COMMUNITY CONTROL AND GENTRIFICATION IN NYC

The story of this exhibition begins in the late 1960s in New York City. With the rise of urban renewal in Manhattan, landlords evicted their residents to make way for usually white upper-class families moving back to the city. Many of the people of color who occupied the tenements were already living in poor conditions and faced pressure from the city and private institutions to leave. Amidst the turmoil, several radical and militant groups and movements arose to empower the community and demand the city. In what I will define as "community control," these groups focused on fixing systemic issues of housing and neighborhood revitalization and met the city with resistance. The following pieces aim to discuss how did the Young Lords and the Operation-Move In Movement combated gentrification and prioritize the needs of NYC residents through an anti-capitalist and anti-racist platform.

The Young Lords was a community organization comprised primarily of Latino and Black residents. Their goal is to educate residents about anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist structures and advocate for Puerto Rican independence. Unlike many civil rights groups of its time, the Young Lords defiled respectability politics, drawing inspiration from the Black Panther Party (BPP). They were inspired by the BPP's breakfast programs and ideas of self-determination and Black power. Many of the Young Lords were children of Puerto Rican migrants and grew up understanding how discrimination affected their parents and the injustices of capitalism and police brutality. The Young Lords will combat gentrification through mutual aid and improve living conditions for needy residents in Harlem.

When the Young Lords Chapter first established roots in NYC, its first community project was the Garbage Offensive. They asked residents of Spanish Harlem what they wanna see a change in the city, many of them replied with “la basura,” meaning they wanted to see cleaner streets, especially since the city has neglected sanitation north of 96th Street. The Young Lords needed to show people visible change, not just rhetorical appeals; this allowed them to establish a good reputation with the neighborhood. To draw attention to the issue, several members of the Young Lords protested by blocking traffic with garbage or setting the trash on fire. Their demands included more trash cans on every block and frequent garbage pick up, but to increase the hiring and wages of sanitation workers. Environmental racism correlates with gentrification as the city and developers are interested in improving sanitation depending on who is occupying that space. Although the Young Lords were under no responsibility to clean up Harlem, doing so demonstrates what can happen if the city allocated resources to community organizations that listen directly to the needs of the residents. Thus, community control becomes an alternative to gentrification since it brings communities together to solve issues like sanitation. 

Improving neighborhood life also meant looking after the health of its residents. Living in tenements exposed many Latino and Black residents to lead poising and tuberculosis, or what the Young Lords called-- "diseases of poverty." The Young Lords demanded that the city use its lead poising kits on the people of El Barrio. By going door-to-door and talking to residents, the Young Lords discovered the magnitude of health issues that arose as a product of living in unkempt and neglected buildings. While urban renewal and gentrification can fix those issues and create more livable housing, it would be for profit-driven purposes and not for the health of its existing residents. Through mutual aid and ethnic solidarity, the Young Lords have proven to be better equipped than the city to look after the well-being of its citizens. Most importantly, the direct ties and the shared identity of the community facilitates enables the Young Lords and other community organizations to carry out the work. Since gentrification alters the racial makeup of a city, it also has the potential of undermining critical social services for underserved communities. 

The racial and class solidarity in Harlem allowed the Young Lords to tap into the resources of their community to bring about mutual aid and empowerment. The idea of a free breakfast program appealed to the Young Lords since it enabled them to provide free child care and food for single mothers and low-income families. The First Spanish Methodist Church was a convenient location for the Breakfast program, especially since the Church was mainly empty throughout the week and would not have cost the Church money. Space was the most essential thing the Young Lords needed to carry out its program, especially since they already had the money and staffing. However, after refusal from the Reverend, the Young Lords deciding to occupy the Church by force. The occupation lasted only 11 days but included festivities, community dinners, daycare services, art, and music. This type of community control emphasizes social responsibility while allowing people to become familiar with one another. Gentrification disrupts social ties since it brings outsiders who do not necessarily rely on social services or who are outside of the socioeconomic status of the original residents.

The Operation Move-In movement consisted of anti-poverty and local community organizations in New York City, including the Metropolitan Council on Housing. It emphasized squatter activism and promoted tenant rights. This coalition was up against private corporations and institutions like Columbia University who sought to buy up washed-up tenements to make way for more luxury housing. Both Black and Latino residents were at the forefront of the movement and actively opposed the eviction of working-class tenants of color. Residents vocally opposed gentrification and point to the fact that they have strong emotional connections to their community. The movement encouraged people to stand their ground and demand better living conditions from the city.  

