Video and Press from Town Hall Meeting on the Right to Housing

The Poverty Initiative hosted a Town Hall Meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at Union Theological Seminary to discuss concerns on public housing, social housing, homelessness, and the foreclosure crises in the United States.  Watch the video:

(This recording starts 20 minutes into the evening, but more video is coming soon).

The Rapporteur's New York City visit was coordinated by a coalition of organizations including: Picture the Homeless, Good Old Lower East Side (Goles)/(Phroles), Organizing Asian Communities (CAAAV), Fifth Avenue Committee, Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), Make the Road, Coalition to Save Harlem, Concerned Citizens of Greater Harlem, East Harlem Anti-Displacement Taskforce, Partnership for the Homeless, Tenants and Neighbors, Urban Justice Center, Mothers on the Move, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Program (NEDAP), The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), and the Poverty Initiative.

Some press on the Town Hall meeting:

New York Times: Affordable? U.N. Puts a Questioning Eye on New York’s Housing

Democracy Now with Amy Goodman (begins at 10:35 in video):

The Indypendent: U.N. Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Speaks with the Indypendent, U.N. Housing Rapporteur Kicks Off U.S. Tour in New York City

United Nations Radio: UN housing expert talks to Hurricane Katrina survivors

NPR's Marketplace: UN to look at U.S. housing conditions

More coming soon!

Follow the rest of the Special Rapporteur's tour on the Restore Housing Rights Blog.