In this fourth and final episode of the Cities After…Office Spaces as Home mini-series, Prof. Robles-Durán talks to Cea Weaver, a prominent housing organizer in New York City who coordinates Housing Justice for All. In 2019, Weaver coordinated a statewide coalition to pass what many consider the most progressive housing laws in recent decades. She is currently working with the City Planning Commission to figure out what to do with vacant office towers and how to facilitate their conversion into affordable housing. Robles-Durán and Weaver speak about Housing Justice for All and what they’re working to achieve, New York’s importance in the history of rent control and tenant organizing, the homelessness crisis, and some of the specific policies and programs Cea is working on implementing.

About our guest: Cea Weaver is a housing organizer, community advocate, and urban planner in New York City. She currently coordinates Housing Justice for All, a New York statewide coalition of over 100 organizations that represent tenants and homeless New Yorkers in Albany, the State’s capital. In 2019, Cea coordinated the 2019 campaign to strengthen and expand tenants' rights across the state and, in 2020, worked to win an eviction moratorium during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has worked in affordable housing policy and planning in NYC for over a decade. In 2021, Cea Weaver became Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams’ first nomination to the City Planning Commission (CPC). In 2022, she was appointed by Williams to the NYC Adaptive Reuse Task Force, charged to convert obsolete office buildings to other potential uses, such as housing, schools, labs, and more. The Task Force includes 12 experts appointed by the Mayor, City Council Speaker, and Public Advocate.