On Tuesday, November 3, 2015 NWB participated with the Rheingold Community Coalition to deliver a letter to Yoel Goldman, the new owner of part of the Rheingold property to be developed in Bushwick, demanding the affordable housing and other commitments promised to the community by the previous developer, Read Group.

More information: RheingoldWatch.org

On Thursday night, July 30th, at least 200 hundred Bushwick residents gathered for a Town Hall style meeting at The Cathedral of Joy (43 George Street) to learn about the Rheingold rezoning, Community involvement in the rezoning process, and Simon Dushinsky/Rabsy Group's development plans for the Rheingold site. Following the Town Hall residents Marched in the streets and Rallied in front of The Rabsky site on Bushwick Avenue and Monteith Street. Throughout the Town Hall, March and Rally Bushwick residents rose a loud and clear voice to oppose development which does not include truly affordable housing and to oppose development at Rheingold that does not conform with the Community developed mitigations and agreed upon terms.

Following the Rally, Bushwick residents made camp and occupied the sidewalk in front of the Simon Dushinsky/Rabsky Group owned property to help bring visibility to this luxury development and the Bushwick Communities' concern for affordable housing. The Rheingold Sleep-In was organized by The Rheingold Construction Committee with logistical support from The Silent Barn.

Well over a dozen residents slept over at the Rabsky site, waking up on Bushwick Avenue Friday morning. The residents participating in this public expression of Civic Engagement and Duration were mostly unaffiliated (not local organization members). The Rheingold Construction Committee were organizers and participants in the Civic Sleep-In Action. In addition to those residents who stayed all night, dozens more local Community members stayed in front of Mr. Dushinsky's new property until the early Friday morning hours. Those who spent the night with their neighbors on Bushwick Avenue collectively reclaimed our Public space and made visible our communities' serious Affordable Housing needs and our collective Civic power. 

See the Town Hall Facebook Page for videos and images from the Town Hall and subsequent Sleep-In:

https://www.facebook.com/events/113882492286020/123732577967678/

THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE HOSTS: A Bushwick Town Hall & Community Action

The Rheingold Rezoning was supposed to bring 30% affordable housing to local Bushwick residents. Simon Dushinsky, who is developing a large part of Rheingold, refuses to acknowledge or commit to following through with building our affordable homes.

After many long months of trying to get a straight forward agreement from Mr. Dushinsky The Rheingold Construction Committee is not going to keep quietly waiting any more. Dushinsky has filed plans with the city that do not indicate the agreed upon affordable homes will be built in Bushwick. We (The RCC) have made plans for ACTION!

WE expect all commitments to the Bushwick Community be fulfilled at the Rheingold Site.

Bushwick demands Accountable Development!

Bushwick demands all ULURP/REZONING commitments are delivered!

Bushwick demands affordable housing at Rheingold!

Bushwick Demands Jobs for our community on the Rheingold construction site!

Bushwick demands Rabsky Group/Simon Dushinsky sign a letter of agreement to deliver on all standing commitments to the Bushwick Community!

THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE INCLUDES/EL COMITÉ DE CONSTRUCCION DE RHEINGOLD INCLUYE:

North West Bushwick Community Group
Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A
St. Nicks Alliance- Workforce Development
Community Board 4 (Bushwick)
Los Sures Southside United
Churches United For Fair Housing
Evergreen Exchange
Catholic Migration Services

Rabsky Group is the new part owner of the rezoned Rheingold site. When Rabsky bought this land from Read Properties there were a number of standing commitments with the Bushwick Community on what would be developed on that land in exchange for a rezoning. The Rheingold Construction Committee has been actively following up with both Read & Rabsky to ensure the Bushwick Community receives the affordable housing and local jobs we were promised.

The Rheingold Construction Committee has repeatedly requested a signed letter of commitment from Rabsky Group to ensure that our Community receives the affordable housing, jobs and other agreed upon terms of the rezoning as promised.

JOIN THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE AS WE DELIVER THESE COMMITMENT DEMANDS IN PERSON .

LET RABSKY GROUP KNOW BUSHWICK DEMANDS AND DESERVES ALL COMMITMENTS AS PROMISED THROUGH THE REHINGOLD REZONING

Rabsky Group WE expect all commitments to the Bushwick Community be fulfilled at the Rheingold Site. 
Bushwick Demands Accountable Development!
Bushwick demands all ULURP commitments are delivered!
Bushwick demands affordable housing at Rheingold!
Bushwick Demands Jobs for our community on the Rheingold construction site!
Bushwick demands Rabsky Group/Simon Dushinsky sign a letter of agreement to deliver on all standing commitments to the Bushwick Community!

