Housing Activists Rally to Demand Protection for Federally Subsidized Tenants
BOSTON/Hyde Park - A group of over 30 housing advocates - many of them tenants in apartments subsided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development - held a rally in Cleary Square Saturday in support of a raft of proposed legislation and treaties at all levels of government that would help low-income families remain in their current apartments at lower than market rates. The event was organized by the Mass. Alliance of HUD Tenants, a statewide coalition representing tenants in privately-owned, HUD subsidized apartments.
Organizers say that Boston has lost more than 1750 HUD subsidized apartments due to owner conversion to market rates and that another 8000 units are under threat - including 967 units at Georgetowne and 250 elderly households at Blake Estates, both in Hyde Park. So they are focused on getting changes to local, state and federal law that would make it possible for local governments and non-profits to have the right of first refusal to buy properties occupied by HUD tenants at market rates, in addition to the reinstitution of a number of tenant protections lost over the last 20 years. They also enjoined the United States to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights - which enshrines the Right to Housing for all people. [The U.S. signed the treaty in 1977, but is one of only a handful of United Nations member countries to fail to ratify it. - Ed.]
A number of politicians and candidates for office were on hand in support of the rally's goals, including Councilor Sam Yoon, who is assisting Councilor Michael Flaherty's campaign for mayor of Boston in hopes of becoming the city's first deputy mayor should Flaherty be elected - and made frequent references to the upcoming election, "It's great to be out here on a windy day. I myself as all of you know have been an ally of the Mass. Alliance of HUD Tenants and have been an admirer of Michael Kane's work. It's something that even before I got on the city council, I had worked in affordable housing, community development and we know that housing - especially in this economy, in the worst recession that we've seen since the Great Depression - has to be our number 1 issue. The leaders who recognize that housing is a right. That it is a right. It's not a privilege. When our city has been rated the most expensive city in the nation for renters - for renters, we're tied with New York City - this is not a time for us to relax, it's not a time for us to pull back the pressure. I'm here. Michael Flaherty's on the other side of the city. We're obviously letting people know that Tuesday you have a very important decision to make. A very important decision to make. And what Michael has said consistently and what I will continue to say is that when you have a mayor who is cozy with all the entrenched institutions in our city - whether they're banks, mortgage companies, developers - you're not going to a leader who is willing to pressure people to do the right thing. Just the way you and all of you have been putting pressure on us as elected officials - on this city, on HUD, on our President - to make sure that people can stay in our homes affordably. And raise their families. Without the destruction of being turned out on the street or having your subsidies thrown out on the street. That's the kind of leadership you need. And that's something I'm encouraging you to think about on Tuesday."
Felix Arroyo, Jr., candidate for 1 of 4 open At-Large City Council seats, said, "I came to this rally today because I believe housing is a human right. I believe that the role of government is to ensure that people have a place to stay. And that doesn't just include those who could afford market rate. That, frankly, means that those who can't afford to stay in these place. I think the City of Boston has been pricing out too many families. We're on the verge of ... we're not just having an affordable housing crisis anymore, we're now having a homelessness crisis. And that's what will happen if things like this go down. So that's why I'm here, and everything we can we will do to make sure that families in Boston have a place to stay that's affordable and safe."
Councilors Stephen Murphy and Rob Consalvo also addressed the crowd, according to Murphy campaign worker Richard Masterson, as did several housing activists.
The rally ended without incident. There was no police presence and no arrests.
