ADVISORY: NY Human Rights Consultation to Highlight Lack of Housing Rights

Press Invited to Join Gov't Reps and Advocates on Harlem Tour

Press Type: Advisory   Associated Program: Human Rights

Released: 02/2010

MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        
February 24, 2010

Human Rights Consultation in New York to Highlight Lack of Housing Rights in the United States
Press invited to join government representatives and advocates on Harlem Tour

When: Friday, February 26, 2010

Where: New York - Columbia Law School and various locations in Harlem (see below)

What: In preparation for its first-ever review under the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the U.S. government will hold a consultation with civil society in New York on Friday, February 26 at Columbia Law School.

Immediately following the day's closed-door presentations, local and national advocates and service providers will take government representatives on a tour of substandard residences and lost businesses in Harlem. The presenters will then reconvene for a press conference to discuss the UPR and the general state of the human right to housing in the United States.

Background: The UPR holds UN member countries accountable to human rights standards by requiring that all members submit reports to the Human Rights Council every four years.  This is the United States' first review since the UPR was created in 2006.

The consultation offers an unprecedented opportunity for human rights advocates in the U.S. to engage directly with the Administration, offering both a catalogue of human rights violations and recommendations for policy changes that will enhance human rights and dignity across the nation.

This day-long consultation, sponsored by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, Columbia Law School and the Urban Justice Center will feature presentations by advocates highlighting human rights issues related to housing, employment and labor, education, health and criminal justice. Representatives from the State Department, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and the Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division, among others, will attend.

Of particular interest at this consultation will be the human right to housing. Groups offering testimony on this topic will include New York groups Tenants and Neighbors, Community Voices Heard, Picture the Homeless, Corporation for Supportive Housing and L'ORAGE Productions, as well as the National Alliance of HUD Tenants and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

 Agenda:
The press is welcome to attend the following:

4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. - Grant Projects
430 W. 125^th Street & Morningside, Apt # 21G
For the purpose of visiting with a long-time resident of the housing project, Theresa Coles-Ragin. This will include a building tour and conversation with the resident.

5:20 p.m. - 5:40 p.m. - Frederick Douglass Blvd Commercial Strip
Frederick Douglass Blvd. and 8^th Ave. (between 125^th St. and 126^th St.)
For the purpose of illustrating the loss of minority-owned and operated businesses to Kimko, a speculative developer of malls.

5:50 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Neighborhood of Section 8 Tenants
1990 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd at 120th St.
Press will receive a briefing on predatory lending and public housing in the area.

6 p.m. - Press Conference

1990 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd at 120^th St.
Local public housing residents, members of the National Alliance of HUD tenants, and representatives from the Law Center, Community Voices Heard and Picture the Homeless will be available for comment.                   

For assistance during the site visits, please contact Robert Robinson of Picture the Homeless by calling 646-509-9986 (cell).

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For more information, please contact: