8/8/2019 Rally Details

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RALLY to SAVE the

MARY MITCHELL CENTER

Friday, September 24 th at 4pm

In front of the Center

(2007 Mapes Ave. @ the corner of 178 th Street)The City has locked the Mary Mitchell Center programs out of the Mary Mitchell Center! It’sunbelievable but true. 400 youth and 28 community groups are now fighting to say,

“It’s Our Center – Give It Back”Calling all friends of the Mary Mitchell Center and everyone who supports our 35 year legacy of community controlled community improvement. Please help us send a clear message to the City. TheMayor says we need to do more with less but more with less is just less. If the City doesn’t have themoney to keep the Center open, let them tax the rich who caused the crisis. Our kids should not pay for their mistakes!

For more information call Heidi Hynes at (917) 402-4129.

8/8/2019 Rally Details

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www.themarymitchellfyc.org

Background On the Mary Mitchell Center

• Mary Mitchell herself had a lease on a City owned property at 2007 Mapes in themid-1970s. The building was destroyed in a fire and Mary Mitchell ran a PLAYStreet on Mapes and youth activities out of her house until her death in 1983.

• Community members including Astin Jacobo took up the cause of creating acommunity center in her honor.

• In 1997, the Center opened and $180,000 that had been allocated for operationswas kept by the City. For three years the MMC board of neighborhood residentsran the facility and expanded programs.

• In 2000, the City transferred the lease to the DOE against the will of thecommunity and said it was “in our best interest”. They promised that the MMCwould be able to use the Center after school and on weekends.

• In July 2010, claiming the City is poor and unable to afford to keep it open, theDOE made it clear that they would not honor their agreement and after 10 years,without giving the Center time to renegotiate with the City, they have locked us

out of our own building.

That is why we demand that,

“It’s Our Center – Give it Back”It is time for the City to return control of the Mary Mitchell Center to the Mary MitchellCenter. The City cannot be trusted and the children of Crotona deserve to have the

Center open. At times of economic crisis it is more important than ever to providefamily support. And, in November of 2009, there was a shooting next door to theCenter. To now close a safe haven like this is immoral. If the City needs money theyshould tax the rich who caused the crisis. Our kids should not pay for their mistakes!