Affordable Housing? Let's Get Real...

And the winners in the Worst Place To Live competition might be (drumroll, please)... follow this link:

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/38240/here-are-some-of-the-worst-rooms-for-rent-in-nyc

Sent from my mobile.
_____________________________________________________________

 Crack? In the Kenmore? No way!    

Disclaimer (AGAIN)

The header for my blog about Kenmore Hall lets people know up front that I'm not a lawyer, my recommendations here are purely for informational purposes, and that they're not supposed to represent legal advice. However, I've gotten emails from people who've read the blog asking that I help them find a lawyer. However, there are posts in the blog that let people know how to get legal advice or a lawyer... scroll through earlier posts and you'll find it.

Just sayin'. I'm just an advocate. I can't represent you, I can only help you keep informed on what your rights are.

Also, some tenants have contacted me because they're having trouble dealing with the noise level in the building. I completely sympathize. There are city ordinances about acceptable (and unacceptable) noise levels, but before you have to go that far, you might try complaining to staff and management if you have a neighbor who is creating unacceptable amounts of noise. I recently had a talk with my case manager about one of my neighbors who had suddenly developed a bad case of "door-slamming-itis", especially late at night. He'd repeatedly slam the door, sometimes 3 times in a row, hard enough to make my wall shake - and it was the wall right by the head of my bed. The problem miraculously stopped within a day (but of course, he's made a point of talking about how mean I am to complain to the second floor about it within earshot... I don't give a rat's ass as long as the door slamming doesn't start up again). It seems that part of the problem may have been that the mechanism at the top of the door that slows it down as it closes needed to be adjusted by maintenance.

And I hope that's the only time this year I have to speak to a case worker; it's nice to get positive results for a change.

Have you ever wondered how supportive housing programs pay for support services including case management? Have you thought carefully about how much information about your benefits you volunteer to your case manager?

I just read an interesting article that spells out how one supportive housing agency recommends services be paid for by (drum roll, please) TENANTS MEDICAID BENEFITS. This may be ok with some people, but personally, I'd prefer  not to have someone else "helping" me spend my Medicaid benefits, especially since I spent two years with a very painful and extensive dermatological condition fighting to get the medication I needed to repair my skin covered by Medicaid when they didn't want to pay for the prescriptions... H.S.I.'s need to pay their staff is NOT as great as my need to have control over the meager benefits offered by welfare, and I think this system is creepy and coercive.

Follow the link below to see the article (I tried to cut and paste it, but that didn't work):

http://www.csh.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/A-Quick-Guide-To-Improving-Medicaid-Coverage-For-Supportive-Housing-Services1.pdf

As housing for the poorest disappears, costs of shelter soars

As housing for the poorest disappeares, costs of shelter soars

Posted: 19 May 2015 07:19 AM PDT

NYC residents have a legally established "right to shelter". As housing for the poorest disappeares, the costs of shelter soar. NYC is doing what it can to reduce shelter costs by creating rental assistance programs, but the costs continue to grow.

NYC is not making much progress. Does this play out with shelters becoming something like the permanent Almhouses of old?

http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/further-increases-homeless-rental-assistance-additional-funds-for-shelter-still-necessary-may-2015.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almshouse

Got a noisy neighbor and staff in the building won't do anything about it?

Try this:

http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/1197/noise-from-neighbor

--

"Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

FUNDING TIME FOR S.R.O.s

Well, it's that time of year again... New York City's CoCC  (the organization of affiliates that H.S.I. is a member of, and the organization that promotes reporting all kinds of personal information about tenants in H.S.I.'s buildings, whether they want to share private information or not, even if the information shared makes them look totally incompetent and unable to find a place to live without help from organizations like H.S.I.) is requesting bids on the funding that allows H.S.I. to continue running Kenmore Hall and its other buildings.  The conference dedicated to bidding on the pot of gold should be mighty edumacational.

NEW PSH RFP BIDDER’S CONFERENCE

This Friday, May 22, CUCS will host a Bidder’s Conference for the NYC CCoC’s New PSH RFP. The RFP is attached for your review – please remember that final details will be confirmed after the NOFA is released. Fields highlighted in yellow in the RFP are the most likely to change while other details may be adjusted depending on HUD’s guidelines.

