Charas X-mas eve party

Apologies if you've already received this.
(please post & forward)

hi all.

X-mas/thankyou/going away but not gone party this:

Monday December 24th - 2pm at Charas!

Free food, drink, music and performance for everyone who wants to stop
by. the press are invited at 3pm and we'll wrap up by 6pm.

please stop in if you're around and have a toast to the long fought
effort to save our center * bring red wine for mulled wine, beer or
pot luck dishes if u want*

love and hope to see you soon. viva charas!

We urgently need supporters to be ready on emergency short notice from
the morning of December 24 on to rally in front of CHARAS should the
city launch a physical eviction of the center (details below). We
believe real estate "developer" Gregg Singer, Chief Hale and NYC's
finest are set for an eviction this week. hope everyone's in town and
ready to move. call in your number if you don't think we have it (be
ready to jump out of bed at 5am if you're called
that morning). Please call 212-982-9446 if you're available.

we're back on line thanks to abc no rio,

charas made it through our first scheduled eviction date, Dec. 17,
(thanks to a large crowd on a cold rainy day) and to court on Tues.
the18th. we also made it to the courtroom of Saralee Evans and were
adjourned to 2:15 that afternoon to hear oral arguments for a further
stay of eviction. As the judges would have it, in the 4 hours between
court appearances, the completely lawless Appellate Term delivered
awritten opinion, which stated Singers appeal of our first stay was now
moot (since dec. 12 had past). but that Saralee Evans should not give
any further stay in this matter. This was clearly an abuse of power
bythe term, but Saralee Evans said she was again, bound by their
decision, and told the crowd gathered in the courtroom that she was
sorry and wished us a better year next year......lawyers for charas
appealed the decision to the spineless Appellate Division and were
denied a stay pending appeal this past friday. (when asked, the
division said we didn't deserve it).

The only consolation was a written order stating that the eviction
could not take place until 6 business days had pasted or Monday,
December 24th. So, we have decided to prepare for an eviction on the
24th.

Some background information for those unfamiliar with CHARAS and its
three-year fight for its survival:

CHARAS/El Bohio is a multi-ethnic cultural and community center in the
East Village (9th Street between Avenue B and C) with special
importance for the majority Latino community of the surrounding
neighnborhood.

Operating out of a former school building, CHARAS offers:

free and affordable classes
tutoring
after-school activities
rehearsal, studio, and meeting space for arts and civic groups.

Please visit us at 605 East 9th Street (New York, NY 10009) (located
between Avenue B and C) or contact
Chino Garcia at (212) 982-0627 or (212) 533-6835, fax (212) 505-8008.
charas@..., www.charas.org

Latin@ leaders along with artists and politicians from diverse ethnic
groups have been fighting in court, in the streets and in the media to
stop the eviction of the Charas/El Bohio Culture Center, an emblematic
establishment in Manhattan's Loisaida community, where the center has
been located for the past 35 years. Real estate "developer" Gregg
Singer purchased the property for $3.15 million at auction in 1998, and
posted an eviction notice as soon as he gained title.

Charas was in negotiations with the city and had offered $340,000 to
buy its building when the Giuliani administration in an act of racial
and economic discrimination, refused to sell it to Charas and instead
auctioned the property to its current owner, even though the city had
already spent thousands of dollars in public money, some of which was
designated for low- and middle-income communities, in an effort to
bring the building up to code for Charas's use. Charas's supporters are
not rich.

Singer is an outsider unfamiliar with the neighborhood's needs. He says
that he wants to put a community center there. Charas IS a community
center.

A group of Puerto Ricans and other Manhattan residents founded the
Charas/El Bohio Center 35 years ago, and together they converted the
abandoned building, which once had been a haven for drug addicts and
pushers, into a community service center.

For the past three decades, Charas/El Bohio has offered classes in
English, Spanish, theater, film, folkloric dance, handicrafts and
music.

The center has been the site for community meetings where residents
could discuss and look for solutions to problems that affected them.
Charas has been utilized and enjoys overwhelming support, from the
Latin Kings, Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund, Lower East
Side Call for Justice, Vieques Support Committee, tenant advocate
organizations such as Metropolitan Council on Housing, Good Old Lower
East Side, Cooper Square Committee, Congress member Nydia Velazquez,
Council member Margarita Lopez, Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer, to Bread & Puppet theater, Susan Sarandon, Community Board 3,
, Direct Action Network, Reclaim the Streets, Ya Basta!, More Gardens!
Coalition, Screen Actors Guild, etc. etc. and was also frequented by
such famous personalities as actor John Leguizamo, film director Spike
Lee and screenplay writer Miguel Piñero when they were young.

Under the Guiliani administration, many community centers operated by
and for communities of color have lost their headquarters because the
buildings, which belonged to the city, were sold.

The battle for CHARAS goes on. Supporters will never let Gregg Singer
get away with turning a 22-year old
community resource into luxury condos. Supporters will continue to
plan legal strategies, political campaigns, and public demonstrations.
Charas has more meaning than just as a community center;it's the heart
of our community.

Charas's survival is a victory against the gentrification of the Lower
East Side.

Contact the CHARAS Committee at 212-982-9446 to learn more and get
involved.