Last year, Picture the Homeless conducted a study of 1/3 of City and counted enough underutilized/vacant property to potential house 199,981 people.  Right now, including Sandy, we have 90,000+ displaced new yorkers.  199,981 potential apartments and just 1/2 that number of people looking for housing.  Something is very wrong with this picture.  When the mayor wanted us to stop smoking, he made it happen.  When the Mayor wants us to stop drinking soda, we stopped.  If the Mayor really wanted to end homelessness, if he had the will to do it - it would be done!

The walking tour/prayer vigil is an opportunity for us to actually experience and see some spaces that could house those in need.  It is an opportunity to pray that the Mayor and our elected officials pass laws (like the one we proposed that would help count ALL the vacancies in the city).  This would position us to make informed decisions so that when something like Sandy happens again, we know what we have in our toolkit.

December 14th: Vacant Property Walking Tour & Prayer Vigil

116 Street & Lexington Avenue

Friday, December 14, 2012, 1:30PM

This event was originally scheduled for the day Sandy hit New York. Sadly,the storm makes this Walking Tour even more relevant to poor/working class new yorkers who have been displaced - some recently, some a long time ago. The tour (which is open to all who want to come) will stop at 2 underutilized and/or vacant spaces where folks will have an opportunity to testify to their housing struggles and pray that the City acquires the will to house all those who need. We will end the tour with a conversation about what actions to take that will be held at the CB#11 - 1664 Park Avenue (between 117 & 118 Streets) - at 3pm. This includes a presentation by members of Picture the Homeless about community land trust as a way to build deeply, sustainable affordable housing for generations to come. Space in the meeting is limited so email or call Marie at Picture the Homeless marie@picturethehomeless.org or (646) 314-6424 to RSVP

Yours in our work,

Marie-France Laport
Lead Organizer
2427 Morris Avenue
Bronx, NY 10468