Hi friends,
It’s time to go to work on the incoming Administration. Today’s first action is of the wonderful, intersectional variety: now that Biden has an official address, we are going to get in touch to tell him to tear down the border wall. As you are probably aware, the border wall is just one of many ecologically unsound projects of the current Administration that simultaneously endanger the safety and well-being of people. The ready-made action and the rationale (bold type is in the original) come from the National Butterfly Center:
We are the ones who have our levees torn open during hurricane season; the ones who lose what limited green space remains in our communities; the ones who no longer enjoy the protection of laws that are waived, like the Clean Water Act and the Solid Waste Disposal Act; the ones who suffer the bulldozing of historical landmarks and sacred burial grounds; the ones who have our land condemned and confiscated.
Each day, we watch flatbed trucks with border wall panels drive by as Trump’s wall goes up on either side of the National Butterfly Center. [A] truckload was headed to Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park where wall is being built at the park entrance, even though construction was prohibited in the 2019 Department of Homeland Security spending bill. And right now, Congress is considering a 2021 budget that actually contains almost $2 billion MORE for border wall construction!
Please download this postcard. Print it double-sided, cut it, stamp it, sign it and mail it. If you have no printer, make your own postcard (a wall is easy to draw!).
Butterflies aren’t the only ones who have been displaced and disregarded. Council member Ben Kallos has a bold idea to house New Yorkers:
According to the Mayor’s Management Report, it costs over $6,000 per month to provide shelter for a family with children, and approximately $3,900 per month to shelter a single adult, and those costs will rise this year to accommodate Covid-19 public safety measures.
The city should start by renting apartments directly, then sublet to homeless New Yorkers. While we currently spend over $6,000 per month to provide shelter, median rents in Manhattan have dropped to below $3,000. Even by renting apartments in expensive Manhattan neighborhoods, the city would see savings and could cover utilities, groceries and social services.
Kallos further proposes that the city invest in condos and coop apartments, which would promote desegregation and change the practice of disproportionately housing people experiencing homelessness in poor neighborhoods. To begin, however, let’s help push the passage City Council bill, Introduction 146, which would increase the allowable amount that existing rent vouchers can cover. If you click on the link to the bill, you can see if your council member is already a co-sponsor. Write to them anyway!
Contact your council member and urge them to pass Introduction 146.
And, again, in case you missed it yesterday:
Please write a letter to your state legislators, urging them to pass the Emergency Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act, a comprehensive eviction moratorium. This is a ready-made action that will take you one minute.
Have a good day!
with love,
L