Still No Room At The Inn
The Fifth Annual Christmas Protest at Leo House
by Gloria Sukenick

On Dec. 13, the Chelsea community turned out in force to support the three women who are holding out against eviction from the Leo House Annex, on West 23rd Street in the heart of the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. The three women—Mary Ann Aiken, Georgia Upshaw, and Cathy Klemann—are the only tenants remaining out of the 28 low-income and working women who resided at the Annex in 1993. Some were frightened out, some were harassed out, and many became discouraged with the fight to stay and simply left. Leo House was incorporated in 1889 as a shelter or hotel for Catholic travelers and currently describes itself as a Catholic, charitable, not-for-profit organization “dedicated to offering low-cost temporary housing to clergy, religious persons visiting the sick, students and travelers.” The Leo House Annex has provided affordable, safe housing for women for many years.

But five years ago, the board of directors decided to renovate and upgrade the Leo House Hotel. Business was booming and many travelers have been spotted toting ultra-expensive Vuitton luggage, lending little credibility to management’s claim that they were offering temporary shelter to a needy group of travelers. They then moved to evict the women living at the Annex in order to convert it to another profit-making hotel. The Annex tenants fought long and hard in the past five years, and the three women remaining are intent on continuing the fight for their homes, not only for themselves, but as a much-needed resource for others in the future.

So on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 12 noon, a crowd of about 100 people turned out in front of Leo House shouting slogans like “Charity begins at home, keep Leo House open!” Even Santa Claus showed up in an attempt to shame Leo House management into showing some Christmas spirit. (City Councilmember Tom Duane [D-Manhattan] fit the Santa role to a T.) Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Richard Gottfried (both D-Manhattan) spoke on behalf of the tenants and the much-needed housing. Met Council chair Scott Sommer, Jane Woods of the Chelsea Coalition on Housing, and many others also added words of support.

The three women have also won the backing of Community Board 4. To help save the Leo House Annex, write to His Eminence, John Cardinal O’Connor, Archdiocese of New York, 1011 First Ave., New York, NY 10022. Remind him of his statement “The moral imperative, after all, is that dignified housing is a human right…housing must be reasonably affordable for everyone.” Ask that he intervene to stop the eviction of these tenants.