The Gift of NYCHA
Assembly Member Latrice Walker Is Giving Back
The seeds for Assembly Member Latrice Walker’s service to her community were planted early on when her family was relocated from Prospect Plaza to Glenmore Houses.
“No one from NYCHA spoke to the residents about this relocation in a way they understood about how long they would be away from Prospect Plaza, what their rights were as tenants, whether they really would get to move back. They were just left to worry and wait,” Ms. Walker explains. “My mother told me I needed to be sure that future NYCHA residents would not be left in the dark like she had been.”
Educated in New York City public schools, Ms. Walker double-majored in sociology and political science at SUNY Purchase College and earned a law degree from Pace University. As Counsel to Congresswoman Yvette Clarke for several years, she focused on facilitating the federal, State, and City governments’ community planning and development initiatives and evaluating their economic and civic effect on the community. She was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2014 to represent the 55th District, covering portions of Brownsville, East New York, Bedford Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill, Bushwick, Cypress Hills, Crown Heights, and East Flatbush.
“I am thrilled to be able to serve the community that raised me. Glenmore Houses was one of the warmest, most supportive communities I have ever experienced. Every day that I traveled from Brownsville to SUNY Purchase, my NYCHA neighbors would make me lunches and snacks for the journey,” Ms. Walker recounts. “NYCHA, the most affordable source of low-income housing we have, is also a great gift to its residents in that it provides community, continuity, and support that is hard to find anywhere else.”
As the Chair of the Assembly’s committee on sustainability and a member of the committees on housing, corrections, and job creation, Ms. Walker views her work on each of these committees as addressing what she feels is the most significant issue facing NYCHA residents: poverty.
“Divestment in NYCHA’s buildings and services, the over-criminalization of our youth, a lack of resources for social support programs, the lack of job training and jobs – all of these contribute to the poverty that shapes the quality of life NYCHA residents’ experience,” Ms. Walker explains. “That NYCHA communities are so strong and supportive despite these factors is a real testament to the resiliency of the residents.”
Resident involvement in policy-making and legislation is key to changing the status quo. Every third Saturday of the month, Ms. Walker holds an open community “think tank” session for her constituents. “Politics definitely is not a spectator sport – you need to be involved to make change. Many of the ideas for the legislation I propose and support come from these community meetings,” she says.
Her message to NYCHA residents: “Realize and appreciate your worth and your place in the NYCHA universe. You are an important member of your community. Your input counts, your efforts count. You are part of the great gift that is NYCHA.”