What We Do
Preservation of Low-Income Housing
Preserving and creating low-income housing in the communities we serve is a major component of Brooklyn A's work. We defend the rights of tenants in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, work with grassroots groups building and operating tenant-run cooperatives, and help ensure that senior citizens have access to safe, affordable housing.
Individual Housing: Defending Tenants' Rights:
The need Brooklyn A's services in Williamsburg and Greenpoint has accelerated dramatically with the rezoning of the Brooklyn waterfront, which has opened the way for a surge of luxury residential construction and renovation. The burgeoning property values have also dramatically accelerated actions by landlords and management companies to push low-income families out of their homes. The illegal harassment tactics particularly target the most vulnerable longtime tenants: the elderly, those who are ill or disabled, and families lacking the education and/or language skills to defend their rights. Low-income residents have very few options, as the "affordable" housing promised in the rezoning plan is extremely limited and beyond the reach of the community's poorest families.
Brooklyn A has partnered with a unique coalition of community organizations to mount a concerted drive to protect the dwindling supply of affordable housing and prevent the large-scale displacement of vulnerable tenants. This Mobilization Against Displacement aims to ensure that, as gentrification unfolds, Williamsburg and Greenpoint remain diverse, vibrant communities that are home to many poor and working-class families.
The Mobilization is remarkable in bringing together all of the area's community-based organizations and Catholic churches in a dynamic, collaborative initiative. The coalition includes North Brooklyn Development Corporation, Churches United for Fair Housing, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, The People's Firehouse Inc., Southside United Development Corp. (Los Sures) and St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation, as well as Brooklyn A.
Brooklyn A has partnered with these organizations for over 20 years to prevent some 12,000 housing evictions. The Mobilization was formed in 1999 to ensure that the impending waterfront rezoning would include community benefits, such as a decent proportion of affordable housing and accessible parks and recreational facilities. The community fought hard and did wrench some concessions from the city and developers. But the overall impact of the rezoning has been to dramatically decrease the supply of affordable housing and unleash aggressive moves to displace the remaining tenants.
As the legal arm of the initiative, Brooklyn A provides much more than vigorous representation in the courtroom. Los Sures organizer Debbie Medina underscores Brooklyn A's critical role in the Mobilization: "If it wasn't for Brooklyn A, none of our successes would have happened. Now, landlords who harass our tenants understand that they are not just going to back down -- Brooklyn A is right there with them."
The Mobilization is waging building-by-building struggles to prevent the waterfront real estate gold rush from driving low-income families out of the community. This won't be easy, but the community is determined, and, said Medina, "The lawyers at Brooklyn A are fighters."
Group Housing: Tenants Organize and Take Ownership:
Attorneys in Brooklyn A's Williamsburg office work with 10 full-time tenant organizers at three of our community partner organizations: Southside United Development Corporation (Los Sures), St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation, and the People's Firehouse. We represent active tenants' associations in buildings where landlords are seeking to empty affordable apartments by harassing tenants or denying basic services. Brooklyn A also represents more than 100 local tenant-owned cooperatives, assisting them in sustaining themselves as affordable housing for low-income tenants.
Brooklyn A's Group Housing Unit also partners with local community organizations and coalitions in struggles for justice and fair housing for low-income North Brooklyn residents. We have for many years represented organizations fighting to remove persistent racial quotas that discriminate against Latinos and African-Americans in Williamsburg's public housing developments. Together with the community, Brooklyn A was successful in preventing the construction of a 47-story garbage incinerator in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which would have bordered public and subsidized housing. We also worked to ensure that the rebuilding of the Williamsburg Bridge would not cause the relocation of large blocks of the community.
Housing for Seniors: Ensuring Dignity and Security:
A disproportionate level of landlord harassment is aimed at the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable to intimidation and denial of basic services. Many low-income seniors are long-term tenants of affordable apartments in rapidly gentrifying areas, with landlords who aim to replace them with wealthy, market rate residents. Brooklyn A's Senior Citizen Eviction Prevention Project has been operating for more than a decade to prevent this growing harassment and displacement.
Brooklyn A attorneys visit neighborhood Senior Centers on a weekly rotating basis to interview potential clients and follow up on existing cases. We conduct information sessions on the broader legal issues confronting seniors, such as Social Security or SSI, Medicare, Medicaid and other government benefit programs; wills, health proxies, and predatory lending. Brooklyn A also advises senior center directors and their boards about legal matters, including insurance, leases, incorporation, tax exemption, and confidentiality.
This project, which has been extraordinarily successful in preventing the eviction of low-income seniors, is strengthened by our collaboration with respected, community-based senior centers in North and East Brooklyn. Our partners include Swinging Sixties in East Williamsburg; Diana Jones, located near Woodhull Hospital; Los Sures's David Santiago Senior Center in South Williamsburg; North Brooklyn Center in Greenpoint, and the People's Firehouse on the Northside. By working with grassroots groups, we ensure that seniors threatened with devastating changes in their lives can fully access our services, either to prevent their eviction or gain them the time to find permanent, affordable housing in the same community.