A Hunger Strike To Quash The Tale Of Two Long Island Cities

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Lashawn “Suga Ray" Marston will not eat food until the day of his birth.

Marston, 38, is undergoing a two-week hunger strike outside the controversial building where Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos once considered building a second company headquarters to protest 14 crises he says have created a tale of two Long Island Cities.

Among them, mass incarceration, homelessness, political corruption, police terrorism, and extreme hunger.

“We don’t need any big conglomerate to build economic growth,” Marston told Patch. “All we need is to hand the resources you would give that institution to the people who live here and are already doing the work.”

He hasn't eaten food this month.

Marston, who has been living on coconut water and carrot juice since March 1, hopes his hunger strike will force New York City to consider two questions: Why did it take local resistance to push Amazon out? And why does it take intense neighborhood action to bring community initiatives to the forefront?

Marston is part of a larger group advocating for the conversion of the underutilized building located at 44-36 Vernon Boulevard into a space championed by community members, artists, and small business owners.

His plan is to fast for 14 days until March 14, his 39th birthday, in a light green tent.

The action, Marston hopes, will also call attention to the efforts by the community to covert the more than 600,000-square-foot building owned by the Department of Education into a community land trust.

The Western Queens Community Land Trust (WQCLT) wants to turn the building into the Queensboro People’s Space to create a hub for manufacturing, art-making, and food and nutrition services.

Marston said he was tired of the “runaround” he would face at council meetings regarding creating a community land trust in Western Queens, and he believes “there’s only one person who can expedite that process, and that’s the mayor.”

In the last week, Marston has had several visitors, including Council Member Julie Won and a representative for the office of City Comptroller Brad Lander, who granted him a framed commendation for his work as a community leader.

Progressive lawmakers are legislation are pushing for the city to adopt a slate of bills that would give nonprofits more ownership power.

Lander, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and several council members rallied at City Hall in late February to urge the passage of the bills during the council’s Committee on Housing & Buildings oversight hearing.

One bill is looking to prioritize not-for-profit developers and community land trusts when the city disposes of land for affordable housing or for any other public use.

The other bills also address the city’s housing crisis by establishing a city land bank, conducting a feasibility study for a social housing agency, and creating more social housing in communities of color.

The Queensboro People’s Space specifically proposes installing affordable art spaces for local residents, a rooftop farm, a food co-op, and spaces for manufacturers that work with wood, garments, and other materials.

Marston, a father of two children, grew up a few blocks away from where he’s camping out, right at the heart of Queensbridge Houses, the nation's largest public housing complex.

He grew up in a Long Island City “before all the nice stuff,” he said.

At the time, Marston said, police presence caused residents to feel more anxious than secure and left them in a “constant fight-or-flight state of being.”

The complex, owned by New York City Housing Authority, has seen Marston’s low points, like the shooting that led him to a three-year stint in prison, as well as his peak as an artist and inspirational speaker.

Marston described Queensbridge Houses as the bedrock of talent, and he has receipts to show for it: the renowned rapper Nas, former NBA player Ron Artest, and award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash have all grounded their beginnings at the complex.

Now, he describes Long Island City as a “tale of two cities” as whiter and more affluent communities come into what he calls the “most gentrified neighborhood in America.”

That’s why Marston thinks the proposed Queens hub, run and grounded by the community, would create trickle-down effects to mutually support the Black and Brown communities that have lived in Long Island City for generations.

“There’s nothing wrong with moving into a neighborhood you love,” Marston said. "But respect the culture and do your part to preserve the culture."