NEW PSH RFP Bidder’s Conference

Date: Friday, May 22

Time: 9:30am – 11:00am

Location: CUCS, 198 East 121 St, 5^th Floor

To Register: Email the attendee’s Name, Agency, Job Title, and Email Address to Martha.Kenton@cucs.org with the subject line: Bidder’s Conference Registration

Fwd: Homeless lives matter. Black-led organizing matters.

Landmark legislation looming - help us CHANGE THE NYPD! Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Last week, PTH Board Member Jean Rice dazzled the crowd at the Let Us Breathe Forum, a landmark convening of over 500 community members, donors, grantmakers, activists, organizers, and all New Yorkers to support the movement against anti-Black racism and to prioritize Black leadership. Tackling the subject of how homeless folks are disproportionately impacted by broken windows policing, Jean shared his customary brilliance. "Broken Windows policing needs to go back to where it came from, the pages of The Atlantic," Jean said, and "We can't apportion human rights based on whether someone is domiciled or undomiciled. It is our job to bring NYC & our country to reality. Broken windows policing condones the murder of young Ramarley Graham for a bag of weed found in his toilet. This broken windows ideology says it is permissible to murder Eric Garner because he allegedly sold loose cigarettes. " Homelessness is hugely racialized. 95% of homeless families in the NYC shelter system are Black and/or Latino!!! And as Jean said on Saturday, "We need to fight for the folks who are bottom of the socio-economic chain: Black homeless folks." That's why Picture the Homeless has been in the leadership of Communities United for Police Reform since its birth. It's why we fought so hard for passage of the Community Safety Act, and why we are so excited about the Right to Know Act. This legislation aims to protect the civil and human rights of New Yorkers while promoting communication, transparency and accountability in everyday interactions between the NYPD and the public. New Yorkers want to live in a safe city where the police treat all residents with dignity and respect, and where police are not considered to be above the law. And that's why we need your help. If you believe that Black Lives Matter, if you think no one is above the law - especially not law enforcement - please help us pass this bill. These are the Twitter handles of all the New York City Council Members who are current sponsors of the Right to Know Act. Please send them some love on Twitter, telling them why this is important to you, and thank them for protecting the rights of all New Yorkers. Ritchie J. Torres* @RitchieTorres Antonio Reynoso * @CMReynoso34 Jumaane D. Williams @JumaaneWilliams Brad S. Lander @BradLander Margaret S. Chin @CM_MargaretChin Mark Levine  @MarkLevineNYC Rosie Mendez @RosieMendez Daniel Dromm  @Dromm25 Corey D. Johnson  @CoreyinNYC Annabel Palma  Donovan J. Richards  @DRichards13 Deborah L. Rose  @CMDebiRose Helen K. Rosenthal  @HelenRosenthal Ben Kallos  @BenKallos Ydanis A. Rodriguez  @Ydanis Rodriguez Stephen T. Levin  @StephenLevin33 Andy L. King  @AndyKingNYC Carlos Menchaca  @CMenchaca Laurie A. Cumbo  @CMLaurieCumbo Julissa Ferreras  @JulissaFerreras Inez D. Barron  Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. @RobertCornegyJr Rafael L. Espinal, Jr. @RLEspinal The following City Council members have not yet signed on. Drop them a line on Twitter and tell them why this issue is so important to you - why they should SUPPORT THE RIGHT TO KNOW ACT to help prevent abusive policing & improve police/community relations, and build police accountability, transparency & respect.   Daniel R. Garodnick @DanGarodnick Melissa Mark-Viverito @MMViverito Inez E. Dickens -- Andrew Cohen @AndrewCohenNYC James Vacca @JamesVacca13 Fernando Cabrera @FCabreraNY Maria del Carmen Arroyo -- Paul Vallone @PaulVallone Costa Constantinides @Costa4NY Mark Weprin @MarkWeprin Jimmy Van Bramer @JimmyVanBramer Ruben Wills @CM_RubenWills Karen Koslowitz @CMKoslowitz Elizabeth Crowley @ElizCrowleyNYC Eric Ulrich @eric_ulrich Mathieu Eugene @CMMathieuEugene Vincent Gentile -- David G. Greenfield @NYCGreenfield Alan Maisel -- Mark Treyger @MarkTreyger718 Chaim M. Deutsch @ChaimDeutsch Steven Matteo @StevenMatteo Vincent Ignizio @VincentIgnizio Black lives matter. Homeless lives matter. We were excited to participate in Saturday's forum, and proud to see how far the movement has come in recognizing the inextricable connections between race, poverty, policing, and other forms of oppression. Black-led organizing has achieved amazing things recently. With your help, we're excited to see how much more we can accomplish.  follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend Support the leadership of homeless New Yorkers by making a tax-deductible donation today! Copyright © 2015 Picture the Homeless, All rights reserved. A message to friends, members and allies of Picture the Homeless. Our mailing address is: Picture the Homeless 2427 Morris Avenue 2nd Floor Bronx, NY 10468 Add us to your address book  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

