CANCELLED: Membership Meeting Tonight - Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The Coalition to Save Harlem Membership Meeting scheduled for tonight, Tuesday, October 27, 2009 is cancelled.

Post Event Report: Town Hall Meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur On Adequate Housing

Post Event Report: Town Hall Meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur On Adequate Housing

Congratulations to all who made this an event possible. The Coalition to Save Harlem is proud to have been an organizing member of this event. Folks came out and testified about their housing issues to the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik. She listened intently.

In fact, a Blog Site has been created to follow the activites of the UN Housing Rapporteur's visit in the United States. Check it out at
RestoreHousingRights.org

One by one the Community Residents told their story. "Grandstanding" was not allowed during the event so that those experiencing this sad housing situation in New York City would get an opportunity to speak. "Say it like you mean it" was definately the order of the evening. It was obvious that the outreach coordinated by the New York City Chairperson Rob Robinson, a Board Member of Picture the Homeless (and a gentleman with a history of being homeless) was successful in reaching those who needed this public conversation with the UN Housing Rapporteur. This Town Hall provided an evening of realization (the Housing Rapporteur was in NYC), education (the testimonials provided a learning "eye opening" experience) and conversation (people made new relationships and strenghtened older ones).

See for yourself ...
(due to technical difficulties, there is no audio for the first 16 minutes)

Event: Town Hall Meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur On Adequate Housing

Event: Town Hall Meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur On Adequate Housing
Come out and support housing as a Human Right in New York City. Voice your concerns about the foreclosure crisis, growing homelessness and inadequate public housing and section 8.

Time: 6:30
Day & Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009

Flyer:

• Poster/Flyer may be downloaded from the CSH Flyer Depot here
• Flyer (1/2 Page) may be downloaded from the CSH Flyer Depot here

Note: NESRI and NLCHP will collect testimony (both written and video) from communities where the Special Rapporteur is unable to visit.

Location:
Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway at 121st Street
New York, NY 10027

Twitter: @NESRIorg [Hashtag #housingmission]

Contact: (To be involved in the Town Hall)
Meredith Vatsek
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative [NESRI]
Telephone: 212-253-1710 Ext. 307

Background:
The Special Rapporteur is appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to examine and report back on the housing situation of a given country. This is the first official visit to the United States by a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Housing.

Sponsors:

• Picture the Homeless
• Good Old Lower East Side [GOLES]/[PHROLES]
• Organizing Asian Communities [CAAAV]
• Fifth Avenue Committee
• Families United for Racial and Economic Equality [FUREE]
• Make the Road
  
• Coalition to Save Harlem [CSH]
• Concerned Citizens of Greater Harlem
• East Harlem Anti-Displacement Taskforce
• Partnership for the Homeless
• Tenants and Neighbors
• Urban Justice Center
• Mothers on the Move
• Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Program [NEDAP]
• The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board [UHAB]
• National Economic and Social Rights Initiative [NESRI]
• Poverty Initiative
• and more .....

... And More Information ...:
The UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Raquel Rolnik will be making an official visit to the United States – October 23rd through November 6th. This is the first official mission to the United States by a Special Rapporteur on Housing. The Special Rapporteur will primarily focus on concerns around public housing and Section 8 (social housing), homelessness and the foreclosure crisis. She will make official visits to Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Washington, DC. During her time in Washington, DC she will meet with federal officials including individuals from the Obama administration and congressional members. After her visit, she will draft a report of findings.

The Special Rapporteur is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on the housing situation of a given country. The general objectives of this visit will be:

• to examine and report on the status of the realization of housing rights in the United States, with particular attention to aspects of gender equality, non-discrimination and the protection of the poor, the vulnerable and minorities;
• to engage in dialogues with the U.S. government, United Nations and intergovernmental agencies and civil society in their efforts to secure these rights;
• to identify practical solutions and best practices in the realization of rights relevant to the mandate; and
• to follow up on relevant concluding observations made by treaty bodies and other international bodies and assess their impacts on policies adopted by the U.S.

The visit will focus on social housing (public housing and Section 8), homelessness and the foreclosure crisis. Her office has selected Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, New York and a rural community as the locations of her site visits. The New Orleans visit will be a follow-up to the recent International Advisory Group on Forced Evictions fact-finding mission there.

Additionally, the Special Rapporteur will have official meetings in Washington D.C., as well as meet with national housing rights groups. NESRI and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty will be coordinating the visit. NESRI will facilitate planning of the site visits and NLCHP will facilitate the meeting in Washington, D.C.

Event: Behind The Bench II

Event: Behind The Bench II
A Community Forum to address the laws and legal issues that affect communities and the world.