THE RHEINGOLD CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE INCLUDES-

North West Bushwick Community Group
Brooklyn Legal Services Corp A
St. Nicks Alliance- Workforce Development
Community Board 4 (Bushwick)
Los Sures Southside United
Churches United For Fair Housing
Evergreen Exchange
Catholic Migration Services

https://www.facebook.com/events/482026765289061/

ACABO rally's in Mara Hernandez Park

(Photo By: Bianca Perez)

ACABO convened at The Silent Barn to make posters and banners for upcoming TENANTS RIGHTS/NO BUY OUTS! rallys

North West Bushwick Community Group warmly invites you to join your neighbors as we collectively envision and organize a plan for a Community Visibility Action. An Action in our local neighborhood to highlight our community's campaign for Community power and Housing stability, and to ensure Read Property Group follows through with the commitments made to the people of Bushwick.

As Bushwick continues to struggle with housing stability and as developers race to build luxury developments here; this is a crucial time to re-voice community concerns and vulnerabilities while expanding awareness and connecting some of the forces of gentrification to place and people in our local community.

We invite you to help in making publicly visible the very real issues with Development in Bushwick-  people struggling to stay in their homes due to landlord pressures and rising rents, developers unaccountable to communities, policies that leave our community vulnerable. Let�s unite in a public call for housing justice in Bushwick!

Through our work in the North Brooklyn Anti-Displacement Task Force Collaborative (Allied Communitues Against Buy Outs)- NWB was proud to help bring this educational opportunity to our Community

At this gathering our Williamsburg Neighbors from Neighbors Allied for Good Growth shared with the NWB & Bushwick Community some of their group experience during Williamsburg's own Community Based Rezoning Process and the ongoing resulting impacts. NAG shared some successes, failures, strategies, and surprises from this public process, their rezoning engagement, and their coalition building efforts. 

As Bushwick enters the initial phases of our own Community Based Rezoning Process we are grateful for this neighborly, informative and important resource sharing opportunity. This iwas an  important time to enrich our capacities, build Grass Roots Alliances and further the narratives of people, land use, and social justice campaigns in our Communities.

Story Share Generously Hosted by MAYDAY SPACE

Thank you to all who participated in the NWB, New School, St. Joseph's, & Silent Barn Event: Participatory Mapping & A Right To Housing Workshop. This event was full of learning, surprises, sharing, and care. All who participated were generous in their contribbutions. The collective respect for the work was powerful.

A Right to Housing, a gazette developed by students from the Design and Urban Ecologies Graduate Program (The New Shcool), has been envisioned as a tool to inform community members about the housing condition (and crisis) in New York City, and to propose community-based strategies to generate development without displacement in districts as Bushwick.

At the 9/28 workshop (hosted by St. Joseph's Church at The Scalabrini Center For Migrant Families) attendees received A Right to Housing gazette. The 48 page publication illustrates some of the changes in the district, as well as relevant information about Bushwick, including a vacancy survey! This mapping exercise documented all the vacancies of the district in the spring 2013. Since then some of these properties have been sold, developed, rehabilitated or demolished. In order to track these changes a NWB  hosted participatory mapping project developed by the New School Graduate Students. 

We mapped Bushwick over two beautiful Sundays (9/28 & 10/5). Following the A Right To Housing Workshop we had a great Community conversation about housing, vacant property and the effects of Housing Policy in our Community. 

After the Participatory Mapping we gathered for cold drinks and conversation at The Silent Barn, a local art, music, and community Space.

North West Bushwick Community Group works to support the visibility of Displacement in our Communities and City. We were proud to continue this aspect of our work through participation in, and marching with, The People's Climate March: Housing & Displacement Contingent on September 21, 2014.

NWB worked with the Housing & Displacement Contingent along with many other individuals and groups from the housing justice movement. Right to the City, Braden Crooks, & Joal Stein  were  major organizational leaders of this PCM Contingent.

The Contingent  collectively made beautiful & powerful banners, art, and prop tents for the People�s Climate March.

The Contingent is representative of some of the front line communities whose homes and communities are threatened and made vulnerable by unjust climate change.

We Marched to make Displacement a more visible issue and to highlight the connections between Climate Justice & Housing Justice.

"Rising Tides, Rising Rents, Rising People!"

http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50109/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1296122

The NWB Data Beta Launch on 8/19 was an incredibly rewarding, vibrant, and diverse gathering of community leaders, creative minds, and housing justice workers.

At our launch The Bushwick Community Map (created by Michael "Ziggy" Mintz) was shared with all attendees. We discussed some of the exciting aspects of the project and some potential developments of the tool.

