East Side Tenants Council Records Bulk, 1955-1970 1937-1975

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East Side Tenants Council Records Bulk, 1955-1970 1937-1975

http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/tamwag/tam_253/tam_253.html

The East Side Tenants Council was a community organization founded to advocate for tenants' rights on the Lower East Side of New York City in the mid-20th century. A local affiliate of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, its roots could be traced to 1930s tenant activism and 1950s-1960s neighborhood opposition to Robert Moses' reimagining of New York City. The council fought to hold or lower rent rates and improve the physical condition of buildings. This meant both building-level organization of tenants and navigating the bureaucratic paperwork of government agencies on behalf of individuals. The majority of the collection's documents were generated by the advocacy of tenants' representative Francesca Amato. Most these materials are filings, supporting work product, and correspondence with landlords and government housing agencies. As a part of her process, Amato took extensive notes on buildings' residents and the physical condition of their apartments, which document housing conditions in the Lower East Side during the 1950s-1970s. The collections also contains housing-related publications from government entities and other tenants' groups and one folder of photographs of buildings.

1.5 linear feet; in one record carton and one manuscript box

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

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SNAC Resource ID: 6331498

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

Related Entities

There are 3 Entities related to this resource.

Amato, Francesca

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b1539f (person)

The East Side Tenants Council was a community organization founded to advocate for tenants rights on the Lower East Side of New York City during the mid-20th century. It was a local affiliate of the Metropolitan Council on Housing. The council's roots could be traced to the 1930s tenant activism of members of Communist Party and American Labor Party and neighborhood-based opposition to Robert Moses' reimagining of New York City. Tenants were organized at the building lev...

East Side Tenants Council.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6626hv2 (corporateBody)

The East Side Tenants Council was a community organization founded to advocate for tenants rights on the Lower East Side of New York City during the mid-20th century. It was a local affiliate of the Metropolitan Council on Housing. The council's roots could be traced to the 1930s tenant activism of members of Communist Party and American Labor Party and neighborhood-based opposition to Robert Moses' reimagining of New York City. Tenants were organized at the building lev...

Metropolitan Council on Housing (New York, N.Y.)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6773z95 (corporateBody)

The Metropolitan Council on Housing was formed in 1959. Veteran housing activists associated with the left (notably the American Labor Party and the Communist Party) played a prominent role; these included Esther Rand and Jane Benedict, longtime MCH leaders. MCH has fought for increased public housing, the maintenance of rent control, and other housing priorities,using a range of tactics that included rent strikes and lobbying. The records contain subject and administrative files, and include cl...