ICYMI: Brooklyn Anti-Development Activists Pick Awkward Moment To Bombard Councilwoman

CITY HALL, MANHATTAN — A small but fired-up group of Brooklyn anti-development activists, dead set on halting a controversial city plan to redevelop the Bedford-Union Armory in Crown Heights, chose a decidedly inopportune — and altogether awkward — moment Monday morning to bombard their local councilwoman with a petition demanding she block the plan.

Petition in hand, activists crashed a New York City Council committee hearing on, of all things, a series of bills that would require city agencies to better report and train employees on issues of gender and racial equality. The hearing was being held by the Committee on Women's Issues, chaired by the very woman activists were there to target: Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo.

And afterward, when Cumbo confronted them on the front steps of City Hall, one of the activists tried to argue that their venue choice was appropriate because the Bedford-Union Armory redevelopment affects women of color in Crown Heights. "We struggle enough in our community," the activist said.

(To keep up with the latest on the Armory's development, and other news from Crown Heights, click here to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.)

All this awkwardness kicked off when, mid-meeting, DeBorah Dickerson, from Picture The Homeless, stepped forward holding a blue folder containing the petition.

Dickerson had filled out a slip of paper that would have allowed her a speaking slot during the public comment portion of the meeting. But she apparently got tired of waiting.

"I have 2,500 signatures!" Dickerson said. (Video below.)

Two security guards immediately stepped forward, and Cumbo's chief of staff, Monica Abend, started coughing loudly (and rather awkwardly) to drown out Dickerson. As the group, which also included representatives from a labor union and New York Communities for Change, was escorted out of the hall, they chanted: "Whose armory? Our armory!" and "Fight, fight, fight! Housing is a right!"

Abend did manage to snatch the folder containing the petition from Dickerson as the group was escorted out, though. (Another awkward development.)

As the seven or so activists walked out of City Hall, Cumbo came outside and confronted them on the front steps. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"We just had a meeting on Friday, we just had a conversation, we’ve set up additional conversations and meetings," Cumbo said. "I don’t understand the purpose of having a women’s hearing on pay equity and rights disrupted in such an unprofessional way. It was uncalled for."

To which Dickerson replied: "We want you to know that we have petitions, and we are trying to move forward."

"You could have presented those petitions to me Friday, when we met for almost three hours," Cumbo said. "You could have presented it on Monday, today, in another form."

(To add to the awkwardness, during this encounter, an unrelated large rally urging the mayor to take immediate steps to close the Rikers Island Correctional Center was being staged just steps away.)

Dickerson told Cumbo the Armory issue was relevant to the hearing because it affected women of color in Crown Heights. "Because we struggle enough in our community," she said.

Cumbo responded: "You’re a black woman, coming into my hearing, attacking another black woman, in front of people of all races and religions."

"I’ve been respectful to you. I’ve met with you," the councilwoman said. "I’m going to continue to meet with you and continue to meet with all of the advocates. But to disrespect me publicly from one black woman from another black woman, I don’t understand that."

Cumbo would later add, in disbelief: "You thought it was appropriate to come into a hearing to discuss wage inequality that women have been dealing with for generations, to come into the hearing to make an outburst of that sort? There is a process to speaking at that hearing."

Justice Favor, from the Laborers Local 79 construction union, was the first to apologize to the councilwoman.

"We apologize, because there was no intention for that to actually come off in any disrespectful form," Favor said. "You did honor that and you did give us a meeting. We wanted to do what we wanted to do but never to be disrespectful."

"I thought we made a lot of progress Friday," Cumbo replied, "but that was unfortunate."

Dickerson, a long-time Crown Heights resident and chaplain at her local church, also apologized to Cumbo.

"It’s not about entertainment," she said — responding to a claim from Cumbo that the group's disruption, which was live-streamed to their nearly 10,000 Facebook followers, was done for "entertainment purposes."

"It’s really about helping our community," Dickerson told Cumbo on City Hall steps. "I apologize. But in freedom of speech, with the tone of the way things are going in the government, people are very leery. We elected you. We want to trust you. We want to walk together. We want to have that."

As the impromptu meeting on the steps approached the 15-minute mark, Cumbo said: "I do have to get back to my hearing, because people have gone through the process, and I have to respect that process."

"Sorry about that," Favor said as Cumbo walked away.

The confrontation seemed to be a boiling-over of tensions that have been rising in recent months between Cumbo and anti-development activists in her district.

Activists have come out strongly against the city's current plan to re-develop the historic Bedford-Union Armory and turn it into a recreation center, office space and condos. They'll only accept a proposal, they say, in which the new Armory contains 100 percent affordable housing and is built with union labor.

Cumbo, who faces re-election in November, has said she's opposed to the current deal — but has been criticized for not taking a stronger stance on the issue.

New York Communities for Change organized a march to Cumbo's office two weeks ago. They also met with her in private on Friday.

Of the signatures they presented so awkwardly Monday, about 1,000 came from door-knocking in Cumbo's district, which includes Crown Heights and Bed-Stuy, according to Cea Weaver, a member of the activist group. The other 1,500 signatures came from an online petition; it's unclear where those signatories live, Weaver said.

Cumbo reiterated to her detractors Monday that she, too, wants to see more affordable housing in the Armory plan. "I’m trying to fight to get to 100 percent affordable like everybody else," she said. "I’m fighting to dismantle the luxury condominiums like everybody else."

Favor, one of the activists, told Patch after Cumbo went back inside that he feared their apology may have softened the point they were trying to make.

"Of course it did," Favor said. "Here’s the thing. Politicians flip flop all the time. We met with you, but at the same time, it’s an election year, we marched. This was a way to get your attention. The fact that you came out, it brought some attention.

"We definitely had a great meeting with her," he said. "But we would like for her to know that we’re actually serious. The meeting didn’t reflect the community, the signatures reflect the community."

A spokesman for BFC Partners, the company the city has tapped to develop the Armory, declined to comment.

Later Monday evening, Cumbo released the following statement:

"As a Council Member, I have always created opportunities to meet with my constituents throughout the district on the various issues and challenges across the 35th Council District. Given the importance of the Bedford Union Armory project and the various opinions, I have made communication my utmost priority – hosting a series of informative workshops and one-on-one meetings with stakeholders to fully integrate the Crown Heights community in the ongoing development process.

"Freedom of speech has always and will continue to be a powerful way to echo our voices about the issues that impact our lives the most. However, the manner in which we express ourselves is instrumental in how our message is embraced. While chairing a Women’s Issues Committee hearing, a handful of protesters disrupted the proceedings with chants and outbursts to deliver petitions ironically after having already met with my staff and I just this past Friday for over three hours. Today’s protest was inappropriate and disrespectful to the dozens of women and men who came forward to testify on racial and gender wage gaps within the City of New York.

"In order to work collectively in the best interest of our communities, we cannot continue to engage in actions that undermine ongoing efforts to maintain open lines of communication. After Friday’s meeting we were genuinely excited about the ideas shared during our meeting and explored how we could work collaboratively. Today’s protest overshadowed the coalition’s act of good faith."

Photo and video by Marc Torrence, Patch Staff

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Monday, April 24