeping in the streets all over. And it's not just
happening in New York, it's happening all across America. You see what
happened in Chicago in the last mayor's race. That was a proven point.
Eric Adams has to listen to us. In the halls of government, it says 'of
the people, by the people, for the people.' It doesn't say 'of the
developer, by the developer and for the developer.'"

Thanks to Democracy Now!'s Sonyi Lopez for that report.


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