With global infrastructure collapsing, seas rising, wages dropping, safety nets crumbling, and food prices soaring...  DISASTER SKILLS ARE A MUST.  After the apocalypse, Old Navy will be atomic rubble and H&M will be underwater, so you won't be able to plunk down $20 and get a sweater. We'll eat and wear what we grow or make ourselves.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Hurricane Relief Workers, Homeless People Demand City "Rebuild Stronger"
Willing to Share Vacant Property Datain Exchange for Commitment on Affordable Housing & Living-Wage Jobs

New York, NY.  - Homeless people, Occupy Sandy relief workers, labor unions, and allies will hold a press conference Friday morning to demand that post-hurricane relief and recovery efforts benefit all New Yorkers, especially those who were homeless or unemployed before the storm.

Sunday night I missed the last train, because i was watching the Giants and Cowboys game, and the crawl at the bottom of the screen said that the subway shutdown was extended til 9PM because the winds weren't so bad.

[Picture the Homeless is working hard to gather facts and stories concerning how the city's storm response did or didn't address the poor and homeless; check this page often for updates.]

Most news coverage gives Mayor Bloomberg high marks for his handling of Hurricane Sandy.

December 21st is the longest night of the year.

And it's on this night, when the cold and the darkness seem most overwhelming, that communities across the United States come together to honor the lives of homeless men and women who passed away this year, and to draw attention to the fact that many homeless lives are cut short because we, as a society, can't find a way to end homelessness.

"Ask a Homeless Person" is a new feature here on The Blog, where we ask our members a question and post their responses here. This week's question is: What’s One Thing Everyone Should Know About NYC Homeless Shelters? The security guards treat you like an inmate, as if you are in jail. —Salaam Ellis They suck, they’re overcrowded internment camps for those criminalized for their poverty. —Harry It’s a hostile environment. —M. Gonzalez [MORE...]

“Connecting the dots”

By Jean Rice

As a member of Picture the Homeless, I have grappled with the root causes of the disproportionate number of people from my community who wind up homeless in New York City. For generations past New York City has been a global example for the assimilation and upward mobility. Then came the era of plan shrinkage and benign neglect, at the very same time New York City’s labor market underwent drastic transformation. Thousand of semi-skilled manufacturing jobs were outsourced as New York City became service jobs oriented.

The City Council held a hearing this week on the Community Safety Act, a groundbreaking set of police reform bills that will help to curb the most appalling of the NYPD's bias-based policing practices. Standard legislative hearing procedure says that the head of the department should have appeared to argue against the bills. But Ray Kelly didn't show up, and instead the Mayor sent a schmendricky lawyer to argue the Administration's perspective - and he refused to debate the merit of the bills, arguing only that the City Council had no legal authority to pass such bills in the first place. This is huge: Ray Kelly does not feel comfortable defending "stop and frisk" in front of television cameras. It's a dramatic shift from a few short months ago, when Kelly & Bloomberg defiantly dismissed community concerns. What's changed? Damn good organizing. Folks are mad, and they're getting together, and they're making amazing things happen. [MORE...]

It's finally happening. 

I'm part of PTH because they believe in the same thing I believe in. I find a lot of commonality between myself and the members, and it gives me a sense of support, like I'm not alone in the struggle. We understand the importance of rolling up our sleeves and fighting - I dont' mean physically, I mean strategically, standing up in the face of adversity and saying I will not be gotten.