NYC Groups Rally Against Overdevelopment

“Oh my God. I just want to smack him.”

This was Mary, a Sunnyside, Queens, resident of 60 years, responding to hearing Mayor Bill de Blasio’s name at Saturday's “Rally for Our Neighborhoods!”

Over 200 people were reported to be at the rally. The crowd increased over the course of two hours, catching the attention of onlookers who were there for an open house. Many of the passersby joined in on the chorus of chants like “Vote them out!” and “Enough!”

The demonstrators took to the steps of City Hall to express opposition to overdevelopment and widespread real estate and the negative implications it has on their neighborhoods, including native New Yorker Timothy, who finds the situation “outrageous.”

Wearing a bright pink hat and an even pinker shade of lipstick, protestor Timothy held up a huge black banner that read “Hands Off! Our Hudson.”

The event was organized by affordable housing advocacy group, Human-Scale NYC. Nearly 70 non-profit groups like #SaveNYC and Neighborhoods United were showcased at the rally and made it clear to the masses bigger than DeBlasio that overdevelopment forces small businesses to close and longtime residents to leave because of how expensive living has gotten.

New York, to many, has become what a member of Tribeca Trust has called, “unrecognizable.”

Furniture designer Jan Lee made that very clear at the rally. “Don’t let Bill de Blasio build jails in our communities. We need schools, we need our subways. We don’t need skyscraper jails in New York City.”

Rosemarie Zanghellini, real estate salesperson and silk accessory designer, said that she is participating in the rally to protest new apartments being built east of Third Ave.

In the beginning of August, it was confirmed that The University Financing Foundation acquired a loan of $246 million from CGA Mortgage Capital, to start working on “3rd Ave Blockfront”, houses between East 76th and East 77th Street. Including, 1329-1337 Third Avenue and 200 and 202 East 77th Street.

“This is ridiculous. They can’t keep getting away with this. They build in the middle of the block.”

From displacement to the future of small businesses, there wasn’t a single topic left undiscussed or a single opinion left unheard.

The voices of New Yorkers were heard loud and clear, calling out their city for becoming a product of luxury, disregarding locals, diversity and the myth of affordable housing. Towards the closing of the protest, Human-Scale NYC co-founder Lynn Ellsworth, handed out a list of city council members and their contact info, encouraging people to vote and keep their pennies from big real estate. She ended the demonstration with these words:

“We are not alone. No neighborhood can win alone.”