Contrasting typical 'tech start-up' style, we want this project to be born out of the visions of those actually on the ground, experiencing the needs of local residents and housing justice organizations day in and day out.

Many of you may be wondering what's next for this project and how to get involved. We will be in touch as we receive feedback and regroup to organize next meetings and steps. We look forward to individual and group feedback meetings as this project progresses. 

NWB looks forward to communally developing a TBD Targeted Campaign for Housing Justice while providing educational & actionable information to individuals & organizers also engaged in this fight.

NWB is deeply grateful to have had such an excellent turnout of people and ideas on 8/19 and to everyone for their continued interest and support of this project.

Thanks as well to Brooklyn Soda Works, Hops & Hocks, and Tito's Vodka for donating the delicious soft drinks and alcoholic elixirs that undoubtedly made the event and following conversation even more refreshing.

The NWB Mapping Project Team!

NWB hosted an Educational Workshop on Zoning. Kevin Worthington & Lacey Tauber from CM Reynoso's office joined NWB to facilitate. This was great opportunity to develop a deep understanding of technical aspects of zoning and it's influence on NYC and LOCAL housing. The Center For Urban Pedagogy developed workshop takes the form of a fun interactive board game. This learning is valuable in developing our community fluency around issues of land use, housing, and many of the forces of change we see in our community. No prior zoning experience or knowledge was required. 

(photo Brooklyn Brief, Taub)

Arts in Bushwick held its annual Community Day during Bushwick Open Studios on 5/31. NWB had a table at the event in Maria Hernandez Park. We had a large format mapping ID activity and an arts and crafts project for kids to help envision our neighborhood. As well as ULURP info and bike maps. It was a beautiful breezy day in the park and with the help of neighbors we strung together a beautiful and colorful city around our NWB tent. It was fun to be in the park with other active local groups. Chaira, Ron, Lolo, Kunal, Lisa and Brigette were all there proudly sharing NWB work with the Community. 

NWB members Tres, Brigette, and Matt attended the Rent Guidelines Brooklyn Public Hearing on 6/18. Tres and Brigette testified. Brigette as a Rent Stabilized, personally vulnerable, and concerned resident while Tres spoke powerfully with supportive and considerate forward momentum after listening to hours of speakers on both sides. It was a powerful and charged room; an amazing string of Brooklyn narratives that were strong and deeply resonant with the crowd.

On 6/21 The Silent Barn hosted their annual Stanwix Street block party. The streets were closed and music was played, BBQ and fun were had by the all-ages crowd. There were giant bubbles and a piñata. NWB facilitated a live mural, Graf Piece, to be done on NWB member Matt's van by Educated Little Monsters, a local Art & Performace Youth Group. NWB member Jazz, long term resident, artist, mother, entrepreneur, and Educated Little Monsters Youth Group founder and director coordinated this creative partnership with NWB. This was a really fun afternoon and event that was a nice furthering of our ongoing supportive relationship with ELM and the Silent Barn. We look forward to a continued cooperative partnership for NWB and these two local institutions of the people.

NWB was invited by CUFFH to participate in their local traditional CBO basketball tournament. We quickly managed to put together a formidable team! On 6/28 NWB rose to the challenge thanks to the incredible efforts of team players Lolo, Tres, and Peter! NWB participated in the tournament forming a cooperative team with NAG to play ball like only activists can! The other teams in the tournament included CM Reynoso, CM Mencheca, CW Valazquez, CUFFH, Brooklyn Legal A, Los Sures and other local CBOs. Big shout out to Lolo, Tres, and Peter for playing ball and representing your neighbors!

In a show of solidarity with groups organizing around housing and community empowerment Tres and Brigette attended the Crown Heights Tenants Rally & March on 6/7. 

It was well attended and the tenants who spoke at designated stops were powerful and clear in their rights and demands. There were printed chant sheets which were fun and strong. "I believe we will win"- was my favorite. It was a great afternoon. There were individuals from CH and many were members of CHTU but there were also many groups expressing solidarity as well as politicians. Artist and Affordabily Project were really interesting to talk to about working on policy for commercial rent control.

Here isa link with more info on their organization : CHTU

Our District 34 Community Board 4 held its regular monthly meeting on 5/21; there was a presentation and update on Rheingold. CM Reynoso's office, Read Properties, CUFFH, Los  Sures,, Brooklyn Legal Corp. A, PS145, St.Nick's Alliance, and EWVDCO shared information on the benefits/mitigations they received or had expertise on. 

NWB was given 3 minutes to address Community involvement in the process. We felt it was important  to also put the benefits/mitigation in context and address the bleak structural concerns we gleaned from this Rheingold ULURP engagement. 