--

"Never underestimate the power of a small, dedicated group of people to change the world; indeed, that is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

NSA Bulk Metadata Collection Not Lawful, Says 2nd Cir. - Technologist

I'm posting this because it's relevant to the HMIS data collection and sharing requirements that HSI and other supportive housing non-profits have to abide by. Tenants here at Kenmore Hall probably have NO IDEA what's in their case files, or what's being said about them to government agencies like HUD that provide funding to HSI. Maybe it doesn't matter to most people, but if your reputation is worth anything to you, and if you care whether you're ever able to rent an apartment outside of Kenmore Hall, you might want to think about this - especially since HSI often refers to tenants as "clients" and "chronically homeless", and appears to prefer the MICA profile to a wider, more inclusive profile. If you don't mind being classified as mentally ill and chemically abusing (even when you're NOT), then just sit back and enjoy being screwed. Follow the link below to find out why wide-range data collection is wrong.

https://shar.es/1rfOFp

Well, color us shocked. The Second Circuit this morning found that the NSA's bulk metadata collection program -- which, by the way, would have remained secret if not for Edward Snowden -- was not authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act....

More Housing Activism

Rally with us on May 12 to #BuilditRight! Join us next Tuesday to stand up for real affordable housing options, good union jobs, and strong anti-displacement policies for our communities! Dear Friend, Rezoning is a threat to neighborhoods throughout New York City. Don’t be fooled by real estate developers who tell you otherwise. Hundreds of thousands of tenants have suffered the drawbacks and consequences of new rezoning laws. The story usually unfolds like this: Exploitative real estate developers swoop into districts to capitalize on properties in historic neighborhoods. Rents inevitably increase and affordable housing, which is already limited, becomes even more scarce or unavailable. Neighborhoods begin to lose their cultural heritage and generations of families are soon displaced or priced out of their homes. Companies hired by developers leave local residents out of the equation with little or no employment opportunities. Join us at our march and rally next Tuesday to take our neighborhoods back. Developers are already looking at East New York as the next neighborhood to buy and sell to the highest bidder and our communities are living in threat of displacement. It’s time to make sure that our voices are heard in the rezoning process before it's too late. WHAT: Rally and March to #BuilditRight WHERE: Highland Park, Brooklyn NY (across the street from 458 Jamaica Ave) WHEN: Rally at 6 pm, March at 7 pm It’s disgusting how 421-A, a $1.1 billion tax break for real estate developers, is subsidizing luxury units instead of creating affordable housing and good jobs. And while some affordable housing targets people with incomes of $42,000-$67,000 per year, this far exceeds the median income in East New York and other areas in the City, leaving people at risk of losing their homes. New Yorkers that already can’t make ends meet are at a breaking point. If we don’t win affordable housing options by June, our City will be lost. Let’s tell real estate speculators and our legislators that residents deserve real affordable housing options, good union jobs, and strong anti-displacement policies. March with us on Tuesday to ensure that we #BuilditRight! In solidarity, Maritza and the ALIGN team Tell a friend about us or make a donation! If you received this message from a friend, sign up here to learn more about us. Click here to unsubscribe ALIGN 50 Broadway, 29th Floor New York, NY 10004 212 631 0886 contact@alignny.org ALIGN's mission is to create good jobs, vibrant communities, and an accountable democracy for all New Yorkers.

