The fierce battle between the squatting Moms of Soho vs. seniors seeking affordable housing in CB2 has moved to the next step. The Mayor seems to be the only politician who supported the seniors in the battle over one of the only available pieces of land in CB2. Council-member Chin had the land designated for senior housing by Mayor Bloomberg. A group of affluent Soho Moms squatted on the land and built a garden and reached out to local politicians in an election year to support them. Despite their checkbook, the Ladies Who Squatted did not frighten the Mayor in their refusal to surrender the land back to the City. Chin held firm. It seemed like an ugly impasse until the City announced that the highly respected Habitat for Humanity with the support from senior advocates like SAGE had come up with a design that would be the greenest building in CB2. It included a garden where generations could learn from each other. But the Hedge Fund Ladies refused to give the land back to the City. The next step is called the ULURP process. The first step is public review, which begins when the City goes before a meeting of CB2’s Land Use Committee on June 25th at 6:30 at the NYU Silver Building, 32 Waverly Place. The plan is now called Green Haven. It will be GLBTQ friendly (SAGE will be the on-site senior assist). 121 permanently affordable senior housing units—30% of the units going to the formerly homeless with 8,000 sq. ft. of open space run by Habitat for Humanity (office onsite)—formerly called the Elizabeth Street Garden. The hearing is expected to be contentious. The Hedge Fund Moms booed seniors who spoke in favor of the project over a year ago. It should be better than reality TV. Come if you can—no matter your opinion.
—Jim Fouratt
Jim Fouratt, when young, was a leader of the Youth International Party, who never trusted anyone over 30 and who pushed for entitlements for the young. He attacked the old.
Now that HE is old, he attacks young mothers and their children and has become the self-appointed spokesperson for seniors, many of whom living near Elizabeth Street Garden want no part of his selfish intervention.
His self-serving behavior throughout his life has become manifest in his declining years. Shame.