As 2024 comes to a close, we want to thank you for supporting Cooper Square Committee’s work. Together, we maintain and expand access to deeply affordable housing, hold landlords accountable, help our neighbors with social services, and lift up local artists as well as our community’s cultural institutions and small businesses. All of these elements make up the fabric of our vibrant community.
Here are a few of our accomplishments in past year:
- In December 2023, thanks to our persistent organizing against apartment warehousing, Governor Hochul signed a new law closing the “Frankenstein-ing” loophole.
- We organized several tenant coalitions, including the newly formed EV Sharfman Tenant Coalition, to organize strategic – and fun – actions targeting bad actor landlords and banks.
- With Housing Justice for All, we successfully blocked rollbacks to our 2019 rent law victories and helped pass Good Cause Eviction protections.
- We closed on a joint venture with several development partners that will bring over 500 new low-income apartments to our community.
- The New York Times highlighted our year-long effort organizing a whole building of tenants displaced on East 14th Street. While they fight to return home, we helped secure stable temporary housing.
- We hosted several workshops on topics including new laws to protect tenants, tenants’ right to organize and protest, and commercial lease assistance.
- CB3 endorsed our proposal to build low-income housing on the NYCHA parking lot at 642-648 E 6th Street.
- We released Left in the Dust, a new report documenting the health impacts of unsafe construction.
- We deepened our work at the intersection of arts and community organizing, partnering with FABnyc on a neighborhood-wide public lighting installation, hosting art exhibits, and teaching hundreds of emergent theater artists through Studio One programming.
We are excited to step into 2025 grounded in local organizing. Will you commit to doing one more thing for housing and social justice this year? Attend an event in our 3W space on East 4th Street. Show up at a rally. Get more involved in one of our campaigns.
And we hope you will make a tax-deductible donation help us continue this work!
