The current fight over the development of the SPURA site on the Lower East Side is rooted in affordable housing and the broken promises of urban renewal dating back 45 years. Economic fear over gentrification and displacement, and a steadfast belief in a right of return to a mid-20th century neighborhood that is changing quickly around the edges of SPURA's vacant land has fostered a political intransigence that has turned the area into a weed-strewn parking lot on prime Manhattan real estate. "It was 100 percent of working poor folks that were pushed out, and the community was left devastated with a lack of affordable housing." [OpenCity; previously]
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