nothin Activists Set New Haven Green Proposal On Fire | New Haven Independent

Activists Set New Haven Green Proposal On Fire

Decrying a war on the poor,” Sarah Raven set fire to a proposed new law that would make it illegal to sleep on the Green or to set foot on it after 10 p.m.

Raven (pictured) was one of number of speakers at a Friday morning press conference at the Amistad Catholic Worker house on Rosette Street in the Hill neighborhood. Homeless and homeless advocates gathered there to speak out against proposed amendments to the city ordinances that cover the Green.

City Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden drafted the amendments to address legal difficulties the city faced when it tried to evict the Occupy New Haven protest encampment off the Green in the spring of 2012.

Bolden said the changes are intended to clarify the relationship between the city and the Proprietors of the Green, the self-perpetuating private body that owns New Haven’s central square. (It contracts with the city to maintain it.)

The amendments would extend the rules that cover other parks to the Green, including a prohibition on sleeping overnight and on being on the Green between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The proposal will be subject to a hearing by the Board of Alders’ Legislation Committee, then a vote by the full board.

A law professor has already blasted Bolden’s proposal as unconstitutional. Now the amendments face another criticism — that they’re part of an effort to criminalize homelessness,” to oppress the city’s poorest on behalf of its elite.

That was the message at Friday morning’s press conference, which drew about 20 people into the Amistad house’s kitchen, where portraits of civil rights leaders adorn the walls.

The Catholic Worker house is not a charity, Raven said. It’s a place where she and others break bread” and share food with their neighbors, some of whom happen to be homeless. Those people are threatened by the proposed new laws, she said.

By making it illegal to sleep on the Green, the amendments would take away the last refuge of some community members,” Raven said.

We need a homeless bill of rights,” she said. It’s time to take a stand and stop the war on the poor.”

Then she lit the proposed amendments on fire.

Being homeless is not a crime,” said Kenny Driffin, a homeless outreach superstar, formerly employed at Columbus House. The Green is a refuge for homeless people, he said. People feel safe on the Green.”

Driffin said about 10 people sleep on the Green each night in warmer weather. Another activist said it can be as many as 30.

We should defend this plaza,” said activist Jon Lugo. This is the main place people congregate. We should keep it free for the city of New Haven.”

We’re going to ask for what it is we’re entitled to as citizens of the city,” said Father Richard Meadows, of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church,

Gregory Williams (at center in photo), a Yale Divinity School student who helped organize Friday’s press conference, said advocates will testify at upcoming public hearings on the proposed legislation. He urged people to sign a petition against the amendments.

That petition had 213 signers on Friday morning, including freshman Quinnipiac Meadows Alder Richard Spears.

Asked later about the issue, mayoral spokesman Laurence Grotheer said the Harp administration does not yet have a position on the proposal.

The proposed ordinance amendments regarding the city’s parks and open spaces were drafted and submitted while the previous mayoral administration was still in office. Officials of the New Haven administration have not yet had an opportunity to review them but will do so as the amendments move through the process,” Grotheer stated.

East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes (pictured), the chair of the Legislation Committee, appeared at Friday’s press conference. She declined to comment. I’m just here to listen,” she said.

She did accept an invitation to come back and have lunch at the house.

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