Brigette participated on behalf on the NWB Rheingold Advisory Panelists. 

One of our NWB Monday Night Community Meetings at Express Yourself Barista Bar...The espresso inspires!

Visualizing a CLT Workshop by Josh Barndt at Express Yourself Barista Bar, 

On 11/30 North West Bushwick Community Group had a NWB Advisory Panel public presentation and conversation hosted by the Silent Barn. At this event we talked about the formation and process of the Panel and the potentially forming Coalition. We also shared with those in attendance our initial Terms for the developer at Rheingold as articulated in North West Bushwick Community Group meetings and as populations, data, and EIS scope mandated or allowed.

The community terms are in negotiations and we look to City Council Member Diana Reyna to advocate for and secure terms in the most binding manner possible. 

The NWB Rheingold Advisory Panel looks forward to sharing/discussing the final Terms as voted on by the City Council. We are truly hopeful for future Bushwick organizing and action efforts around housing and land use issues in our Community. Through all of our continued engagement and awareness around the proposed development at Rheingold NWB has become a part of the local Community rich in land use and housing knowledge. We look forward to future exchanges and community artriculations of presence and need around these and other issues.

Mottel, Peperone, Perez with Council Woman Diana Reyna at  City Council Hearing on Rheingold Rezoning.

11.12.13 was the City Council Public Hearing on the ULURP application for rezoning & redevelopment at  the former Rheingold site in Bushwick. In City Hall there was a great show of Bushwick's strength and a powerful Bushwick voice raised. Unity & resilancy are possible for Bushwick! Yesterday was a beatiful move twoard true Bushwick solidarity.

NWB represented an oppositional voice to this proposal and advocated for a modified plan. We asked for 35% affordable units with the undertsanding that 40% is more reflective of the local Bushwick AMI. We asked for real Bushwick needs to be met, local accesability to affordable housing, innovation & business incubators in the retail space, and ecologocally responsible post~Sandy tactics in all phases of project. We reminded the City Council & the developer that Housing is a Human Right and the requested loss of manufacturing zoning is something Bushwick needs met with proper compensation and consideration. We stated Bushwick welcomes business that meets community needs & goals.

NWB was not the only group in attendance at the Hearing. BEAN and Rheingold Gardens H.O.A. spoke their opposition to the unmitigated proposal. CUFFH arrived in numbers advocating for "at least 30%" affordable units and READ's commitment to working with the organizations present at the hearing to negotiate and follow through with any commitments READ makes with the community to meet our articulated needs & goals. Los Sures spoke strongly & from the heart about realistic community needs. Make the Road NY was large in number, powerful and called for justice.

The voices of those in opposition rang true and clear in city council chambers. We have asked other locally invested organization who've been active in reponse to READs ULURP to meet, formally form a Bushwick Coalition, and draft a CBA/atriculation of community needs & stances as appropriate.

Our North West Bushwick Community group has formed against the Rheingold Rezoning. We have rapidly developed and expanded over the past month. We are working toward a inclusive future for Bushwick where development does not displace. We are striving for participatory design & community based planning.

The initial meeting held by City Councilwoman Reyna's office on September 3rd sparked widespread outrage in our community as it was clear that the developer of the site, the CB4 and the Councilwoman's office had not appropriately informed the public of the development plan. Additionally the CB4 violated open meeting laws when voting to pass this proposal.

Since then, we have had a multitude of Public Community Meetings with a diverse coalition of home owners, eco activists, renters, educators, Urban Planners, and representatives of Reyna, State Senator Dilan and others...

At our last meeting the opportunity to create an ADVISORY PANEL to Reyna was offered by her staff as a way for us to mitigate our concerns. As it stands now, the City Council will have the development proposal for 50 days after the October 23rd City Planning Commission Vote.

We have to meet to nominate, elect and sort our process for this SOON. This is an exciting chance to nominate 5-6 seats on this new ADVISORY PANEL The other seas will be filled by local organization representatives (CUFFH, LOS SURES, St Nick�s ALLIANCE, EWVIDCO, Make the Road NY, PS120 & 145).

October 6th's Development Without Displacement Workshop with The New School, COHSTRA, and BEAN was really incredible. We all feel excited with possibility thinking about these hybrid seeds of thought, change, and power we helped plant in Bushwick through talking and learning about alternative models and affordability. What strong healthy fruit we will communally grow, tend, & share!

Bushwick coming together around issues of development & displacement, learning together & articulating our needs is an encouraging spark twoards a just & inclusionary future. A Rheingold Advisory Panel and educational opportunities like this seem like an interesting and perhaps promising step twoards realizing some of this.

Paper Tiger TV- Adrienne Silverman