An updated, expanded, English-Spanish bilingual exploration of the past and present of tenant organizing in New York City. An essential resource on the history of NYC’s housing justice movement more widely available, as the experiences and lessons within are valuable to anyone interested in housing and tenant struggles across North America and beyond..
Developed in collaboration with tenant organizations from across NYC, We Won’t Move explores the city’s rich history of tenant struggle, including neighborhood resistance to urban renewal in the South Bronx, de-segregation struggles at Stuyvesant Town and in Brooklyn, rent strikes in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, the coordinated takeover of vacant housing during Operation Move-In, and repeated campaigns to renew and strengthen the rent laws.
Safe, stable, and affordable housing remains an urgent issue for New Yorkers today, and this volume highlights significant victories since the book’s sold out first edition, including winning the right to counsel in housing court, legislative victories during the 2019 rent law renewals, ending the cluster-site shelter program, and extending the state and federal eviction moratoriums. We Won’t Move connects the past to the present of NYC’s housing justice movement, and highlights the diverse array of tactics employed by tenant organizers.
