On Tuesday, May 20th, we attended the launch of Shannon Burkett’s Lead podcast, a Tribeca Festival Official Selection. A member of the Lead Dust Free NYC coalition, Shannon shares the story of her fight to help her son, who was poisoned as a baby from lead-laden construction dust. Organizer Illapa Sairitupac spoke on the panel about the problems tenants face when construction causes intense exposure to lead dust in buildings with lead paint.

To find out more and support the Lead Paint Right to Know Act, go to: https://endleadpoisoning.org/

Tenants’ testimony had an impact as the NYC Banking Commission announced their designated banks for the next two year period on Tuesday, May 13th. The Deputy Comptroller voted no on several banks, citing the stories tenants shared about poor conditions and other problems they experienced in their homes. As the movement for a Public Bank grows stronger, our voices are making a difference in how our tax dollars are being handled!

Read more here.

Lower East Side tenant leaders met with other members of ANHD’s Equitable Reinvestment Committee, including CSC, on Monday to discuss organizing the failed Signature Bank portfolio of buildings. After Signature Bank failed a couple of years ago, the federal government stepped in. Tenants talked about holding landlords accountable for clean, safe housing as well as looking toward nonprofit buyers that would stabilize housing for many of the residents who’ve lived through multiple rounds of harassment, reckless construction, and displacement pressure.

Enjoy food, music, arts, and culture at the annual Loisaida Festival! Cooper Square Committee will be tabling all day with the This Land is Ours Community Land Trust and Friends of CHARAS. Stop by, say hello, and learn about our campaigns for housing justice, community-owned land, and cultural spaces.

A community parade at 11am on Avenue C between 5th and 12th will start off a day of performances, artisan vendors, and delicious food. Learn more here!

Location: 165 & 169 Ave C — Loisaida Ave, Manhattan

Dates: May 25–June 30, 2025

Public Events:

Loisaida Festival | Sunday, May 25, 12–5 pm | Avenue C

East 4th Open Street | Thursday, May 29, 5-7 pm | 61 East 4th Street

Due to decades of grassroots organizing on the part of Cooper Square Committee and others, the Lower East Side is home to many Housing Development Fund Corporation cooperatives (HDFCs), a unique type of affordable housing collectively owned and operated by residents. HDFCs often rent their storefronts to small businesses, artists, and nonprofits that serve local needs, nurture creativity, and express culture. Collectively, HDFCs offer a stable model for residents and small businesses facing the threat of displacement.

Offering a glimpse into this vibrant community, Placeholders showcases items from local businesses located in HDFCs in a site-specific installation created by local artist Delphine Le Goff. Items include a camera from Alex Harsley's Fourth Street Photo Gallery, the city's oldest Black-owned photography studio; an enormous hand-painted mortar and pestle from Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela; and handmade Mexican folk art from La Sirena. The exhibition will be supplemented by a map of local businesses. 

Cooper Square Committee co-created Placeholders with Scott Kelly and Delphine Le Goff as part of Design Sprints: Building Creative Capacity, an initiative of Van Alen Institute and the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Special thanks to the board and shareholders of the 165-167-169 Avenue C HDFC.

We'll be engaging the community about the project during the Loisaida Festival on May 25. Then visit us at the East 4th Street Open Street on Thursday May 29 to pick up your copy of the Placeholders map to start your self-guided tour. And be on the look out for more events in June.

Join us next Saturday, May 31 at 12pm in the Harriet Putterman Center for a free generative writing workshop led by poet Karl Michael Iglesias of Nuyorican Poets Cafe. RSVP here!

And sign up for free performance arts classes in June here!

Join the NYC Community Land Initiative and 150+ community, housing, and environmental justice groups on June 3rd to tell the City Council: We need land and housing for people, not profit!

Communities across the city are organizing to win passage of the Community Land Act, a set of bills to expand truly affordable housing, community and commercial spaces across the city. Our organizing is working! On June 3rd, the City Council will hold a major hearing on the bills.

Let's make our voices heard: City Council must pass the Community Land Act now! Our communities cannot wait a day longer.

9am - Social Housing Festival & Speak-Out, at City Hall Park: Join us for music, art-making, puppets, and more! We'll serve coffee and pastries and get energized for the City Council hearing to follow.

10am - City Council Public Hearing, at City Hall: Register to testify in support of the Community Land Act!!

Sign up here so we can get a headcount for the event. For more info: will@neweconomynyc.org.

Cooper Square Committee, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), and This Land is Ours CLT are co-sponsoring a District 2 City Council Candidates Forum. Find out where the candidates stand on housing issues, including rent-stabilized housing, NYCHA housing, and homelessness. Candidates will also discuss the need for more funding to preserve and develop deeply affordable housing as well as housing counseling and legal services to protect tenants' rights.

Please RSVP as venue capacity is limited.

Tuesday, June 3, 7:30 pm

St Mark's Church, 131 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003

Join CSC, the Educational Alliance, University Settlement, and the Cooper Square Neighborhood NORC Program for a forum of the District 2 Candidates for City Council on Wednesday, June 18 from 3:30 - 5:30pm at the Sirovich Center. The candidates will discuss issues affecting the Older Adults of our community. Further details to come!

Join us on Wednesday, June 25, at 6:30pm for our Post-Solstice Sun & Stars Tenants’ Ball. We’ll be celebrating tenants who’ve won something, whether big or small, in their housing fights! If you have fought and won repairs, respect, lower rent, or anything else in your home, you can self-nominate.

Please RSVP here or email jodiel@coopersquare.org for dinner, dancing, karaoke, a program of CSC highlights, board member elections, and an awards ceremony for tenants who’ve fought for their housing rights! We’ll also have dream analysis, tarot readings, and tenant horoscopes. Fancy dress encouraged!

Save the date! We'll be celebrating our wins together during an evening boat cruise on August 21. Show your support for our work to advance housing justice and community power through a sponsorship, an ad in our program, or a donation. Visit coopersquare.org/gala for more information!

Questions or interested in learning more? Email: alexl@coopersquare.org or call 212-228-8210.