A Saturday morning rally organized by East End YIMBY, for Yes in My Back Yard, brought out about 100 people, who gathered by the Long Wharf windmill in Sag Harbor in a show of support for the group’s ongoing campaign for affordable housing in the village.
Michael Daly and Bryony Freij, Sag Harbor residents who are at the helm of East End YIMBY, reinforced their message to supporters: “We cannot afford to lose the people who cannot afford to live here.”
The speakers included Mayor James Larocca, Bonnie Cannon, the executive director of the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center, who is also chairwoman of the Southampton Housing Authority, the authority’s executive director, Curtis Highsmith, and Minerva Perez, the director of Organizacion Latino-Americana of Eastern Long Island.
In between speakers, Ms. Freij led supporters in rallying chants, including, “I will stay and I will fight! Housing is a human right!”
Many children were present, treated to hot chocolate and activities like creating signs.
One woman at the rally, Dana Hilbert, explained that her two young sons had made cardboard signs to hang on the wharf’s railings, noting the family’s roots in Sag Harbor and their current housing situation.
“Yes, my great-grandfather was the chief of police in Sag Harbor,” Ms. Hilbert said, pointing to the signs. “And today, I’m in the process of being evicted because both my landlords died and their children want to sell the property. I have two small kids, and I can’t find affordable housing. What am I supposed to do?”
The YIMBY movement hopes to continue to draw attention to the fact that the housing crisis reverberating across the South Fork, where rental and sale prices are soaring, means that local people cannot find a place to live within their means. The result is that low to medium-income professionals like health care workers and teachers, along with firefighters, tradespeople, farmers, and fishermen, are being pushed out of the community.
Mr. Daly urged local officials to “find compassion for everyone in the community.”
