The southern half of East Harlem is being closed off to its own residents. They are being “up-zoned” right out of their own neighborhood. Working class Latinos will not be able to live south of 104th street…because East Harlem is being gentrified.
Here is one example of that planned gentrification. It is called East River Plaza:
Built on top of a Home Depot, the East River Plaza mega-project will have three towers: 47, 41 and 32 stories tall, with respective heights of 575, 515 and 455 feet.
The towers will create 1,100 apartments and import thousands of people into El Barrio. The builders claim that a few “affordable” apartments will be made available to neighborhood residents…after numerous apartment buildings are seized via eminent domain, and destroyed to make way for the project.
It is thus unclear how much new housing – if any – will actually be created for the residents of El Barrio.
The local response to this mega-project has been, at best, suspicious. Many residents are strenuously opposing it.
A consortium of community groups – El Barrio Unite – has held massive opposition rallies, City Hall press conferences, and has its own web site
Here is a video of Roger Hernandez Moyet, one of the leaders of El Barrio Unite, leading a City Hall demonstration in regard to the zoning, up-zoning, and gentrification of El Barrio.
Clearly, the people of El Barrio are aware of what is happening around them. They are unwilling to be duped, deceived, and displaced from their own homes.
For a history of the War Against All Puerto Ricans, read the book…
Si prefiere ver la página web en español por favor visite: http://www.guerracontratodoslospuertorriquenos
Category: BookTags: East River Plaza, El Barrio, Gentrification, Gentrification El Barrio, Roger Gernandez
WAR AGAINST ALL PUERTO RICANS
Roger Hernandez was, and still is, a great urban analyst and leader of Spanish Harlem.
He is honest and determined. We need comrades like him. We were students at Long Island University during the 70’s
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Before videos, a group of us here in El Barrio formed a group called “We Shall Not Be Moved.” We created a slide show in the late 80s, if not mistaken, accompanied with a cassette to go in tandem with the slides. I got the slides on a DVD. and the cassette separately Now if someone with technical know-how incorporates the cassette with the slides the history of this group will show how we fought against gentrification using town-hall meetings, etc. That wave of gentrification may have been slowed down—we like to take some credit—due to economic factors, but it resurrected its ugly head again.
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William…Wil Viera might be able to do it. I can’t speak for his time, whether he has other projects to finish right now, but Wil is a possibility. Would you like me to ask him?
–Nelson
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Here we go again! Another gift for the One and only ORIGNAL NEOYORKINOS! Los Reyes Magos arriving in time (under the guise of The Vende-Patria NYC políticos). This year’s Gift of the Magi! URBAN REMOvAL is upon us again!
And in the tradition of the continuing War Against All Puerto Rican’s, PR’s get the screwing first..
Where, oh where have the likes of The Young Lords gone? They would have a say in this latest fiasco.
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