Dear Neighbors,

As you may have read, the city has begun evicting newly arrived immigrant families from local shelters. Many families have managed to secure work permits and find employment, but affordable housing remains a challenge in NYC.

There are many ways that “established neighbors” can support “new neighbors." Here are a few:

- Do you have an apartment for rent?  A newcomer family may be interested. An uptown resident who has done tremendous work to support newcomers over the past 18 months writes the following:

A neighbor on my block was able to rent a basement studio to A--, which is perfect for her. In case anyone has concerns, for that case, we secured 3 character references, A--- has a work permit, savings, and also met all of the upstairs neighbors before being approved and signing a lease. The only thing that was different from a normal rental was that the owner of the building discounted the rent quite a bit and skipped the credit check. The lease is for 3 months, and after that the rent will rise.

While recent newcomers typically have few economic resources, they often have a lot of human capital. (I have personally met architects, artists, journalists, policemen, medical students, as well as many folks who have not had the opportunity to get an education but who have tremendous hustle and capacity to navigate a new city, new schools, new jobs, a new subway (!), etc. In other words, they might not have a credit record but may have many other desirable attributes as tenants.)

-  Donate housewares and furniture to help new neighbors get set up in their new digs. Here’s an easy way to donate, courtesy of the neighbor mentioned above:  

We are initiating a campaign to support about a dozen families who are ready to leave the shelters and need some furniture and housewares. One family is already in their new place! If you can donate a bed, a mattress, sheets, towels, plates, pots and pans, or other necessary items, please indicate it here. Or, if you’d like to sponsor a set of pots and pans and cooking tools ($80), let me know [I can share her email privately]: 

email [email protected]

- Hire a newcomer. Many newcomers are legally eligible to work thanks to recent changes in federal law. If you are looking for:

• construction/handyman work

• childcare

• cleaning/housekeeping

• pet-sitting/house-sitting

• tailoring/seamstress house calls

• homemade food (especially Venezuelan) 

• acrylic nails

• Spanish lessons

...There are many entrepreneurial folks who have started micro-businesses or are looking for steady work. A neighbor who has many personal relationships with asylum-seeking families has offered to connect folks. She writes: 

We have so many asylum-seeking neighbors who are really incredible, talented, qualified, able to provide references, and many of whom have work permits. If there’s anything you’re looking for, I’d be really happy to connect you. Please note I’m not a placement service, so while I can personally vouch for some folks, I leave it up to you all to interview, check references & docs, and navigate these relationships,  but I would be delighted to make some connections between you and people for whom the opportunity would mean the world. Please note that almost everybody I put you in contact with mainly speaks Spanish, but they are able to use Google Translate very well!

Please email [email protected] to connect with the neighbors who are organizing these initiatives!

Columbia Student Wants Your Opinions

I am Sarah Noon, an undergraduate student at Columbia University's Political Science Department, inviting you to participate in my research study. Please consider taking at most five minutes to complete this survey.

The aim of this research is to collect political attitude data from residents in Harlem. The objective is to analyze this information within a broader context, exploring how residents perceive both their personal and neighborhood's political influence. This study seeks to gain insight into the complexities that shape community attitudes and to identify the motivations driving residents' engagement in political activities.

Link to the survey