Janet Freeman

Janet Freeman (May 18, 1950 – April 29, 2011) was a community organizer and activist for tenant's rights in New York City's lower Manhattan.[1][2] On June 20, 2013, the corner of Elizabeth Street and Kenmare Street was co-named "Janet Freeman Way" by the New York City Council in her memory and to commemorate her activism on behalf of the community.[3][4]

Life

Janet Freeman grew up in Stuyvesant Town, a middle-income housing complex in Manhattan, New York City. At the age of 17, she moved to Elizabeth Street, eventually occupying a vacant storefront where she lived until her death in 2011. The storefront was notable for its heavily tagged graffiti cover in a neighborhood renowned for its tagging and graffiti art -- (both the Candle Building and the Germania Bank Building (New York City) are down the block and around the corner respectively).[5]

Activism

According to Tenant/Inquilino, the newspaper of Metropolitan Council on Housing: "Freeman was widely admired among tenant advocates for an unusual mix of impressive qualities: her intellect and insight, her personal dedication to ordinary people, her passion for their rights, and the depth, breadth, thoroughness, and accuracy of her research. She employed these in an unbroken series of actions and campaigns over three decades. Protective of her independence and integrity, and averse to bureaucracy, she almost always worked as a free agent or volunteer, even refusing paid positions for the same things she did freely."[1]

Tenant and housing activism

Freeman defended tenants whether in public housing or in private rentals threatened by predatory landlords and developers. She worked with Met Council, Cooper Square Committee, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), University Settlement, and the Coalition for a District Alternative (CoDA), helped create the Lower East Side Coop Watch, the Croman Tenants Association, Justice for Lincoln Swados, and the Lower East Side Coalition to Save Public Housing & Section 8 to mobilize and educate tenants, and worked for the City Wide Task Force for Housing. Through her briefs and oral arguments she set the precedent that stipulations could include owner repairs to Department of Buildings and Environmental Control Board violations.[1][2]

Neighborhood activism

Freeman's earliest effort was to get trees planted on the street where she lived. Responding to the invasion of nightlife in Little Italy, Freeman mobilized the community, researching and arguing before the local community board. She also worked with the Houston/Broadway MTA Station fight and the DeSalvio Park renovation. When the neighborhood was threatened with a Las Vegas-style burlesque cabaret, she spearheaded the community's successful opposition.[1]

Street co-naming

To commemorate Freeman's concern for the people of Little Italy and the Lower East Side, Community Board 2 and the New York City Council, in conjunction with sponsors Chinatown Headstart, Housing Court Answers and Friends of Petrosino Square, co-named Elizabeth Street between Kenmare & Spring Streets "Janet Freeman Way," June 20, 2013.[3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Rob Hollander. "Tenant Advocates Mourn Janet Freeman, Brilliant and Passionate Activist | Metropolitan Council on Housing". Metcouncilonhousing.org. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  2. 1 2 "Janet Freeman, 60, tenant activist". Thevillager.com. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  3. 1 2 "Community Board No. 2, Manhattan : Full Board Minutes" (PDF). Nyc.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  4. 1 2 "The New York City Council - File #: Int 1188-2013". Legistar.council.nyc.gov. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
  5. ↑ Aileen Gallagher (2008-11-03). "What 11 Spring Looks Like Under All That Graffiti". NYMag. Retrieved 2015-11-12.
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