Cooper Square Community Land Trust

Another powerful, moving obituary of Frances Goldin by the one and only Lynn Lewis! https://shelterforce.org//frances-goldin-mother-grandmoth/

Missed today's press conference? Don't worry! It was all recorded and you can watch it here! We're demanding that the Mayor and Council defund the police and commit to fully funding #CommunityLandTrusts in NYC to ensure a #JustRecovery! We know that safety means first and foremost having a roof over your head, and we are happy to have champions like Councilwoman Carlina Rivera fighting for more funding for community-led initiatives that can ensure permanently affordable, collectively-owned housing.

HAPPENING NOW: Join us and our allies in the New York City Community Land Initiative and Stabilizing NYC to demand the City commit more funding to the citywide CLT Initiative! Facebook Live link: Facebook.com/NYCCLI

This morning at 10AM we'll be joining our allies calling on the City for true #NYCBudgetJustice. While our City faces huge budget deficits, record unemployment, and an impending wave of evictions, it is critical that now more than ever we look to proven, community-led solutions like #CommunityLandTrusts that address the root causes of speculation, displacement, and homelessness.

We honor her in the struggle!

We're joining our partners in The New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI) at the NYC Council's Executive Budget Hearing to demand renewed FY21 funding for Community Land Trusts across NYC. We know CLTs can ensure permanently affordable housing and collective, democratic control of land and housing. Now more than ever we need to invest - NOT disinvest - in permanently affordable housing for extremely low income New Yorkers. CLTs are community-controlled nonprofits tha...t own and steward land according to community needs. Right now groups across NYC are developing and preserving different types of housing, including mutual and multifamily housing, limited equity cooperatives, 1-4 family homes at risk of foreclosure and speculation, as well as community and cultural spaces, gardens, and other infrastructure. CLTs also see fewer eviction and foreclosure rates, even in times of economic crisis. This is why it's critical for the Council to renew discretionary funding for the CLT Initiative in order to help grow our movement, help take land and housing off the market, and put it into community control to ensure permanent affordability and vibrant communities! Councilwoman Carlina Rivera New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson Daniel Dromm Jumaane D. Williams

We wouldn't be here without Frances Goldin. As one of the co-founders of the Cooper Square Committee, the Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association, and the CLT, she was one of the fiercest fighters for social justice NYC has ever seen. She beat back Robert Moses' urban renewal plan and, in doing so, expanded our collective imagination to what is possible. Chances are if you've been to a protest in the last few decades, you've seen her donning an all-purple outfit with purple ...hair, and wearing her purple "Tax the Rich" button, which she was always keen to hand out if she had any extra. At 87 Frances could still be seen in the Occupy trenches, pushing back against the NYPD and putting her body on the line. Her literary agency published and helped amplify the voice of Mumia Abu-Jamal, among many other voices demanding justice and repair. Her struggle led to the collective ownership of land and housing, ensuring hundreds of permanently affordable residential and commercial units on the Lower East Side. May Frances’ life be an inspiration for all, and may her passion for justice help us recommit daily to doing what is just. See more