June 28th - DAG 64 Fundraiser Event to Save CHARAS - 6-9 pm at Mo Pitkin's, 34 Avenue A between 2nd and 3rd Street -DAG 64 invites you to join in raising funds for a professional comprehensive community plan to restore the old PS 64/CHARAS to a viable resource for and by the neighborhood. -
PLEASE NOTE INVITATION PRINTING ERROR -The correct RSVP email is DAG64NYC@gmail.com or call 212-979-2344. To make donations by credit card click here. Please indicate DAG 64 in the designation field.
Our 2nd Street office has moved!! Please visit our new office at 171 Avenue B (next to our 169 Avenue B office)!
Join GOLES to hlep save 47 East 3rd Street!! Rally on Saturday, April 14th, 1 PM, at 47 East 3rd Street (between 1st Ave and 2nd Ave). The landlords are evicitng every tenant, claiming they will transform all 15 units into a mansion. Take actiont o save these tenants' homes. For more information, contact Wasim Lone, 212-533-2541.
Come to our Annual Celebration!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
6:00pm – 9:00pm
Reboot, 37 Avenue A
(Between 2nd & 3rd Street)
Public Forum to end rent destabilization, reform DHCR, preserve Mitchell Lama and Section 8 housing, ensure adequate state funding for NYCHA and limit rent payments from people living with HIV/AIDS to 30% of income. Join GOLES and other communtiy groups as part of the newly formed New York is Our Home Campaign, Saturday May 5th, 11AM, Middle Collegiate Church, 50 East 7th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
Check out the latest Retail Action Project updates by clicking
here.
Retail Action Project: March & Rally!! - Sunday December 17th - 1:30 pm - Support retail workers at the Yellow Rat Bastard (YRB) apparel stores who are fighting for dignity on the job! At the height of holiday shopping season join GOLES for a festive march up Broadway as we sing, chant, and call for workplace justice in New York’s retail industry. We will meet in front of YRB and end with food drinks and other festivities at a location TBA . ***** Free T-shirts for participants!!!*****
Check out our winter events by clicking here.
Sign up now for free classes to LES residents on Customer Service Skills in the food industry as part of our new Workforce and Economic Development Program. Acquire the skills you need to get the job you want!
For more information call Ginny at 212-533-2541.
Click here to check out the "Zoning 101" presentation made by Pratt Center for Community Development and presented at an October 12th meeting co-hosted by GOLES and Pratt and sponsored by the offices of Councilmembers Mendez and Gerson. For more information on our zoning campaign click here.
197 Plan Taskforce - Community Presentation by the Department of City Planning on the LES Re-Zoning- November 6th - Cooper Union, Wollman Building, 50 Astor Place - The Department of City Planning will be presenting it's proposal for the LES rezoning.
For maps click here).
For more information visit Community Board 3.
Join us for GOLES' Fall Potluck! - Wednesday, October 25, 2006, 6:30 pm 535 E. 5th St, Perseverance House, - Come and share good food and good conversation. Learn about GOLES' campaigns and find out how you can get involved. Please RSVP to let us know you are coming and what you will be bringing.
To RSVP call Ali, 212-533-2541.
Tenant Union Meeting, Thursday, October 25, 2006, 6:30 pm, 535 E. 5th St, Perseverance House Get active in our phony demolitions and anti-harrasement campaigns!
Thursday, October 12th, 7 pm, -Come Learn About Zoning! The LES is being re-zoned and residents have a lot of questions. Come get the tools to understand the re-zoning which is being proposed by the Department of City Planning.
Pratt Center for Community Development will be providing a Zoning 101 and the event is being co-sponsored by the offices of Council Members Rosie Mendez and Alan Gerson. The event will take place in the cafeteria of The Earth School, 6th Street and Avenue B.
For a flyer, click here.
Announcing FOCUS (Finding Our CommUnity Strength) on the LES! - a new project of GOLES which aims to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the critical issues facing the Lower East Side and to engage community residents in the preservation and future development of the neighborhood. We are currently seeking community input into the crafting of the survey. For more information contact Shoshana Krieger at 212-533-2541.
Sign up now for free classes to LES residents on Employment Fundamentals and Customer Service Skills as part of our new Workforce and Economic Development Program. Acquire the skills you need to get the job you want! From August 7th-18th. For more information call Ali at 212-533-2541.
GOLES announces a new campaign!
