Keep Public Housing Public!

“A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR: The Push to Stop the Demolition of Public Housing in Chelsea”

A film screening - free and open to the public! - followed by a panel discussion focused on the privatization of public housing.

Doors will open at 6:00 PM and the film screening will begin at 6:30 PM. Panel consists of community leaders and public housing scholars.

Pratt School of Architecture

Higgins Hall, 61 St. James Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238

Registration is required. Please bring a valid photo ID to enter the building.

About "A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR":

Through the eyes of longtime residents fighting to save their homes, A Home Worth Fighting For, exposes a flawed political process that prioritizes private developers over the preservation of public housing and dismisses calls for transparency. While pitched as resident-driven, the proposed demolition clearly aims to clear valuable land in Chelsea to make way for market rate development on public land. Determined to defend their community, residents organize to resist a profit-driven plan aimed at privatizing public housing. Run time: 40 min.

Natasha Florentino

Director, Producer, Co-director of Photography

Oliver Metzler

Co-director of Photography

Jason Alarcòn

Editor

Panelists:

Chris Banks

City Councilmember, District 42; Deputy Leader NYC Council;

Chair, Committee on Public Housing

Marquis Jenkins

District Leader, NYS Assembly District 74

James Rodriguez, PhD

Public Housing Scholar

Assistant Professor, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies

Moderated by:

Natasha Florentino

Director, Producer, Co-director of Photography, "A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR"

Introduction by:

Caitlin Cahill

Associate Professor, Urban Geography & Politics

Co-Coordinator, Social Justice/Social Practice Minor

Co-Sponsors & Partners:

Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment

www.pratt.edu/gcpe

Faced with climate change, systemic racism, and growing inequity, communities need forward-thinking approaches to urbanism now more than ever. Practice-based and rooted deeply in the network of communities we serve, our alliance of four graduate-level programs works to address these evolving threats, working in partnership to build asset-based solutions at the intersection of environment, equity, culture, and economy.

Pratt Social Science and Cultural Studies Department

https://www.pratt.edu/liberal-arts-and-sciences/social-science-and-cultural-studies/

Art, design, architecture—these disciplines exist in a rich world of ideas and cultural expressions. Our Social Science & Cultural Studies programs help you more deeply understand them. A core part of the Pratt experience, these courses act as both a complement to your creative endeavors and a lens through which to further explore them. Across psychology and economics, history and philosophy, you’ll build context of how culture is created, and in the process, a perspective on how to change it.

Pratt Institute Social Justice/Social Practice Minor

https://www.pratt.edu/liberal-arts-and-sciences/social-science-and-cultural-studies/social-justice-social-practice-minor/

The Social Justice/Social Practice Minor gives Pratt students the opportunity to bring their studio and design practice into dialogue with critical and transformative perspectives related to equity and justice.

Pratt Center for Community Development

www.prattcenter.net

Pratt Center for Community Development, based at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, works to build community power and advance the equitable distribution of resources for low-income BIPOC communities across New York City. Founded in 1963 as the nation’s oldest university-based community planning organization, the Center partners with frontline, community-based groups to provide research, participatory planning, policy advocacy, and implementation support. Guided by core values such as local knowledge, democratic process, creativity, excellence, and genuine exchange, Pratt Center promotes a just city where all residents have access to housing, clean air, good jobs, and the ability to thrive in place.

Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea (FEC) Tenants Against Demolition

www.stopfecdemolition.org @stopfecdemolition

As residents we demand the immediate stop to the Proposed demolition of our homes. Our community has endured enough terror and corruption from both unelected tenant leadership and Real Estate interests seeking to transform New York City into an exclusive playground for the wealthy. For generations, our neighborhood has been a vibrant tapestry of lives and livelihoods, and we will not stand idly by as it is torn down. We demand state funding for affordable housing as the only viable solution. Demolition is not the answer and we are outraged at the lies and deceit of NYCHA, Essence, and Related. We never voted for demolition, and we will not allow our homes and community to be destroyed without a fight. Together, we can save our homes, our neighborhood, and our way of life. Join the Stop FEC Demolition movement today and fight for your friends, your homes, and your community.

Midtown South Community Council

www.midtownsouthcc.org

Midtown South Community Council (MSCC) was founded in 1986 to reduce crime and improve quality of life within New York City’s commercial dense Midtown Manhattan. We’re particularly concerned about the extreme scarcity and continual loss of housing. The preferred commercial development—particularly the abundance of hotels—crushes many of the smaller tenement buildings and destroys neighborhoods. The ‘more commercial and less housing’ development policy drives the severe housing shortage. Poverty and homelessness are the symptoms. Addressing the core economic issues that lead to poverty, rather than policing, is the pathway to a healthier and humane society. That’s why we focus on the three major causes of instability: health, hunger, and housing.

This event is part of “Dismantling Disinvestment - Fulton and Elliott Chelsea Tenants Reclaim the Narrative,” a participatory action research project supported by a Pratt Center for Community Development.

Keep Public Housing Public!

“A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR: The Push to Stop the Demolition of Public Housing in Chelsea”

About "A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR":

Natasha Florentino

Director, Producer, Co-director of Photography

Oliver Metzler

Co-director of Photography

Jason Alarcòn

Editor

Panelists:

Chris Banks

City Councilmember, District 42; Deputy Leader NYC Council;

Chair, Committee on Public Housing

Marquis Jenkins

District Leader, NYS Assembly District 74

James Rodriguez, PhD

Public Housing Scholar

Assistant Professor, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies

Moderated by:

Natasha Florentino

Director, Producer, Co-director of Photography, "A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR"

Introduction by:

Caitlin Cahill

Associate Professor, Urban Geography & Politics

Co-Coordinator, Social Justice/Social Practice Minor

Co-Sponsors & Partners:

Pratt Institute Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment

Pratt Social Science and Cultural Studies Department

Pratt Institute Social Justice/Social Practice Minor

Pratt Center for Community Development

Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea (FEC) Tenants Against Demolition

Midtown South Community Council

This event is part of “Dismantling Disinvestment - Fulton and Elliott Chelsea Tenants Reclaim the Narrative,” a participatory action research project supported by a Pratt Center for Community Development.

The Pratt research team includes:

Caitlin Cahill

Associate Professor, Urban Geography & Politics

Co-Coordinator, Social Justice/Social Practice Minor

David Burney

Visiting Associate Professor, GCPE

Leonel Lima Ponce

Academic Director, MS in Sustainable Environmental Systems

Visiting Assistant Professor, GCPE

Contact the host of Keep Public Housing Public! "A HOME WORTH FIGHTING FOR" Documentary Screeening + Panel focused on the Privatization of Public Housing