Rochester Eviction Defense - Day 4
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Today was Day 4 of the eviction defense of the Lennon-Griffin family in Rochester, NY. First on Monday, then on Tuesday the City Marshal was scheduled execute the eviction of the family for Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) but the combination of protesters, an eviction blockade, strong community support, and a news media presence was enough for the Marshal and the bank-hired movers to cancel their visits. Organized protest and resistance clearly made the difference.
On Wednesday and Thursday the family, neighbors, and Take Back the Land Rochester organized an Eviction Watch Encampment from 9 to 5--the hours an eviction can be carried out in the State of New York. The encampment has consisted of a constant stream of people taking shifts watching the house from the front lawn. The watch, which includes a video camera, looks out for any marshal or police activity and is ready to notify the community for an emergency mobilization if necessary. In addition to staying vigilant and showing the marshal that the eviction defense is ongoing, the watch has turned out to be a great opportunity for outreach as community members stopped by to chat all day long. And now its been 4 days and the family is still in their home! The Eviction Watch Encampment will continue.
While we try to keep the local authorities at bay we are working in parallel to bring Fannie Mae to the table to negotiate a reasonable settlement with the family. Some of our elected officials have taken up the case and hopefully we will see some results soon. If anybody as any contacts with Fannie Mae or has any suggestions about establishing meaningful contact with them please send them our way.
To follow the ongoing events you can:
Contact us: Take Back the Land Rochester at TakeBackRoc@RiseUp.net or (585) 653-8362.
Subscribe to our Eviction Watch Listserv: http://lists.rocus.org/listinfo/evictionwatch
Website:http://takebackroc.org
Facebook: http://facebook.com/takebackroc
Twitter: http://twitter.com/takebackroc
