Cooper Square Committee

In 1959, the Cooper Square Committee (CSC) assembled in direct response to the threat of a large-scale slum clearance plan for the Cooper Square area that would have displaced thousands of residents in Lower Manhattan. A coalition of residents, activists, and community leaders, the committee emerged as a vocal advocate for the development of affordable housing and the preservation of tenant rights. They sustained a resistance for multiple decades against the city’s land use officials and maintained a strong commitment to ensure that redevelopment would prioritize the needs of its existing residents. In 1970, they developed an alternate plan for the urban renewal area, which was eventually adopted by the City. The CSC formed a Mutual Housing Association in 1991 in response to the sale of city-owned tenements to purchase, renovate, and manage these units to ensure their affordability.