December, 06 2011, 02:46pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
NY Action Contact: Sean Barry, 646.373.3344, sean@vocal-ny.org
For interviews with anti-foreclosure actions across the country:
Jeff Ordower, 314-267-4664
Andy McDonald, 202-256-5990, andy@berlinrosen.com
OWS Contact:press@occupywallst.org
Jonathan Smucker, OWS, 717-209-0445, jms@beyondthechoir.org
#OWS & Brooklyn Community Reclaim Vacant Bank of America House
Brooklyn Community & Occupy Wall Street Stand with Homeless Family, Help Them Reclaim Vacant House Foreclosed by Bank of America
WASHINGTON
In a bold new phase for the 99% movement, a vacant home in the center of New York City's foreclosure crisis is presently being reclaimed today for a local homeless family. Occupy Wall Street, along with local neighbors and community groups, has pledged to stay with the family and defend them from eviction.
Hundreds of neighborhood residents and citywide supporters are gathering after a real estate tour of vacant bank-owned homes available for occupation in the neighborhood -- signaling that community activists will remain vigilant about the theft and abandonment of these homes by big banks. Black and Latino communities like those in East New York were targeted by predatory subprime lenders and have suffered disproportionately during the foreclosure crisis.
The tour ended at an empty home foreclosed on by Bank of America that is being liberated for the homeless family after being abandoned for three years. The father, Alfredo Carrasquillo, and a clean-up crew have begun occupying it. They are presently making renovations that will allow the mother and her two children to move in. Neighbors and community members are delivering housewarming gifts and holding a spirited block party with food and live music to welcome the new family.
"There are homeless families across this city like mine who feel like they should just give up because they've run out of options," said Ms. Glasgow. "I'm angry that the shelters are filling up with families while big banks sit on vacant homes."
Mr. Carrasquillo, a community organizer at VOCAL-NY, added, "It's criminal that Wall Street got bailed out and then turned around and foreclosed on millions of homes and refused to pay their fair share in taxes that could fund essential services like housing assistance."
After spending much of the past decade in and out of the NYC shelter system, Tasha Glasgow and her two children, an eight-year old daughter with autism and five-year old son, became the victims of billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg's austerity measures. After receiving a housing voucher through the NYC "Advantage" program in spring 2011 that would have allowed her move out of the shelter system, it was withdrawn due to Mayor Bloomberg's budget cuts this year.
Today's events are being organized as part of a national day of action to "Occupy Our Homes." In recent days and weeks, there has been successful occupation move-ins of homeless families and eviction defense for homeowners facing foreclosure in Atlanta, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Rochester, and over a dozen other cities and towns across the country. Local communities and 99% movement participants have committed to escalating this occupation movement to support the human right to housing -- and to push back against the bailed-out and fraudulent big banks that are stealing our homes.
Over a thousand local neighbors and supporters have turned out. A block party with a decorated Christmas tree, housewarming gifts and live music will continue into the evening. A candlelight celebration and nighttime video projections are planned for later.
"We'll be here all night and all week to defend this family's home -- they deserve it more than Bank of America," said Eliot Tarver from the Occupy Wall Street eviction defense team. "It's criminal for big banks to sit on vacant homes when there are so many homeless families who need them."
East New York is full of foreclosed and empty bank-owned homes. This Brooklyn neighborhood topped the city's list of highest foreclosure filing rates last year, with a rate of 16.8 per 1,000 households -- three times greater than Brooklyn overall, and five times greater than New York State. Across the city and country, families who face the theft of their homes through mortgage fraud are organizing to reclaim their homes from the bailed-out mega-banks.
"As a resident of East New York, I've seen firsthand both the devastation vacant properties can inflict on our community, and the rejuvenating effect of people standing up and taking back our neighborhood, one home at a time," said NY Communities for Change member Pat Boone. "My neighbors and I welcome Tasha as the newest member of the East New York community, and until banks start doing more to keep families in their homes and reducing principal, we encourage more families to clean up the mess the banks created on our streets."
Homelessness in New York City is at a record high, with more people living in the shelter system than ever before and a 45% jump in family homelessness under Bloomberg. At the same time, the city has more vacant homes than homeless people, and activists argued that foreclosed and abandoned properties should be turned over to families and community organizations that will ensure long-term affordability.
Neighbors from the East New York community, along with New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Organizing for Occupation, Picture the Homeless and VOCAL-NY joined the Occupy Wall Street movement in organizing this action.
Livestream:
https://livestream.com/occupynyc/
https://globalrevolution.tv
Online updates & multimedia: https://occupyourhomes.org
Twitter hashtags: #OccupyHomes #D6
Location: East New York -- 702 Vermont Street, Brooklyn (3 train to Pennsylvania, L train to Livonia)
Visuals: Hundreds of local neighbors, OWS activists and community group members. Colorful signs and visuals. Police on the scene. Block party, decorations, Christmas Tree on front stoop with housewarming gifts, bands. Later: nighttime video projections and candlelight celebration. Photo opportunity with family in front of occupied home.
Interviews available upon request with the occupying family, supportive neighbors, faith leaders, community housing organizations, Occupy Wall Street activists, and people participating in actions across the country.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan's Financial District, and has spread to more than 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. For more visit https://occupywallst.org
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Had it succeeded, said the state's attorney general, the scheme would have "deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president."
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A grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday charged seven aides to Donald Trump and nearly a dozen Republican officials over a "fake electors" scheme in the state that aimed to keep the former president in power after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump, who is currently facing nearly 90 charges across four criminal cases as he runs for another White House term, was described as "unindicted co-conspirator 1" in the 58-page indictment, which was announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
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A state grand jury, made up of everyday, regular Arizonans, has handed down felony indictments in the ongoing investigation into the fake elector scheme in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/Nu8GcD4ZqJ
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) April 24, 2024
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The Arizona Republicreported Wednesday that "several of the Arizona electors have previously claimed they were merely offering Congress a backup plan, though nothing in the documents they sent to Congress and the National Archives backs up that assertion."
"The indictment includes several statements the false electors made on social media that contradict those claims," the newspaper observed.
Jenny Guzman, director of Common Cause's Arizona program, said the indictment "marks the start of a new chapter for the fake elector scheme that has plagued Arizona."
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Red Curve is a domestic limited liability company that offers compliance and FEC reporting services but does not appear to offer any legal services. It is managed by Bradley Crate, who also serves as the treasurer for each of the five Trump-affiliated committees concerned in this complaint, as well as over 200 other federal committees.
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Trump—who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee—faces 91 federal and state felony charges related to his role in the January 6 insurrection and his organization's business practices. He is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The twice-impeached former president has been open about his use of campaign donations to pay his legal costs.
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Three Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday joined with Democrats to advance legislation that would repeal an 1864 ban on abortion—a development rights advocates welcomed while stressing that the fight is far from over.
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Florez noted that "even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, the state will still have a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that denies people access to critical care. And lawmakers continue to attack Arizonans' ability to access reproductive healthcare. Our right to control our bodies and lives is hanging on by a thread."
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