Empty Buildings, Crowded Shelters - Reportback from Columbia University Panel Nov. 26

On November 26th, Picture the Homeless and the Charles H. Revson Fellowship co-sponsored a panel at Columbia University entitled "Empty Buildings, Crowded Shelters." A packed house came to hear about the intersections of homelessness, housing policy, and vacant property. What follows is a write-up summarizing some of what was said, but we've also got links to video on YouTube and audio clips of all speeches! Professor Sudhir Venkatesh opened the panel by contextualizing the current crisis of housing as it manifests itself in blight and vacant property and homelessness - and noted that cities have historically taken different approaches to addressing abandonment, depending on the predominant ethnicity of the neighborhood. In white neighborhoods, the response from city government has been one of conversion and reconstruction. In communities of color, the solution to blight and disinvestment has been demolition and "urban renewal." Which is part of the reason why homelessness - and vacant property - impacts people of color so disproportionately. Rob Robinson, a leader of the Housing Campaign at Picture the Homeless, talked about how homeless people's experience of being criminalized and stigmatized for being homeless, while landlords were allowed to keep their buildings empty, galvanized them to develop a political campaign strategy. "We believed there were significant numbers of vacant properties and empty buildings around the city. Efforts to convince the Bloomberg administration fell on deaf ears. It became apparent to our members that we must take action." Peter Marcuse, Columbia University Professor of Urban Planning, did a great job of getting at how homelessness, far from being a *failure* of the housing market, is a vital part of how real estate happens. "Homelessness is the tip of the iceberg. We call it "the system" sometimes, and it's a system that's getting worse. The name of this system is the Housing Market." Additionally, Professor Marcuse had some fascinating thoughts on the connections between public housing and homelessness. The turnout was phenomenal, but for folks who live outside of NYC or couldn't make it... thanks to modern technology, we are able to provide podcasts AND YOUTUBE VIDEO CLIPS of every speaker's presentation! Click on the following links to open up mp3 files, and scroll down further to see embedded YouTube clips: Opening Remarks: Sudhir Venkatesh, Columbia University/Charles H. Revson Fellowship. Introduction: Lynn Lewis, Picture the Homeless. Presentation: Rob Robinson, Picture the Homeless. Presentation: Peter Marcuse, Columbia University. Presentation: Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Greater New York Labor Religion Coalition. Closing Remarks: Sudhir Venkatesh. YOUTUBE CLIPS: Highlights from the panel "Empty Buildings, Crowded Shelters" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Professor Peter Marcuse: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rob Robinson: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Lynn Lewis: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rabbi Michael Feinberg: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Stay tuned next week as we post the complete text of some presenters' speeches, but for now, here are some samples. "... Homelessness doesn't exist because the system isn't working; homelessness is the way the system works. Homelessness exists because the system relies on the market to allocate housing, and the market will only allocate housing to those who can pay for it enough to provide a profit. We need to challenge the private market as the main mechanism to produce housing, for the homeless, but also for the majority of residents of the city. We need to combat what Rabbi Feinberg called the "idolatry of the market." The goal is in the end to change of the system, and not just to create a bubble within which in which the homeless are somewhat better off, but the causes of their problem and the problems of the majority of the city's residents are left untouched. " "People that are homeless and homes that are peopleless - it seems such a stupid, and obviously stupid, way to run a housing system." -- Panelist Peter Marcuse. "Twenty-thirty years ago, those people who fought for shelter, and those people who operate shelters - they bought into a concession that sabotaged our movement." -- Attendee Brenda Stokely, of the New York Solidarity Coalition with Survivors of Katrina and Rita, during the Q&A session. "The vacant property campaign was born out of the Giuliani administrations crackdown on quality of life crimes many of which were aimed directly at the homeless. Under Giuliani's administration it became a crime to sleep on the sidewalk in front of vacant buildings, on park benches and in lots obviously abandoned by their owners. More and more homeless people were being forced into shelters with no hope of a permanent place to live. The administration seemed quite content to construct a quasi homeless industry whereby a band-aid approach was used to stop ever increasing homeless population. New York City's Department of Homeless Services was given a budget of over half a billion dollars and partner with non-profit care providers to create a homeless industry. With no oversight this industry continued to grow and NYC moved large numbers of homeless people in shelters with no hope for permanent housing." --Panelist Rob Robinson, of Picture the Homeless.