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LES Residents at De Blasio Town Hall: Don’t Let High-Rises Push Us Out

Over 300 residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown gathered in a Bowery gym for Mayor de Blasio’s 27th town hall Wednesday, and we probably don’t have to tell you what the theme of the evening was. You guessed it: gentrification, particularly with regard to the 60-plus-story towers rising over Two Bridges.

Both protesters outside and participants inside stated that the city isn’t doing enough to protect its low- and middle-income families. A woman in a wheelchair shared the story of how she had succumbed to a stroke due to the pressures of a bullying landlord. Someone else plead for protection of local mom ‘n pops, while a third explained that she wasn’t able to find an affordable home in Two Bridges, where she had lived all her life. She said that, because of the expensive high-rise buildings going up all around them, she, her husband and their newborn were stuck living at her mom’s.

De Blasio said that he understood why a lot of anger is directed at “the big new building.” He added, however, that “the big new building is just a symptom of something that’s been going on for a lot of time.” Referring to his own stint as an NYU undergrad, the mayor described how he has seen the East Village and the Lower East Side change over the past 40 years from a place “nobody wanted to live” to popular hot spots of gentrification. He urged people to see both sides of the issue, noting that “gentrification brought more safety, more economic development.” Bigger trends changed the reality in the city, he said, not just the new high-rise buildings.

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http://bedfordandbowery.com/2017/06/...s-push-us-our/