Communist Web Saturday 25th March 2000 9.30pm gmt E. Harlem tenants: ' We are staying!' - Rafael Verdejo The following is a new feature, which will appear occasionally in our pages. If you are involved in a fight for decent, affordable housing, write us about your struggle. It doesn't have to be long or fancy - just put it in your own words and let others know what's going on in your area. Our first contribution is from Rafael Verdejo of East Harlem, New York City. Housing is a human right! A total of seven buildings, 125 families, most of them working-class people, here on 117th and 119th Street are in jeopardy of being closed by Housing and Urban Development. (HUD) The reason they want the tenants out is because of "safety and security," which they call the reason to evacuate all the residents of the above area. This is not true. The buildings are in a safe condition. On Feb. 22, we received a letter from HUD stating that by July 1 we must be out of the premises. The Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) was contacted. After we met with ACORN we moved on to contact a lawyer. There, we were told that the case was a little too strong for them to compete with HUD. However, through the lawyer, we are trying to get U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and Sen. Charles Schumer and other congressional officials to join us against the octopus of HUD. It is a very serious situation for the residents. At one time, HUD was for people with low income. Now, HUD is for upper class people. Behind the HUD tactics is privatizing the building and move in tenants with higher incomes. El Barrio is becoming a main attraction. In our future, we will be having a subway coming on 2nd Avenue and a big plaza mall between FDR Drive and Pleasant Avenue. We want to continue to live in our neighborhood, not to be pushed out and have our homes taken away from us. We wish to remain in... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/eha/eha.html
