New York City: ‘Who’s the biggest slumlord?’
By Anne Pruden
A multinational crowd of protesters united for a Sept. 21 noon rally against the New York City Housing Authority at its downtown Manhattan office. Public housing tenants demonstrated in solidarity alongside workers from District Council 37, the city’s largest municipal public employee union, with at least seven tenant groups present.
Shared demands included no privatization of NYCHA, no luxury housing on public land, stop outsourcing housing jobs and hire 1,000 more NYCHA workers. An activist with the group Rise Up for Renter Power led chants demanding “Hands off public housing!”
Speakers on the mike denounced the city’s neglect of housing projects, their dire underfunding, and the projected layoffs of city workers who do maintenance and keep up the building units. The Trump administration and congressional plans for drastic cuts to public housing were exposed.
When those on the mike asked: “Who’s New York City’s greatest slumlord?” the crowd quickly shouted: “NYCHA!”