Real Affordability - and other housing issues

New York City is facing the dual crisis of historic levels of homelessness and skyrocketing rents, leaving all but the wealthiest among us to struggle to find an affordable home.

Since our inception as the NYC AIDS Housing Network, we have been dedicated to the idea that housing is a human right. We know the impact housing has on ending AIDS as an epidemic and like you, we believe that everyone has the right to a safe, healthy, and affordable home.

Unfortunately, the basic right to housing has slipped away as wealthy landlords and developers get rich off gentrification, luxury condos, and displacement. That's why we helped to form the Real Affordability For All (RAFA) and Homes for Every New Yorker (HENY) coalitions dedicated to building the power of tenants and the homeless, united to win a city we can all afford to call home.

But there’s good news too, this week, Mayor de Blasio proposed sweeping protections for tenants across NYC. Momentum is building on our side but now we need to keep up the pressure.
Join us, along with our allies, next week for two critical actions to demand an end to homelessness and a city where we all can afford a home:
REZONINGS: RALLY TO BUILD IT RIGHT!
Tuesday, May 12th at 6PM
East New York is ground zero for gentrification and displacement. Join community organizations, faith leaders and trade unions calling for the construction of real affordable housing for all, and good, union jobs for those building the housing.
Where: Highland Park in East New York Brooklyn (corner of Elton Street & Jamaica Avenue).
Travel: Take the J train to Cleveland Street. Walk down Elton Street to Highland Park.
Contact: Elizabeth Owens at 646-203-3145.


RALLY TO SAVE NYC! Save #1MillionHomes 
Thursday, May 14th at 5PM
Join thousands demanding the renewal of strong rent laws for the city’s 1 million rent-regulated apartments. New York City has already lost 250,000 affordable apartments in the last 10 years due to weak rent laws that landlords use to "de-regulate" rent stabilized apartments.
Where: Foley Square, meet at the statue in the middle.
Travel: Take the 4,5,6,J,M,Z trains to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall.
Contact: Elizabeth Owens at 646-203-3145.

See you in the streets!
--Jennifer

80-A Fourth Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217 | 718-802-9540 tel | 718-228-2477 fax

[web] www.vocal-ny.org [email] info@vocal-ny.org [twitter] @VOCALNewYork [facebook] www.facebook.com/VOCALNY

80A 4th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217-1908

Fwd: Upcoming event at 6/15 Green! You're invited! Spread the word! 6/15 Green Spring Fair Please Post / List Event

May 5, 2015                                                   

PRESS RELEASE                                                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

6/15 Green is a community garden, located at the corner of 6^th Avenue and 15^th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. We are hosting our annual Spring Festival and Plant Sale on Saturday, May 16^th from 11 a.m. until dark. The rain date is Sunday, May 17.  Our bake sale runs from 11 to 3. The plant sale also runs from 11 to 3. The garden will be selling flower and vegetable plants, as well as heirloom plants in order to raise funds for the garden; donations are also most welcome. Plant sale dates are extended this year due to expanded public interest. The additional dates are Sunday May 17, 11 – 3; Tuesday May 19 and Thursday May 21 from 4 to 8, and a final sale date on Saturday, May 23 from 11 to 3 (raindate Sunday May 24, 11 – 3). Our potluck/BBQ starts at 3. Additional highlights include live music, face painting and games for children, and the "Leaves of Change" Gallery Project featuring photos of community gardens.  Live music will include the "Under The Willow Gorilla Baroque" (tentative) from noon to 2; Ta Aidhona presenting a sung tribute to Spring gardens of Greece from 2to 3; Bob Goldberg, accordion, from 3 to 4, special guests John Kessel/Mystery Band from 4 to 5, and VERY special guest Stumblebunny from 5 on. The garden welcomes and encourages the public, neighbors and friends, to attend. Bring friends and family, and enjoy our oasis in the midst of the urban environment, and share the joy of gardening. The Spring Festival is one of several events the garden holds each year to reach out to the neighborhood and educate the public about its purpose in the community.