Happy June! Friendly reminder that our monthly meeting is this evening, 6–8pm. Due to temporary staffing shortages at Seward Park Library, we’ll be meeting in the Cranberry Room of Brooklyn Heights Library (second floor, in the back).Our comrades Youth Against Displacement happen to be hosting a Zoom panel on YIMBY politics this evening, so we’ll kick off our meeting with a watch party!
Graphic courtesy of Youth Against Displacement
Recently, Welcome to Chinatown and Neighbors United Below Canal released an alternative plan to the proposed Chinatown megajail. While we support the construction of 100% low-income housing in place of the jail, we do NOT believe that the jail should be relocated to the former Metropolitan Correctional Center on Park Row, as the plan advocates.No one, much less Chinatown, will be better served by shunting the caging of New Yorkers several blocks south. We repeat: NO NEW JAILS!
Conceptual rendering by Ideas of Order
Under the banner of Chinatown Connections, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs is currently seeking artists to help design a $2.5 million Chinatown Welcome Gateway at Kimlau Square. As one of our members recently told Hyperallergic, “What Chinatown needs, much more than a flashy $2.5 million ‘Welcome Gateway,’ is protection from predatory development” — in the form of community-led rezoning plans like the Chinatown Working Group Plan.
Graphic courtesy of NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs
On June 6, hundreds of community members, led by home attendants, marched through LES and Chinatown in support of re-electing Council Member Christopher Marte, who has fought to end 24-hour workdays and stop displacement in the neighborhood. As a reminder, the NYC Primary Election is coming up on Tuesday, June 24! The last day to request an early mail ballot is Saturday, June 14, and in-person early voting will take place June 14–22.
Graphic courtesy of Youth Against Sweatshops
Following the Noguchi Museum’s lack of response to their demands letter, a collective of current and former staff at the museum is now calling for a total boycott of the museum and the North American market of Akari lamps.They are also raising funds in Isamu Noguchi’s memory to support families in Gaza, and you can contribute here.
Graphic courtesy of Noguchi Museum Rights