LES Residents Voice Concerns at the Town Hall 2015
By Chelsea Jupin
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The hottest ticket in town on Sunday was Henry Street’s standing-room-only Town Hall meeting. Nearly 300 people packed the gymnasium at 301 Henry Street to share concerns about jobs, gentrification, housing, education, public safety and more.
David Garza, Executive Director of Henry Street, kicked off the meeting, telling those gathered that the Settlement is listening to the individuals it serves (and those it doesn’t serve). “Without understanding the community, we cannot respond to its needs,” he said. Garza also shared some initiatives that emerged from the agency’s first Town Hall meeting. Among them were the strengthening of the Lower East Side Employment Network, a consortium designed to ensure that Lower East Side residents have access to jobs created by local development; the launching of an aftercare program to help families leaving shelter succeed in their new homes; and the creation of a Community Advisory Board to help guide Henry Street.
Elected officials — U.S. Congresswomen Nydia Velazquez and Carolyn Maloney; Public Advocate Letitia James; Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer; City Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez; and District Leader of New York’s 65th Assembly District Jenifer Rajkumar – spoke to the crowd. Their comment highlights included: “Henry Street is about the American Dream – giving opportunities to those who need them. I’m proud to represent the best settlement house in New York. (Maloney); “Public policies should be driven by people in communities, not developers. We need affordable housing for hard working families.” (Velazquez); “Nothing can be for you if it’s done without you. Register to vote. We want to hear from you.” (James); “I represent a lot of settlement houses, so I can’t say Henry Street is the best, but I can say that David Garza and the arts at Henry Street are the COOLEST!” (Brewer); “We rely on the information we get from our community” (Mendez); and “Thanks Henry Street for taking care of our community.” (Chin).
Other attendees included Henry Street Board President Scott Swid and Member Michael Wolkowitz, Manhattan Community Board No. 3 Chair Gigi Lee, and Roberto Perez, a native of the Lower East Side attending on behalf of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs.
The large group moved into small discussion groups led by moderators, and reconvened to share findings. Among the concerns voiced were housing anxiety (fear of rising rents and loss of housing); lack of healthy affordable supermarkets; gun violence and faltering relationships with police; failing elementary schools; potential health problems by the construction of new developments; under-equipped schools (science labs, etc.); need for a higher minimum wage and ways to get people into the workforce; and the need for newcomers to the neighborhood to be part of the solution.
Closing out the Town Hall, Garza assured the audience that the Settlement will carefully analyze and synthesize the results gathered from the discussion groups, and share the findings with the community. “We will listen, reflect, understand and respond,” he said, before inviting all to stay for dinner.