The Retail Action Project
- Fighting for Workers' rights and justice in our community!
 6/27/06 - Rent Guidelines
Board's Final Vote- Hundreds of tenants turned out to protest the Rent Guidelines Board's Final Vote. Tenants chanting "Home Rule Now"caused the RGB to adjourn the meting to later in the night. When the proceedings resumed, tenants continued to voice their opposition to the landlord-biased RGB which has given working-class families in rent-stabilized apartments high increases for years. The RGB, in spite of the outcry, passed guidelines of 3.25% on a 1-year lease and 6.25 on a 2-year lease.
5/8/06 - Rent Guidelines
Board's Preliminary Vote- Over 40 GOLES' tenants
turned out to show the RGB that tenants can't afford more rent
increases as landlords continue to make 38 cents on every
dollar in rent collected. The RGB voted 7-2 for a
3-6% range on 1 year leases and a 5-8% range on a 2 year
lease.
5/1/06 - Press Conference for CHARAS - GOLES participated in a press conference with
Congresswoman Velazquez, Councilmember Mendez, Borough
President Scott Stringer, and community activists calling for
the landmarking of PS 64. Read The
Villager Article for more
information.
4/21/06 -Tenant Union Meeting
- Tenants met to discuss the recent increase in
applications with the Division of Housing and Community
Renewal (DHCR) seeking demolition orders. The
campaign is picking up speed as more tenants and elected
officials are getting involved.
4/18/06 -
City Council Oversight Hearing on proposed NYCHA
Surcharges- PHROLES organized a press
conference with Congresswoman Velazquez, Congressman Townes,
Councilmember Mendez. and Councilmember Tish James
before an oversight hearing regarding the lack of notice
to tenants on proposed surcharges. Over 200
tenants came to speak out for greater transparency and due
process.
3/26/06- Tenants in Church
Sponsored Buildings Flyer St. Patrick's Cathedral to Request
Meeting -
See the NY
Post and The
Villager articles on the action.
Over 2,200 families in buildings
citywide are at risk of losing their homes and their owners,
all affiliated with the Catholic Church, refuse to meet with
the citywide coalition to discuss their concerns. These
buildings are in disrepair and have been grossly mismanaged
and tenants want to know why, now, the Church won't meet with
them to discuss the affordability of their homes. The
buildings on the LES are: Haven Plaza, 371 units, and
Grand Street Guild Houses, 600 units. Tenants from the
buildings flyered St. Patrick's on Sunday requesting a
meeting.
3/23/06- Over 500 tenants turnout to meeting
at Smith Houses re: Proposed NYCHA Surcharges
PHROLES members and concerned tenants turned to a NYCHA
meeting discussing the surcharges being proposed by NYCHA and
the process NYCHA used in informing tenants of the
surcharges. Click here for
more information on the surcharges and click here to see our upcoming actions
related to the surcharges.
3/23/06- Tenant Meets to Discuss
Demolition Over 60 tenants attended meeting to discuss
what to do about landlords who are applying for demolition
orders with the Division of Housing and Community Renewal to
do gut rehabs of occupied buildings. Assemblywoman
Sylvia Friedman attended as well as the office of
Councilmember Mendez. A petitions being circulated
calling on DHCR to not grant such orders and a leadership
committee was formed to strategize next steps. See
upcoming events for the next meetings. Also read a
recent NY Times article on this issue by clicking here.
2/2/06 - Major Victory! Change in Grand
St. Guild Management Company - After a year of pressuring
the Board of Directors to change the inadequate management
company of Grand St. Guild Houses, Residential Management
Associates, tenants have succeeded with the replacement of RMA
with Wavecrest Management. Thanks to the efforts tenants
at Grand Street Guild, the Grand Street Guild Tenant
Association, led by Alexander Gonzalez, Congresswoman Nydia
Velazquez's office, and HUD, 600 units which have been
mismanaged for years will go under new management which will,
hopefully, be receptive to tenant input. For more
information, contact our office, 212-533-2541.
1/26/06 -
Preservation Policy Breakfast - GOLES participated
in a Preservation Policy Breakfast at
City Hall to engage City Councilmembers in the issues
outlined in ANHD's Save Our Homes platform. Executive
Director, Damaris Reyes and GOLES Tenant Leader Ricky Leung
spoke on the importance of defending newly passed Local Law 79
(The Tenant Empowerment Act) and on allocating the resources
necessary to assure that tenants have the technical assistance
necessary to implement the law. Our Councilmember
Rosie Mendez attended and staff from Councilmember Gerson's
office were present. For more information on the Save
Our Homes Campaign click here.