The language of community control is prevalent in the organizing of the Metropolitan Council of Housing (MCH). It values anti-capitalist, anti-racist, and self-help. Public housing has always been a priority of MCH. It uplifts the many poor people in Harlem who cannot afford to live anywhere else for reasons of capitalism and racism. During the 1970s, Urban Renewal had a negative connotation, usually associated with displacement and class/racial restructuring. Community control meant that residents could create an Urban Renewal that works for them and prioritizes their needs as working-class people of color. Respectable housing does not have to be associated with white and upper-class. 

In December 1970, MCH and other organizations involved in Operation Move-In conducted a mock trial, indicting the city for poor housing conditions. A multiethnic and multigenerational group of tenants and squatters showed up to testify about their experience with housing. Although the trial was in Columbia University, Columbia was among the institutions to be singled out by MCH for using their tax-exempt privilege to "gobble up housing in [the] ghetto." The panel of judges consisted of members of the Black Panthers Party, the Young Lords, and I Wor Kuen (Chinese radical group). In the end, MCH served a 13-count indictment to NYC, landlords, and the banks of the city. Mayor Lindsay had no comment regarding the mock trial. Through community control, organizations can hold the city accountable for the way it neglects its most vulnerable residents. Public meetings by community based organizations enable them to centralize an issue to later force concessions from the city.

From Operation Move-In emerged, El Comité, a Puerto Rican leftist group distinct from the Young Lords. El Comité was a vital community partner in the movement and was involved in negotiations. While most of the Operation Move-In tried to avoid displacement, El Comité sought to help those who were expected to be removed from the city. Their goal was to make sure that the displaced residents would have access to the new apartment buildings. They successfully got the city to build additional low-income housing in Harlem. Many of the people in El Comité were student organizers who went door-to-door to visit families who were willing to mobilize. El Comité's work is actively trying to preserve the racial and ethnic makeup of the community. Community control then becomes a powerful means of ensuring that residents are prioritized by their city in the face of gentrification.

Community control is a powerful alternative to combat gentrification. Even though much of the movement was short-lived, it demonstrated the importance of showing resistance, accountability, and dignity for poor people. Many think of urban renewal as modern buildings, shopping centers, and expensive restaurants, but for the communities of New York City, it means adequate access to health care, clean streets, and proper living conditions. Community control can empower communities to create mutual aid networks that ultimately improve the lives of their residents. Community-based organizations can advance a neighborhood the same way gentrification can. Still, it becomes harder to have community control if gentrification changes a city's existing racial and class makeup.

Asbury, Edith Evans. “Squatter Movement Grows As Housing Protest Tactic.” The New York Times. The New York Times, July 22, 1970. 

“Early Grassroots Organizing.” Met Council on Housing, April 26, 2019. https://www.metcouncilonhousing.org/about-us/history/early-grassroots-organizing/. 

Goodman, Amy, Juan Gonzalez, and Johanna Fernandez. From Garbage Offensives to Occupying Churches, Actions of the Young Lords Continue to Inspire. Other. New York City, New York: Democracy Now!, September 23, 2015. 

“Grassroots Political Action of the '70s and '80s.” Met Council on Housing, April 5, 2021. https://www.metcouncilonhousing.org/about-us/history/grassroots-political-action-of-the-70s-and-80s/. 

Fernandez, Joanna. "THE GARBAGE OFFENSIVE." In The Young Lords: A Radical History, 91-114. CHAPEL HILL: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. Accessed April 1, 2021. doi:10.5149/9781469653464_fernandez.6.

Muzio, Rose, y "The Struggle against "Urban Renewal" in Manhattan's Upper West Side and the Emergence of El Comité." Centro Journal XXI, no. 2 (2009):109-141. Redalyc,  https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=37720842006 

Older, Daniel José. “Garbage Fires for Freedom: When Puerto Rican Activists Took Over New York's Streets.” The New York Times. The New York Times, October 11, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/nyregion/young-lords-nyc-garbage-offensive.html.

Westcott, Jim. (2021, February 17). A Brief History of the Young Lords. Retrieved from  https://www.thoughtco.com/young-lords-history-4165954