In the News
The New Battle Against Gentrification
Friday August 24, 2007
To confront this, FIERCE had to figure out how to bring people who did not live in the area into land use decisions. While FIERCE youth do not own property or businesses in the West Village, the changes there have had a major impact on them. For instance, after the pier was redeveloped, the trust wanted to charge medical vans serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth $25,000 a year to be in the space. FIERCE successfully fought this proposal, and the medical vans continue to have access for free.
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A New Generation in the West Village
Friday May 18, 2007
For decades, this neighborhood has welcomed gays of all backgrounds. but now old-timers are finding young people from the hip-hop era too disruptive. The kids say this is the only place they can be themselves.
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Come-Ons Common, Lesbians Agree
Thursday April 26, 2007
FIERCE! convened a series of discussion groups of young women following the Buckle assault. They found that street harassment was so common that women expected it and did not complain about it. "They know that it's wrong, that they should speak about it, but ultimately who is going to listen?" Mananzala said.
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Still Searching for More Answers on Christopher Street
Wednesday November 01, 2006
Speaking for FIERCE! (Fabulous Independent Radicals for Community Empowerment), Rickke Mananzala said he was pleased that the city had resisted the demand by residents for an 11 p.m. park curfew. Mananzala also said he doubted that crime had increased on Christopher St. any more than in other parts of the Village, and he called for an eventual reduction of the police on the street “We're glad the proposal to push L.G.B.T. youth out of the West Village has been dropped,” Mananzala said.
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Building a Humane Model
Wednesday October 04, 2006
The Urban Justice Center works to provide legal services to homeless LGBT youth, and the Anti-Violence Center also provides critical advocacy when they are victims of crime and abuse. The LGBT Community Center's Youth Enrichment Services provides a wide variety of outreach, education, and mentoring programs, and FIERCE!, the Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment, works on the streets to protect LGBT youth from being displaced from the West Village.
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Christopher Street Compromise
More officers plus youth services ease West Village tensions
Monday August 21, 2006
Rickke Mananzala of FIERCE!, an LGBTQ youth of color organization which has actively lobbied on behalf of not limiting access to the pier, said he was happy to see city officials taking a more active role in finding a solution. "The more elected officials getting involved and active in this, the better," said Mananzala. "We are just really impressed by Christine Quinn and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s response to really recognizing this as a complicated issue that we should be working on for the quality of life of all people in the West Village, including LGBT youth as a part of that."
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Christopher Gets Cops and Outreach for Gay Youth
Wednesday August 09, 2006
Residents have long complained that the often-antisocial crowds have destroyed the quality of life in the neighborhood, while FIERCE, a group representing L.G.B.T. youth, has asserted their right to be on the pier and has called for social services, which the new program appears to be offering.
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C.B. 2 challenges pier kids to be on best behavior
Wednesday March 29, 2006
Rickke Mananzala, campaign coordinator of FIERCE!, said the gay youth won’t be dislodged from their beloved stomping ground, and that they want to work with the community to reach a solution. “I promise you, L.G.B.T. youth of color will always come to the Village because of its historic importance,” he said. “The pier is the solution, not the problem. The 4 a.m. [curfew] can work.” He said FIERCE! is ready and willing to take on the board’s challenge to reduce noise and rowdy behavior.
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Later curfew is the solution
Wednesday March 15, 2006
To The Editor:
Re “Coming home” (Scoopy’s notebook, Feb. 22): FIERCE has worked hard over the past six months to dispel hostility between L.G.B.T. youth and West Village residents. We want the Community Board 2 meetings to be a space for community dialogue, not confrontation. We are committed to identifying solutions that work for everyone and we trust that Community Board 2 is interested in identifying these kinds of solutions as well. We feel confident that the combination of our proposal and L.G.B.T. youth/resident partnership will be successful in addressing everyone’s needs.
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Gay and Loud
The new battle over queer kids' ruckus in Greenwich Village
Tuesday March 14, 2006
"It's a little uncomfortable now," says Angel Seda, 24, an outreach coordinator who first started hanging out at the pier in the late '90s. Back then, it was exclusively gay and still a dark, shabby, dangerous place. Now, there are park patrol officers who order the teens to move along. Now, there is the nightly closing time. "The pier has changed," Seda says. Seda and fellow FIERCE! activists have stepped up their campaign in recent months, urging hundreds of teens to stand up for their rights. They've drafted proposals to end the 1 a.m. curfew, sent postcards to park officials, circulated petitions among residents, lined up support from mainstream gay groups. They have, in short, gone strategic