Next Meeting November 12th

Hello Friends of AAD,

It's been a while since we sent out an email!

As you may know, since 2017 our primary organizational effort has been to work directly with 

The Coalition to Save Chinatown and the Lower East Side

 to pass the full Chinatown Working Group plan and stop the mega luxury towers proposed for the Two Bridges Waterfront. 

On June 4th our coalition was involved in a lawsuit to stop the four massive luxury skyscrapers, and on July 31st 

the judge sided with us and ruled against the developers

!  Judge Arthur Engoron decided that the proposed towers require a "major modification" to the existing zoning rules and the project need to go through the city's Uniform Land Use Procedure (ULURP) like all other projects with major modifications. 

This is a huge victory for all who have worked on this campaign! 

However, our work is not done.  Going through a ULURP is not a guarantee that the towers will NOT be built.  Instead the ULURP process opens the door for compromises which historically fall short of the community's expectations. If history serves, Margaret Chin our current council person, is easily swayed by empty promises and tiny concessions.  In previous ULURPs she has sold out our community (see

NYU expansion

) and we expect her to do the same if and when this project goes through ULURP.

Instead of sitting and waiting to see what happens, the Coalition has been actively getting the word out to our neighbors to be prepared for the next steps.  We started a petition and have been tabling and door knocking for several months in preparation for the ULURP.

If you have not already signed the petition, please do so

here

and forward widely. (despite what the petition site says, we have many more signatures)

If you have a business or can gather signatures on your own, download a sheet

here

 or

here

.

Better yet, if you would like to join us when we table or door knock collecting signatures on this petition, please check out the schedule and sign up 

here

. Make sure to leave your contact info! Email 

[email protected]

 if you need assistance.

Our members have also been involved in other anti-displacement struggles across the city, Including in

Sunset Park

, Brooklyn and

Sunnyside Yards

, Queens.  

We will give a summary of all these efforts at our

next meeting

, Tuesday November 12, as well as provide you with several opportunities to get more involved. 

In addition, this month we will host Christopher Marte who will explain the fight against a proposed

jail in Chinatown

recently approved by the city council. Please come!

Our general meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of every month 6:30pm-8pm at the Seward Park Library.

All are welcome!

Upcoming events