Although discussion of Columbia’s proposed expansion was a constant, it was only one thread in the fabric of Harlem in the 21st century that was laid out by participants. And service cuts, eminent domain issues and conversion of rental complexes were not the only enemies participants said they were struggling against.
Tenant.net director John Fisher named "astroturf" groups, or fake grassroots organizations, as another problem. Others brought up middle-class residents who are trying to rid their buildings of poorer neighbors. Housing attorney Edward Vega said these “runaway boards” are trying to sell apartments for the going market rates and take them out of the pool of affordability for which the programs were instituted.
Vega also asked: Is it gentrification when new residents are themselves people of color? What about the South Bronx, where the newcomers are Honduran and Dominican?
[For another recent take on gentrification, see Here Comes the Neighborhood, City Limits Weekly #551, Sept. 5, 2006.]
Gil Noble, producer and host of WABC's public affairs program "Like It Is," who moderated the opening plenary, voiced the thought that not much new was being said, but the answers were still out of reach. Organizers shared strategies and did not necessarily agree.
A participant suggested presenting to the UN and other international bodies a working document, with Hurricane Katrina as the example, of forced displacement, tantamount to genocide. Rod Wallace asked, “Will the UN ignore ethnic cleansing on their doorstep?” He projected that displaced communities of color would form a ring of segregated permanent refugee camps around central cities.
Tony Monteiro, associate director of the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Thought at Temple University, took issue with calling displaced people in the U.S. internal refugees, proposing that instead they were a nation within a nation. It is an argument that has waged since Katrina, nearly two years ago, by Jesse Jackson and others who said it was racist to call American citizens refugees.
Another panelist suggested consolidating information into a national database of developers and where they get their money. Civil liberties attorney Norman Siegel said a victory in Harlem could have a ripple effect for other communities because of Harlem’s leadership and history.
Organizer Bailey promised a follow-up convention to come. She will broadcast conference excerpts over the next few weeks on her radio show on "the voice of Harlem," WHCR 90.3.
This story has been corrected. We regret the misstatement that 3333 Broadway is in the footprint of Columbia's expansion plans; it is not.
