SUNDAY 3/27 4PM BROOKLYN: ACTION TRAINING

COVID-19 has wrecked our communities and shown us how inhumanely and incompetently our governments respond to emergencies.

Meanwhile, as the latest IPCC report details, the climate emergency is bringing even greater devastation very soon.

Renters remain at the mercy of their landlords on whether they can stay in their homes each year, while developers continue to build housing that's out of reach for many people. Numerous workers, whose labor sustains and advances our state's communities, are afforded no basic safety nets by that same state's government. And in the face of bone-crushingly terrifying climate forecasts, Kathy Hochul's New York still refuses to take no-brainer simple steps like slashing pollution from buildings in time.

Advocacy-as-usual isn't enough anymore. Calling your representatives, holding marches, or doing voter outreach are important, but they haven't won us the transformative responses we need to see in the face of extraordinary crisis.

We're at a make-it-or-break-it point in history, and it's time to up the ante. That's why we're embarking on a campaign of disruptive, sustained nonviolent direct action and putting our very bodies on the line to force our politicians to respond. And what better time to start than this month, right before Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature decide next year's budget and choose whose interests to prioritize?

If decision-makers won't get their shit together to take care of us and stop climate catastrophe, we'll give them no choice but to care! New York State: house us, support us, and lead or we drown!

What?

To kick our campaign off, climate activists around New York State are partaking in several days of sustained disruptive, nonviolent direct action in New York City at the end of March to force the governor and legislature to take care of us as we weather these intersecting crises. We're drawing the attention of the press and the public to demand that our decision-makers:

• Pass Good Cause Eviction (protecting tenants from exorbitant rent hikes and being unfairly refused a lease renewal)
• Repeal 421-a (removing a tax break for developers building mostly-market rate housing that cost the state $1.7 billion in revenue last year)
• Pass Excluded No More (installing a permanent, $3.1 billion annual fund for workers, such as undocumented workers, excluded from existing state safety nets)
• Pass All Electric Buidling Act (mandating a gas ban in new construction starting in 2024—buildings account for nearly 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in New York State, while New York's building emissions are the highest in the whole country!)

Our actions are happening at a critical moment: April 1 is when our state government finalizes our public budget for the coming year. Also, after that point, legislators will focus less on policymaking and more on their upcoming primary election fights this June. In short: this is the month to throw down, or else we lose our best opportunity.

When?

Monday, March 28

Tuesday, March 29

Wednesday, March 30

Where?

Somewhere in New York City... you'll have to sign up to learn more ?

What's involved with these actions?

If you're willing and able, getting arrested in an act of civil disobedience would be super powerful. The more people who risk arrest, the greater the chance we get media attention and turn the heat up on decision-makers! But if you can't, that's okay too: we have important roles beyond the arrestable ones. And if you're not sure what getting arrested would entail, please head on down to our sign-up all the same—you'll have the chance to fill that out on the form.

And did you say that this is part of a bigger campaign?

That's right: until we win the transformative investments and interventions we need, we'll keep coming back to demand even more. Winning the demands we've listed above is just the tip of the iceberg. The bigger these first actions can be, the more opportunity we'll have to cut through the noise and build a strong movement for sustained direct action!

Join us: https://tinyurl.com/MarchNYCActionsForm

These actions are anchored by New York Communities for Change, in collaboration with the Housing Justice for All coalition.

Tactics?

Around the world, we're starting to see the power of sustained multi-day civil disobedience creating havoc by blocking traffic. Recent examples include Serbians blocking new Lithium mining and, unfortunately, the trucker convoy of white supremacists that were able to overturn vaccine mandates in Canada. Insulate Britain brought such tactics to climate activism in the UK and garnered a massive amount of print and TV coverage reigniting the climate emergency conversation in the UK. In a matter of weeks, they achieved 80% name recognition and 70% of popular support, despite their divisive tactics.

At the end of the month groups across the world will launch actions with distinct working-class demands that relate back to the climate emergency. The UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Australia are all ready to block major roadways day after day. The US Media will be looking to connect the global story to one at home and we will be there to provide one. When we get on the airwaves we will not mince words about the state of housing and climate chaos.