Public Employee Press

Coalition rallies against Bush housing cuts

A vibrant coalition of New Yorkers fighting to save public housing lined Broadway at City Hall Park May 1 to demand federal funding for the New York City Housing Authority to protect the city’s last bastion of affordable housing and save NYCHA workers’ jobs.

DC 37, other unions, housing advocates, dozens of politicians and thousands of NYCHA residents augmented the protesters from Teamsters Local 237, which represents thousands of workers at the agency and sponsored the rally.

Local 237 President Gregory Floyd said the coalition — 500,000 strong — is a force to be reckoned with in the battle to save public housing. He blamed President Bush for bleeding $611 million in federal funds from the agency since 2001, while spending $200 million a day on the war in Iraq. Fiscal problems led the agency to eliminate jobs in April, and layoffs would continue without an infusion of federal aid, he said.

“Looking at this crowd lets me know that if we have to take this fight to the streets, we can!” said Housing Authority Clericals Local 957 President Walthene Primus. Although members of DC 37 locals 371, 375, 768, 957, 1407 and 1549 were targeted for layoffs, DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts was able to reduce the number of members affected to 65 from 190.

Supporting the NYCHA residents and workers at the demonstration were dozens of DC 37 local leaders, state Sen. Diane Savino, City Comptroller Bill Thompson and City Council members Charles Barron, Gail Brewer, Letitia James, John Liu, Darlene Mealy, Rosie Mendez and three borough presidents. Thompson said the Bush administration had turned its back on working families and public housing.

“Labor will fight to make sure NYCHA gets the funding it needs,” said Denis Hughes, New York State AFL-CIO president. “No institution is more important to the character of New York City than public housing.”

Some 500,000 New Yorkers — a population larger than Atlanta — live in NYCHA developments, including an estimated 15,000 DC 37 members. Housing Authority apartments comprise 30 percent of Brooklyn’s housing stock. New York City’s public housing model has been copied across the country, but cuts in government aid have left most NYCHA properties in disrepair and forced the agency and residents to do less with less.

DC 37 Treasurer Maf Misbah Uddin, president of Local 1407, which includes NYCHA accountants and bookkeepers, addressed the rally: “We are over 500,000 strong and we will not give up until we get the money back!” he said.