 Carmen
Rubio, organizer at GOLES for the past 12
years, passed away on November 25, 2005 after a long battle
with cancer. She will be remembered for her tireless
work organizing tenants and advocating for welfare rights in
addition to the countless hours she spent with the children of
the Lower East Side transforming an abandoned lot into the
flourishing Children's Magical Garden. We will miss her
greatly.
11/1/05 - Town
Hall Meeting on Bar Proliferation
On November 1st, hundreds of Lower East Side
residents gathered at Angel Orensanz on Norfolk St. to voice
their concerns regarding the rapid bar proliferation in our
neighborhood and the problems which accompany it and to
question the State Liquor Authority, the 7th and 9th precincts
and elected officials regarding existing and proposed
mechanisms to increase community control over these
matters. Time Out New York ran a cover story on the Town
Hall meeting which you can read by clicking here.
For more information on the coalition of community groups,
block associations and individuals who organized the event (of
which GOLES was a sponsor), go to www.toomanybars.org
10/23/05 -
Over 100 GOLES Tenants participated in the ANHD
"Save Our Homes" rally calling on the mayoral candidates to
commit themselves to the preservation of expiring Section 8
buildings. Tenants from 210 Stanton, 10 Stanton, Grand
Street Guild Houses, Haven Plaza and LES Phase I & II
along with a thousand tenants citywide voiced the need for
more city involvement in the opt-out crisis.
6/23/05 - The City Council voted 47-3 to
pass Intro 186: The Tenant Empowerment Act. The Tenant
Empowerment Act would give Project-Based Section 8 residents
the right to purchase their buildings if their landlords
decide to opt-out of the Section 8 program.
Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg may veto the bill. We
need your help to make sure Bloomberg doesn't veto it!! Call
311 and leave a message for the mayor or email him at www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
6/21/05 - The Rent Guidelines Board voted
to increase rents by 2.75% on one-year leases and 5.5% on
two-year leases, effective October, 2005. Over 400 tenants
came out to voice their opposition to any increase in
rent. In the week prior to the vote, tenants testified
at public hearings in Brooklyn and Manhattan as to the need
for a rent freeze as Landlord profits continue to rise and
tenant incomes remain stagnant.
5/25/05 - The City Council voted 47-3 to
pass a "Home Rule Message" which calls on the State
Legislature to repeal the Urstadt Law which would restore home
rule to New York City - meaning that the City Council would
have control over NYC rent and eviction laws. GOLES is
part of a citywide coalition fighting for the repeal of
Urstadt.
5/25/05 - GOLES' tenants Marie
Christopher, Maizie Torres, and Ricky Leung participated in
the City Council Legislative Breakfast on the Tenant
Empowerment Act- Into 186 - which would give Project-Based
Section 8 tenants the right to purchase their buildings if
their landlords decide to opt-out of the Section 8
program. This legislation is vital to preserving the
affordability of the Section 8 housing stock on the Lower East
Side and the City of New York.
5/3/05 - GOLES held a rally and
press conference prior to the Rent Guidelines Board's
Preliminary Vote at the Great Hall in Cooper Union. Over
25 0 tenants from GOLES and Citywide
groups called for a rent-freeze due to the excessive rents
plaguing our city and pushing long-time community residents
out of their homes. Councilmember Margarita Lopez spoke
on the need to preserve our neighborhoods and affordable
housing in our communities. The RGB passed preliminary
figures of 2-4.5% increases on 1 year leases and 4-6%
increases on two-year leases. Click here
to read The Villager article on the event.
For more information on how you can get involved
in future RGB events please contact Shoshana Krieger at
212-533-2541 or skrieger@goles.org
.
4/19/05 - With a citywide coalition we
just won a major victory for affordable housing in New York.
On Tuesday, April 19, 2005 Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller
Thompson announced the establishment of the New York City
Housing Trust Fund - funded by Battery Park City
revenue. This is a result of an ongoing campaign of
housing and community groups to make the City keep its promise
of using BPC revenue for affordable housing. GOLES
participated in a Feb.2nd housing Here& Now Rally as well
as the ANHD March 15th rally in Battery Park City. Thank
you and Congratulations to all tenants who came out to demand
that the City keep its promise. |
