Brooklyn Beware! Shaya Is Coming (.org)

I got an email from Ethan today who is in Brooklyn working with Arthur and Zoey and one of our newest clients. On his way from their hotel to the client’s office, they spotted this poster:

ShayaIsComing.org is a campaign of the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund, one of our clients!

The poster is on a utility pole just a few blocks from my old employer, ACORN, who is also involved in the campaign.

What who, or what is Shaya? and why should Brooklynites be ware? Shaya Boymelgreen is one of the largest developers in the area and he is building luxury condos with tax payer subsidies while there is a chronic shortage of affordable housing. He also has a habit of ignoring community concerns and uses non union labor.

I think it is great when worlds come together, like a little sign you are in the right place, at the right time doing the right thing. Getting this photo (while I set 3000 miles a way in Seattle) made me feel that way, and brought me right back to the neighborhood where I worked just a few years ago.