FUREE and Friends March for Jobs & Affordable Housing
As part of a series of protests (AY Crime Scene) marking the opening of the Barclay's stadium, members and supporters of FUREE marched from development site to development site. At each location, speakers demaded to know where the jobs were and where the affordable homes were - these were promised by the developers. In the case of the stadium, some 10,000 local job were promised. Virtually none have materialized. Likewise for the pie-in-the-sky affordable housing: From a total of 6,300 apartments, 2,250 affordable housing units were pledged, but only 181 are planned for a first tower, which has yet to break ground. And those are mostly studios and one-bedrooms - a mere ghost of what had been promised by the developer.
Brooklyn For Peace endorsed the event and BFP members participated in the march.
To the shouts of "Fight! Fight! Fight! Housing is a right!" the marchers attracted the cheers of onlookers and supporting honks of motorists on clogged Flatbush Avenue - the congestion, another byproduct of the stadium which will certainly enrich its owners but will offer little to no assistance to Brooklynites who need jobs and affordable housing instead. The battle continues.
Read More1 / 24
VIDEO - PRESS PLAY Maisha Morales, a FUREE leader and Latina small business woman who battled mall developers when they gave her a 9-day eviction notice, told her story to the marchers and onnlookers.
Log In: