Report on the Struggle at City Towers
The attached report is the fruit of four months of collaboration between a newly-formed Tenant Association at City Towers housing development in West Oakland and organizers with the UFAD. In it, we detail: The past and present conditions at City Towers Organizing efforts since February of this year and the response from property management and…
Keep readingWhat is PACT like for tenants? NYCHA tenants speak out about why privatization is a scam
en español abajo Ocean Bay – QueensPrivatized by PACT in 2016 Ocean Bay Bayside in Queens was the first NYCHA development that was privatized under PACT in 2016. From 2017-2019, the private company evicted tenants at three times the average NYCHA rate. 6 years after the “repairs” done by the company, the front of the…
Keep readingFire at City Towers: Random Tragedy or Par for the Course? Part 5: The Struggle that Lies Ahead
Shortly after the petition was delivered to VPM Management, KDF Communities, the Oakland Housing Authority, Mayor Libby Schaaf, City Councilmember Carroll Fife, and Oakland City Attorney Barbara J. Parker, the latter office replied: Thank you for your email and attached petition. The City Attorney takes violation of tenants’ rights and safety very seriously. Multiple City…
Keep readingFire at City Towers: Random Tragedy or Par for the Course? Part 4: Raising Complaints with One Voice
In the aftermath of the February fire, a petition was written up based on contributions from several residents throughout door-to-door conversations. In the space of a month, over 90 signatures have been gathered from residents in the building. Residents delivered this petition to the management office at City Towers on April 1st. A small group…
Keep readingFire at City Towers: Random Tragedy or Par for the Course? Part 3: The Corporations behind City Towers
City Towers is owned by KDF Communities, a real estate investment firm specializing in low-income housing. Although KDF touts its “commitment to providing social services to [its] residents” [1], a brief survey of the conditions in the properties it owns immediately shows that its primary role in society is to profit from the exploitation of…
Keep readingFire at City Towers: Random Tragedy or Par for the Course? Part 2: Stories from Towers Tenants
While in the process of working on a petition campaign, we worked with City Towers tenants to collect personal stories that could be shared publicly to paint a vivid picture of the kinds of problems people are facing there. The interviews below were also published on Twitter [1-3]. Many tenants are understandably afraid of retaliation…
Keep readingFire at City Towers: Random Tragedy or Par for the Course? Part 1: The February Fire
On the evening of Tuesday, February 15th, residents in Building C of the City Towers housing development in West Oakland heard fire alarms going off. False alarms are so commonplace there that many people thought nothing of it and stayed where they were – until smoke started to creep through the gaps between hallways and…
Keep readingDid SFHA ever get approval from HUD to get rid of the last public housing in the City?
On November 26, 2021, the UFAD sent this statement to the media and various agencies, including San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) and the Office of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Nearly 90 tenants from Sunnydale and Potrero Hill signed onto this demand which clearly stated their opposition to the HOPE SF privatization scheme. Two weeks…
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For Immediate Release: SFHA Workers and Tenants Protest 3/7 at SF City Hall
On Monday March 7th at 3pm outside Mayor London Breed’s office in San Francisco City Hall [1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl, San Francisco] residents of Sunnydale and Potrero Hill will rally with workers of the San Francisco Housing Authority to protest the HOPE SF privatization plan of public housing which threatens to displace working…
Keep readingFor Immediate Release: Emergency Protest Saturday 2/19 to Stop the Privatization of Harlem River Houses
For Immediate Release What: Emergency Protest to Stop the Privatization of Harlem River HousesWhere: Brigadier General Charles Young Triangle (North of Harlem River Houses, at Macombs & W153rd)When: 2:00pm on Saturday, February 19, 2022 In a zoom meeting last week with tenants at the Harlem River Houses NYCHA public housing project, notorious slumlord C+C management…
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The United Front Against Displacement 