Happy New Year! Friendly reminder that our monthly meeting is this evening, 6:30–8pm, at Various/Artists (19 Essex St). Alex Strada will be joining us to plan a public program that we’ll be doing at Storefront for Art and Architecture in conversation with her Public Address project and Storefront’s 1984–86 Homeless At Home project. Stay tuned for more details!See below for some updates and upcoming events:
Thank you for joining us at the third annual Storefront Book Bash last month! We raised $350 in proceeds that will be going to the Murad family in Gaza, Friend of a Friend, and Brooklyn Jail Support.
On January 4th, the Coalition to Protect Chinatown & LES held a rally in front of the proposed Chinatown megajail, urging Mayor Mamdani to build low-income housing on two city-owned lots: the jail site and the vacant lot next to Confucius Plaza. (In October, Mamdani committed to completing the four borough-based jails.) As Clara AmatLeon, a LES tenant of 27 years, stated: “The jail will only benefit the billionaires and developers and not our community. I want to tell our Mayor Zohran: Do not follow Bill de Blasio and Adams, listen to our community. Instead we want lower income buildings, affordable housing.”Read more about the rally on Documented.
Graphic courtesy of Brooklyn Jail Support
This Friday at 9pm, join members of AAD and Brooklyn Jail Support for a teach-in about the politics of public space (across from 120 Schermerhorn St):Since August 2025, BKJS has set up across the street from Brooklyn Criminal Court every Friday from 2pm to 2am. Known as Livingston Plaza, the nondescript pavement surrounding the headquarters of the NYC Transit Authority is classified as a privately owned public space (POPS) under the city’s Zoning Resolution.What exactly are POPS, and what does it mean for BKJS to be situated on one? What are their limits and possibilities? A group of artists and community organizers affiliated with Canal Street Research Association and Another World will enlighten us on this subject, in the hope of expanding our conceptions of public space.
Recently, AAD joined the Public Land for Public Good Coalition in sending a letter urging Mayor Mamdani to use public land for public good — that is, for public housing and community land trusts, NOT luxury housing and casinos (or jails)!For the full letter (and sign-on form), see here.
Graphic courtesy of the Public Land for Public Good Coalition.