On this edition of Free City Radio we visit an alternative historical narrative and location that flips the narrative around artists as being the shock troops of gentrification in major western cities. In this story, one based in the Lower East Side of New York, artists were on the actual frontlines of community battles to protect squatted buildings and abandon lots that were turned into community gardens. The results are living vibrant spaces in the area, including one of the largest networks of community gardens in North America within an urban setting and a number of buildings that were once squats and that are now legalized as housing and public spaces. This episode features the voices of Bill Di Paola a founding member of the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (MoRUS) in New York and Yasmeen Abdallah who is involved in ABC No Rio in New York.
Music on this edition is by Dave Switchenko.
Free City Radio is hosted and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff and airs on @radiockut 90.3FM at 11am on Wednesdays and @cjlo1690 AM in Tiohti:áke/Montréal on Tuesdays at 1pm on @ckuwradio 95.9FM in Winnipeg at 8am on Tuesdays, on @cfrc 101.9FM in Kingston, Ontario at 11:30am on Wednesdays and broadcasting on @cfuv 101.9 FM in Victoria, BC on Wednesdays at 9am. Also Free City Radio is a podcast through both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, please encourage a friend to tune-in !
