Like a “Bronx Ecology” (a community-enviro coalition to develop a community owned paper re-manufacturer in the South Bronx) this is a large scale example of how the social and labor movement can advance it’s values (affordable housing in this case) in the market as well as the state.

Think about it.

A group of mostly middle-class tenants hooked up with the labor movement to put together a $4.5 BILLION package to compete with big developers in the largest real-estate deal in history–not just to hold on to their piece of property, but to create a large scale cooperative housing development that would ensure that FUTURE GENERATIONS have access to quality housing (in a great location) at below-market rent or – for those looking to buy – prices.

They used government (the City Council) to give them a competitive advantage in the market, but this is primarily a market-oriented strategy for social change.

NY has a history of labor-built and backed cooperative affordable housing. But despite this, the fight for affordable housing is now primarily a state-based one. Whether the government builds the housing units itself (i.e. ‘the projects’), provides people with vouchers or mandates a percentage of privately constructed units be set-aside it’s still the same formula.

We know the situation with affordable housing in our major cities. The ACORN approach ain’t working.

When the real-estate market is driven by low-road speculators, there can be no large scale affordable housing (for the poor and the middle class).

But if community-based organizations, labor-unions, tenants rights organizations, churches etc. can see the market as a terrain on which to do battle, the game changes.

We shouldn’t abandon the traditional methods of struggle (protest and legislation) but ADD to them market-based strategies.

Compete with the low road developers IN THE MARKET to deny them space IN THE MARKET. And our traditional strengths (protest & mass mobilization) are competitive advantages that the low road will never have.