Fight for universal rent control! We’re joined by Zefrey Throwell (@NYCLT), a filmmaker and long-time advocate of regulation that would make loft housing safer, and more stabilized. People have lived illegally in abandoned commercial space for generations (see also our Artwashing and Soho episode). In more recent years neoliberal economists have embraced this clear sign of societal decay, and artists are often used as pawns to sell luxury-branded converted spaces. We discuss this tension, and get a bit frustrated that different types of working class/poor people are pitted against each other by politicians and big real estate. If you like the podcast and want more, please consider supporting us: https://www.patreon.com/artandlabor or https://d.rip/artandlabor.
Learn more about the history of tenants rights in NYC, we reference their annual meeting this episode: http://www.metcouncilonhousing.org/
Capital City panel discussion at Verso (Gentrification and the Real Estate State): https://www.facebook.com/ben.mabie.7/videos/10205308465228030/?hc_location=ufi
QNU calls on Queens Arts Council to stop being complicit in displacement: https://www.facebook.com/QueensNeighborhoodsUnited/photos/a.659659297439222/2631245876947211/?type=3&theater