Over 300 Community Activists Commemorate 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

August 29, 2008

Contact: Tim Bradley, BerlinRosen Public Affairs, 646-452-5637 or April Herms, Urban Justice Center, 646-459-3007, cell: 646-327-2208

Residents Cite Shared Struggles Against Gentrification
and Displacement in NYC and New Orleans

For Immediate Release:

New York - Today a group of NYC residents and community organizations will commemorate the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a rally and march to express solidarity with the displaced residents of the Gulf Coast. With more than 300 community members participating, the "Call to Action, A Day of Unity" also demonstrates that the struggles affecting New Orleans residents - particularly a lack of affordable housing, and access to education and affordable health care - are also devastating low-income communities in New York City. The march was organized by Right to the City NYC, a coalition of more than a dozen community-based groups, along with the New York Solidarity Coalition with Katrina and Rita Survivors, Northeast Region Survivors Group, NY2NO, the Artist Relief Collective (A.R.C.), and the NOLA Preservation Society. The commemoration was in coordination with events happening across the country in New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Washington DC, Miami, and Providence.

WHEN: August, 29th 2008 @2PM!

WHERE: Sara Roosevelt Park in Lower Manhattan on Delancey Street (bet. Chrystie and Forsyth Streets)

WHAT: The day will begin with a rally and press conference in Sara Roosevelt Park, followed by a march through the streets of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. The march will end with a vigil in front of 1 Police Plaza.

"On the anniversary of Katrina, it is time to unite and respond to injustice and demand our right to the city. Cities across the country are facing issues like those in New Orleans. We are battling against displacement, gentrification, being criminalized in our schools and on our streets. We must come together and have an organized response to the exploitation and reclaim our cities. United we have the power to create change," said Adilka Pimentel, age 19, Youth Organizer, Make the Road New York.

"In NYC, it's clear that in Harlem and Chinatown we have the same issues around housing, gentrification, development, and displacement. But it's also important to make the connection that what we are experiencing in NYC is not only happening here, but all over the country. We stand in solidarity with people in New Orleans, because like us, people are being priced out of their homes, treated badly because they're poor, and because we are all fighting for our communities," said Helena Wong, Organizer, CAAAV.

Though Hurricane Katrina passed through the Gulf Coast nearly three years ago, its impact and the impact of our government's neglect of the human rights of people in the Gulf Coast are still felt acutely today. Hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents, primarily low-income families and people of color, were displaced by the Hurricane and have still not been able to come back home.

"We are still struggling as survivors 3 years later; and we are mad because the United States government still has not recognized us as internationally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the UN Guiding Principles. As a result of this lack of recognition, our human rights are still in violation by the federal government. Our right to return which is a combination of several fundamental human rights, such as housing, health care, education, decent work, physical security and non-discrimination are the key rights that are being violated," said Joetta Rogers, displaced from Mobile, Alabama, member of the New York Solidarity Coalition for Katrina/Rita Survivors and chair of the Northeast Region Survivors' Group.

The 2-hour march through New York's Chinatown and Lower East Side on Friday will highlight the effects that gentrification, high cost of living, displacement and lack of public housing are having on the working-class and immigrant populations of these neighborhoods.

"What happened in New Orleans is just a preview of the horror that's coming to a city near you. We see firsthand how Lower East Side residents are being pushed out of the community as luxury housing and hotel development interests overrule community needs and continues to cause displacement and promote gentrification," said Damaris Reyes, Executive Director, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES).

The march will be followed by a fundraiser by the Artist Relief Collective at Judson Memorial Church in the West Village, with proceeds to benefit Hurricane Katrina and Rita survivors. Across the country today, chapters of Right to the City in Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Providence, Miami, Washington DC and New Orleans are holding solidarity events and are calling on local leaders to address a list of basic needs:

Reinvest in communities by diverting money from policing and incarceration to housing, mental and other health services, and community-controlled programs and spaces;

End the criminalization of public housing residents, day laborers and minorities; and

Help Katrina survivors return home by investing in infrastructure and housing in the Gulf Coast.

"Nothing has changed in New Orleans or in New York City. Families are being displaced and the government is not helping in any way. This is happening where I live, in public housing in East Harlem and the city, state and federal governments are forgetting about us. We saw the result of this last week when a five year old boy was killed because there is not enough money to fix elevators in public housing. The government needs to step up to the plate here and in New Orleans. That is why we are here today marching with the Right to the City alliance," said Adam Sparks, Leader at Community Voices Heard and Resident of NYCHA's Taft Houses.

Right to the City (RTTC) NYC is an alliance of grassroots, membership-based, organizations in low-income, immigrant and other communities of color throughout New York Cit working to support grassroots-led social change. RttC NYC's mission is to build a united response to gentrification and the drastic economic, social and infrastructure changes being imposed on NYC communities, and offer a vision for the city that meets the needs of working class people.

RttC NYC's member organizations include: CAAAV/Chinatown Tenants Union; Center for Community Planning and Development, Hunter College; Center for Social Inclusion; Community Development Project, Urban Justice Center; Community Voices Heard (CVH); Fabulous, Independent, Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment (FIERCE); Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE); Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES); Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ); Make the Road New York (MRNY); Mothers on the Move (MOM); NYC AIDS Housing Network/VOCAL NY Users Union; Picture the Homeless; Pratt Center for Community Development; Prof. Rene Poitevin, NYU Gallatin School; St. Nicks CDC/UNO; Tenants & Neighbors; WE ACT.