• Community Lawyering

  CDP’s team of experienced attorneys provide a wide range of legal assistance to help advance community groups’ campaigns for social and economic justice. ...
  

• Participatory Action Research and Policy

  CDP’s Research and Policy Initiative partners with and provides strategic support to grassroots community organizations to build the power of their ...
  

• Technical and Capacity-Building Assistance

  CDP offers grassroots community groups training and assistance related to their formation and operation as not-for-profit organizations.  These services ...
  

CDP and VOCAL-NY are pleased to share our new report, “More than a Home: How Affordable Housing for New Yorkers Living with HIV/AIDS Will Prevent Homelessness, Improve Health and Reduce Costs.”

This report examines the impact of denying affordable housing to permanently disabled people living with HIV/AIDS who receive rental assistance. The report lays out a simple, humane and cost-saving solution: ensure that homeless and formerly homeless people living with HIV/AIDS pay no more than 30 percent of their income towards their rent. Speakers at the May 17th report release included NYS Senator Brad Hoylman, a Representative from the office of NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn,  and several VOCAL members and leaders who are living with HIV/AIDS and personally impacted by the rent share burden. Read coverage in the Metro and El Diario.

The results of a CDP study released on April 30, 2013 show that NYC’s second year of the participatory budgeting (PB) process created many new civic participants. These include people disillusioned with government and those who are not likely voters. PB, a process where community members decide how to spend public funds, also engaged those that have barriers to participating in traditional elections,  such as people of color, non-English speakers, youth, non-citizens and the formerly incarcerated.

The study was based on data from 7,300 exit polls collected from this year’s PB voters. For more on the study, please read the data summary and coverage by DNAinfo.com.

Learn more about PB! Check out the list of this year’s winning projects and a Daily News Op-Ed about participatory budgeting as a tool against corruption by Alexa Kasdan, CDP Director of Research and Policy, and Susan Lerner of Common Cause NY.

The Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA), a coalition of community organizations, congregations, and activists, recently reached a Community Benefits Agreement with Kingsbridge Armory developers KNIC Partners. DLA Piper and CDP were co-counsel to KARA on the agreement, which ensures the economic benefits created by the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory are apportioned equitably throughout the surrounding community.  The Community Benefits Agreement provides for green jobs and green building practices, living wages for local workers, over 50,000 square feet of space for community use, and purchasing direct from local businesses. This victory is the culmination of a 17-year campaign to redevelop the Kingsbridge Armory in a way that benefits the surrounding Bronx communities. Learn more here, and read articles about the agreement on New York Times and NY Daily News. Congratulations KARA!

CDP and New Settlement Apartments’ Community Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) are pleased to share our newest report, “Tipping the Scales: A Report of Tenant Experiences in Bronx Housing Court.” This report, which is the result of over 1,000 surveys, 3 focus groups and 15 judge observations, documents tenant experiences with Bronx Housing Court.  About 2,000 tenants go to Bronx Housing Court every day and in 2012, 11,000 households were evicted.  It is estimated that about 95% of tenants do not have legal representation while 90% of landlords do.  Our research shows that current court protocols and policies are insufficient to level the playing field for unrepresented tenants in Housing Court. This report provides simple, common-sense steps that can be taken to ensure that all tenants receive fair treatment. Read the full report and the Executive Summary in English and Spanish.

Over 120 people attended the report release, policy briefing and panel discussion on Friday, March 15^th, 2013. Various media outlets covered the event, including the NY Times, the Daily News,  News 12, and Metro.