Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
1520 Sedgwick :: The Battle Continues
This morning, DJ Kool Herc, Senator Charles Schumer, the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, and tenants from 1520 Sedgwick had a press conference to announce the Save 1520 Coalition’s demand the right of tenants to purchase the building that is the birthplace of hip-hop. This right is granted to residents of city-subsidized protected housing.
As the Times is reporting, this all comes about as a real estate developer known for flipping the famous Bank of America pyramid building in San Francisco has been revealed to be among the buyers.
Why is Mark Karasick interested in buying a 100-unit apartment building for working-class residents in the Bronx where rents average $1000?
One of the organizers, Dina Levy, says she believes he may be flipping the building to foreign buyers–whether for the building’s historical value or its strategic location for gentrification of the West Bronx is unclear. More than 40,000 units of similar city-subsidized affordable housing have been lost in New York City in recent years.
The tenants are now in negotiation with Karasick and others, but Karasick is asking for a price almost 3 times the expected value of the building.
To support the tenants’ fight with a donation, please visit to Save1520.org.
posted by Jeff Chang @ 10:10 am | 2 Comments
2 Responses to “1520 Sedgwick :: The Battle Continues”
Previous Posts
- Who We Be + N+1=Summer Reading For You
- “I Gotta Be Able To Counterattack” : Los Angeles Rap and The Riots
- Me in LARB + Who We Be Update
- In Defense Of Libraries
- The Latest On DJ Kool Herc
- Support DJ Kool Herc
- A History Of Hate: Political Violence In Arizona
- Culture Before Politics :: Why Progressives Need Cultural Strategy
- It’s Bigger Than Politics :: My Thoughts On The 2010 Elections
- New In The Reader: WHO WE BE PREVIEW + Uncle Jamm’s Army
Feed Me!
Revolutions
- african underground :: depths of dakar
- lifesavas :: gutterfly: the original soundtrack
- chuck brown :: all about the business
- k'naan :: dusty foot philosopher
- tracey thorn :: out of the wood
- the good the bad and the queen :: the good the bad and the vice president's fall guy
- el-p :: i'll sleep when you're dead
- arcade fire :: neon bible
- antibalas & john mcentire :: security
- omar sosa & greg landau :: d.o.-a day off
- richie spice :: in the streets to africa
Word
- vijay prashad :: the darker nations
- cormac mccarthy :: the road
- brian coleman :: check the technique
Fiyahlinks
- justice for dr. antwi akom
- benn loxu du taccu, africa talks
- blackalicious
- bloc, activist networking resources
- b plus and coleman
- buy blue
- clamor mag
Archives
- July 2014
- May 2012
- January 2012
- June 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
Design: Eugene Kuo | Hosting: Kuwayama DesignWebsite ©2004-2014 By Jeff Chang is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
What is fascinating about this battle are the arguments being made (not by tenants, but, by those opposed to saving 1520 Sedgwick).
In the NYT article you linked to, many of the comments are revealing in terms of how disjointed the situation truly is.
On the one hand, we have a possibly soon to be federally recognized monument in 1520 Sedgwick. On the other side, many argue that saving the property continues to facilitate a degraded situation that is pervasive in housing projects.
(I can’t acknowledge claims that this is not the birthplace of Hip-hop — the exposure to the rap game as music, and the culture itself).
Even if the tenants demands to purchase the property are honored, and they are successfully able to do so — wouldn’t another outside party still try to snatch this away at some point? This is not to say they should not fight, but, I suspect this is only the beginning.
From battle, to war.
Man I know lots of folks who grew up there who can’t believe what’s happening.