Dear ones,
Here it is — another day that will live in infamy. In 1941, 2,403 Americans died in the massive Japanese air assault on Pearl Harbor. Day after day, the president and his shameless enablers, including the 220 Republicans in Congress who can’t say who won the election and the two who insist that the president prevailed, continue to ignore the death tolls — one Pearl Harbor after another. The dereliction of duty is astounding. A comparison of the divergent trends here and in Europe, where the situation was equally dire a month ago, highlights what a failure to govern means for a people.
We are not going to sit idly by while more people end up on the streets this winter in a pandemic, so here are two ways to get the message out to NY State’s legislative leaders. The good folks from Housing Justice for All are mobilizing to get Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Senate Majority Leader, and Carl Heastie, Speaker of the State Assembly, to call the legislature back into session to stop evictions, house people experiencing homelessness, and clear back rent for tenants who cannot pay.
Make your own housing justice holiday card and send it to the address here OR complete this online form so that Housing Justice for All can print and send it.
Here are some additional housing justice actions from last week: Support the passage City Council bill, Introduction 146, which would increase the allowable amount that existing rent vouchers can cover.
Contact your council member and urge them to pass Introduction 146.
And, in case Heastie and Stewart-Cousins call the legislature back, make sure the folks who represent you know where you stand.
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.
On Friday, Mayor De Blasio joined thousands of activists to demand that National Grid withdraw plans for a liquefied national gas facility in Greenpoint and prevent fracked gas from flowing through the North Brooklyn Pipeline. There is now opposition to National Grid’s plan from community organizers, local officials, and federal elected officials.
Contact Governor Cuomo and call on him to stand with the people of New York and reject National Grid’s rate hike and the expansion of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) depot on Newtown Creek in Greenpoint.
Schools reopen today for students in pre-K through 5th grade. The mayor has asked elementary principals to indicate by tomorrow whether they have the space and the staff to provide in-person instruction five days a week. Expect children to return to a hybrid program (the same schedule they were on); note that in-person instruction will only be available to families who opted in during the summer or during the November opt-in period and consent forms for virus testing are now required.
Have a good day!
with love,
L