Note: Live Television Taping / Workshop.

Flyer: May be downloaded from the CSH Flyer Depot here.

Time: 5:30pm to 8:pm
Day & Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Location:
Harlem Branch Library
9 West 124th Street
(Between Malcolm X Blvd. & 5th Aves.)
New York, NY
Tel: 212-369-2705

Contact:
Cornelius Ricks
Phone: 347-413-2774
Email: seericks1@gmail.com or harlemcommunity@gmail.com

Technical Director:
Hon. Patti Jacobs (harlemcommunity@gmail.com)

Distinguished guest speakers and panelist are:

• Hon. Paul Kerson, Esq. – (Ret.) Westchester County. Criminal Court
• Hon. Jay Stuart Dankberg, Esq. – (Ret.) NYC Housing Court
• Asst. Attorney General Guy Mitchell, Esq. – Harlem
• Kenneth Gilbert, Esq. – Defender Service of Harlem
• Hon. Keith Wright, - State Assembly Member

Cornelius Ricks asks?

1. Should we trust in judicial justice?
2. Are lawyers a part of the status quo that exploit those who cannot afford a lawyer?
3. Are judges free to make independent judgments or are their decisions influenced by the police, public, and district attorney office?
4. Should judges be appointed by the governor and mayor or be elected?
5. In landlord tenant disputes how influential is the landlord lobby?
6. Why are Asians and Whites not arrested at the same rate as Blacks?
7. Why do police brutality cases go unpunished?
8. Why has legal community refused to support Attorney Alton Maddox gain his license back to practice law in New York?

Also check out:
Conversation with Harold Channer and Cornelius Ricks

Thank You Village of Harlem for making the Housing In Harlem Event a Success!

Thank You Village of Harlem!

Coalition to Save Harlem would like to thank the Village of Harlem community for making the first Housing In Harlem Event held this past Saturday, October 10, 2009 a success.

CSH

Event: Housing In Harlem "Speak Out": Housing is a Human Right!

Event: Housing In Harlem "Speak Out": Housing is a Human Right!

Time: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Day: Saturday, October 10, 2009

Cost: Free

Note: Flyer can be downloaded from the CSH Flyer Depot here.

Food: Continental Breakfast & Lunch

Registration:

• Online here or click on the Registration Button in the right panel.
• By Telephone: 646-355-8813 [Leave Name (Spell), Contact Telephone Number & Email Address (If you have one)]

Location:
Countee Cullen Community Center
242 West 144th Street
New York, NY 10030
212-234-4500

Description:
The Coalition to Save Harlem is hosting an event in the Village of Harlem titled - Housing in Harlem "Speak Out": Housing is a Human Right!

The event program will be interactive and provide an open Community Forum for Harlem Residents to obtain information, have discussions, network and ask questions about Governmental Policies that affect Housing in the Village of Harlem.

There will also be Community Discussion about preparation for the United Nations Housing Rapporteur's visit to the Village of Harlem later this year.

Program Goals

1. To provide an open Community Forum for Harlem Residents to obtain information, discuss, ask questions and hear solutions about Governmental Policies that affect Housing in the Village of Harlem.
2. To build a broad based housing movement that increases and improves participatory democracy on all levels of Housing issues.
3. To mobilize a core group of Harlem Residents to collaborate and write testimony that will be submitted during the hearings on housing that will be held by the United Nations Housing Rapporteur later in the year.
4. To alert Harlem Residents to recent and pending legislation that will affect housing in the Village of Harlem.
5. To be a catalyst for Harlem Residents to get involved in preserving their Village.

Transportation:

• BUS:
  M2, M10, M15 (On M15 disembark at either Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. or Frederick Douglass Blvd. and walk 1 block south to 144th St.)
• TRAIN:
  IRT #3 to 145th St. & Malcolm X Blvd (Walk 1 block West and 1 block south to 144th St.)
  IND A,B,C,D to 145th St & St. Nicholas Ave. (Walk 3 blocks East and 1 block south to 144th St.)
  IRT #1 to 145th St & Broadway (Walk 6 blocks East and 1 block south to 144th St.)

Contact:
Email: HousingInHarlem@gmail.com
Telephone: 646-355-8813

Event Twitter: @HousingInHarlem [Hashtag #HIH09]

Host:
Coalition to Save Harlem [CSH]
Lincolnton Station P.O. box 737 New York, NY 10037
Telephone: 646-355-8813 Fax: 718-670-3230
Email: Contact.Coalition2SaveHarlem@gmail.com
Twitter: @HarlemCoalition
Blog Site: CoalitionToSaveHarlem.blogspot.com