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Fed up with the high rent? Go join this protest of a huge real estate summit next week

No, thank you. via Flickr user Bonnie Natko
No, thank you. via Flickr user Bonnie Natko

Unbeknownst to you, moments after you threw off your coat in your new apartment and sank into the couch thinking, “This is the last time I’ll ever have to move,” Brooklyn’s luxury realtors were already planning their revenge. You thought no one could possibly hike the rent on your 5th floor walkup, a 20-minute from the nearest G train stop? Think again.

The very terrible executives-only brand RealInsight is hosting their 6th annual Brooklyn Real Estate Summit on November 17 at the Brooklyn Museum, where the elite retail, condo and multifamily brokers will gather to eat the bones of children discuss ways in which they can further capitalize on the booming market.

Now if, like us, you don’t want to keep seeing folks get priced out of their homes, and you’ve got a vested interested in not being priced out of one yourself, then check out Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN)’s rebuttal: they’re picketing the event on November 17. And you can, too! Here are ways to get involved. 

First, get on their list-serv. It’s by request only, but all you’ve got to do is write a note to the owner explaining why you actually care, which shouldn’t be hard. The group will keep you updates on the details of the event as the date draws near. If you’ve got some admin chops and you’d like to help with the logistics and planning of the day, contact event organizer Imani at flatbushequality [at] gmail.com or info [at] BANgentrification.org.

The protest begins at a bright and early 7:30am and goes until 1pm, with a press conference slated for noon. The BAN has a list of demands on their Facebook event, and you can familiarize yourself with those as well, in case you want to put any on a picketing sign to bring to the protest.

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Let your angry flags fly.
Let your indignation flag fly.

And if you can’t make the protest but you still want to help the cause, throw the BAN a few bucks on their GoFundMe page, because they’ve got a lot to raise, and it’s still peanuts compared to the rent hikes those real estate profiteers will have in store if nobody stands in their way.

Don’t believe us? Here’s one of the planned activities listed on their website:

Learn how to create value in places like Crown heights, Williamsburg, Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, where it seems values are already maxed out.

Yuck. Well, at least we have something to distract us from another gentrification snafu known as Gawker’s Franklin Avenue podcast.

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