Can’t get your landlord to fix your sink? Is there a nebulous blob of black mold festering on your bedroom ceiling? Well maybe you and your roommates can pick up some hot tips on how to stick it to your slumlord from a new exhibition at Interference Archive which focuses on collective action organized by tenants in a city that often seems to choose development over preservation. “We Won’t Move: Tenants Organize in New York City” opens tonight (7-10 pm) at the Gowanus archive and event space dedicated to social movements, labor history, and activism.
The exhibition offers a historical as well as contemporary perspective on the issue — one that seems to be the central tension of life in New York City — by drawing on ephemera and documents spanning from the 1940s to the present. The focus is two-fold: a sense of self-empowerment amongst tenants who are often otherwise disenfranchised (people of color and lower socioeconomic status) as well providing a narrative that housing injustice has plagued this city for close to a century.
To address these persistent issues, Interference Archive aims to create an exhibition that connects visitors with successful tenant rights movements in the past while informing them about the problems of the present. Tenant organizations and activists fighting against the decline of rent regulated housing and demanding housing equality collaborated with the event organizers for programming that will take place throughout the exhibition.
Tenants and Neighbors, an advocacy organization fighting the Rent Guidelines Board’s decision to increase pricing for rent regulated units, will host a workshop on Friday, April 10 at 3pm aimed at spreading awareness about rent regulation and the organization’s ongoing campaign for better protections against lost of rent regulated apartments.
A more neighborhood-specific event, Housing Justice in NYC: Tenant Organizers in Conversation, takes place on Saturday May 16 at 4pm and will bring together activists from across New York City to discuss the issues faced by their neighborhood.
Event organizers are in the process of scheduling more events to coincide with the exhibition but for now there are a handful to choose from including a film screening, workshops, and a panel discussion on the role of policing in gentrification.
Interference Archive is located at 131 8th Street in Gowanus, exhibition viewing hours Thursday 1-9 pm, Friday through Sunday 12-5 pm or by appointment. “We Won’t Move” is on view from Thursday, March 26th through June 15th.
