August 6^th (Friday) – 7pm in Bronx: Oldies But Goodies! dance party

August 20^th (Friday) – 6pm in Queens: Hip-Hop, Queer/Feminist Punk, Spoken Word

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Re:  "Residents Outraged Over Shelter Plans," Chelsea Now, Vol. 4, #24, June 17-20, 2010


June 24, 2010

To the Editor,

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Intro 48 is a City Council bill that would empower the city to conduct an annual count of vacant buildings and lots in the five boroughs. Written by homeless people and introduced by Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, Intro 48 will let us see just how much underutilized housing exists, and allow communities to come up with their own strategies to return them to productive use.

[David Pristin (Director of the Policy Division of the Council) can be reached at dpristin@council.nyc.gov; Rob Newman (Legislative Director for the Council) can be reached at  -->

[Speaker Quinn can be reached at cquinn@council.nyc.gov; any friends and members and allies of Picture the Homeless who are reaching out to her are encouraged to CC Brendan Cheney, her Housing Policy Analyst, at bcheney@council.nyc.gov... as well as Frank Morales, Housing Organizer here at Picture the Homeless: frank@picturethehomeless.org] 

Dear Christine Quinn, 

El Diario newspaper story (Spanish original)

El Diario newspaper story (English translation)

On July 20, 2010, members of Picture the Homeless marched from City Hall to Manhattan Criminal Court, building the momentum of our "dis con" campaign -- against police harassment of homeless people, marked by excessive issuing of “disorderly conduct” charges.  We marched, rallied, performed street theater, and did outreach to community members outside the Court.

We are challenging  NYS Attorney General (and gubernatorial candidate) Andrew Cuomo to take decisive action, meeting his responsibilities as the "people's lawyer."  PTH members have met and corresponded with Cuomo's office in recent months, and have been disappointed with the AG's lack of adequate attention to this matter.  We call on Cuomo to subpoena the NYPD for records on dis-con charges, and investigate police practices.  We're also currently meeting with rights attorneys, as well as the legislative sponsors of the just-passed stop-and-frisk data legislation, to pursue potential changes to the status quo of Dis Con law and enforcement.

* media contact: tej@picturethehomeless.org
* organizer contact: brandon@picturethehomeless.org

To paraphrase Martha and the Vandellas: “Summer’s here and the time is
right for passing Intro 48.”

Hope you’re all staying cool during this “heatwave” (to stick with the
Vandellas theme) and are able to attend our next HNW
meeting which will take place on Monday, July 26th at 7pm here at
Picture the Homeless, 2427 Morris Avenue (take the #4 or D train [last

PTH shows them how we do it...

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