The NY Young Lords and The Garbage Offensive of 1969

1. (Optional First Stop): The Introduction of the Young Lords at Tompkins Square Park

Note: Tompkins Square Park is located a few miles from the rest of the remaining stops on this tour. If opting to not physically visit Tompkins Square Park, the text for this stop can serve as an introduction.Here at Tompkins Square Park, on July 26, 1969, the Young Lords announced their formation, harnessing the public setting and ongoing neighborhood commemorations for the Cuban Revolution to raise their profile. The New York Young Lords were an organization composed primarily of Puerto Rican students and youth activists, who rallied around issues of Puerto Rican freedom, social reforms, and protesting Black oppression in America. During this first foray into the public spotlight, Felipe Luciano capped off their unveiling with an attention-grabbing speech and poem from the park stage (no longer in existence). As one of the organizers of the movement with a reputation as a persuasive speaker, Luciano announced the organization’s goals and sought to inspire other young Puerto Ricans to join in the movement. Dressed in berets and fatigues, with a flag depicting a rifle superimposed over the Puerto Rican flag, the Young Lords made entirely clear their dedication to the cause.After the organization’s initial introduction to the public, the Young Lords did not rest on their laurels. As we will see at later stops (#2-4), they immediately set in motion their first action for reform the very next day, Sunday, July 30, in what is known as “The Garbage Offensive." But that would not be the only action the Young Lords would take in the community.

2. Stop 1: New York Young Lords HQ at 1678 Madison Ave, New York City

After its official formation at Tompkins Square Park, the Young Lords opened its first headquarters at 1678 Madison Avenue. Here, with the Vietnam War raging and a government deeply suspicious of leftist movements, the group began to enact social programs to help their community. From March to May 1970, the Young Lords conducted door-to-door tuberculosis testing in the Bronx and El Barrio. At the time, the Tuberculosis Association was providing testing throughout the city from noon to 6 p.m. every other day. These testing times excluded poorer communities, particularly those who often were at work. When the activists requested a truck for their neighborhoods, they were denied. The Young Lords responded by actively taking over the Tuberculosis Association’s X-ray truck and making sure their neighborhoods were given access. Over 900 people were tested, and a third of those were positive; their rates were double that of the rest of the city. These tactics, although forceful, effectively garnered attention and support for El Barrio.

3. Stop 2: Young Lords Members Hit the Streets - Mural at 215 E 99th St

Here, superimposed on the east side wall of PS 109, is a mural of Young Lords resident photographer Hiram Maristany’s “March to Free the Panther 21.” The iconic photo features a woman holding the Puerto Rican flag as she raises her fist in solidarity during a march to free the group of 21 Black Panthers (known as the Panther 21) who were charged with conspiracy to commit a series of bombings in New York. The exhibit seen here is part of the public arts project “Mapping Resistance: The Young Lords in El Barrio” and was installed on the side of an abandoned school that was transformed into an affordable housing complex for local artists to live and work. The five-story building, which was completed in 1898, houses 90 units of affordable live/work housing for artists and their families. Affordable housing was one of several key issues taken up by the New York Young Lords Party during the height of its activism.During its organizational phase, the Young Lords Party quickly realized that members would need to connect with neighborhood residents in order to garner any sort of support. To learn more about the people living in El Barrio, Young Lord members conducted door-to-door and street conversations where they discovered the most pressing neighborhood problem: the unrelenting trash. In an interview for a 1995 PBS film on the Young Lords, founding leader Luciano explained how they learned about the community’s most urgent need: “So we’re on 110th Street and we actually asked the people, ‘What do you think you need? What do you need? Is it housing? Is it police brutality?’ And they said, ‘Muchacho, déjate de todo eso––LA BASURA!” [Listen kid, fuggedaboutit! It’s THE GARBAGE!].” What followed was the organization’s first major activism campaign that would not only garner it widespread support from residents but would put it in the crosshairs of the local government.

4. Stop 3: The Garbage Offensive Begins – 3rd Avenue at East 110th Street

At the intersection of 3rd Avenue and East 110th Street, the Young Lords launched what they called the “Garbage Offensive” on Sunday, July 27, 1969, just one day after their initial rally at Tompkins Square Park. With the Sanitation Department still unresponsive, the Young Lords escalated the issue that Sunday by dragging the accumulated trash into the middle of the intersection of 110th and 3rd Avenue. As activist and photographer Hiram Maristany later recalled, “We were using the instrument of our protest, which was garbage, to protest even more.” If the city would not acknowledge the problem, then the Young Lords would force them to see it by blocking traffic at various intersections in El Barrio, using the very source of residents’ complaints to do it. 3rd Avenue at 110th street is noteworthy as the beginning of the Garbage Offensive, with similar actions blocking roads spreading throughout the neighborhood over the ensuing weeks. But this specific location was also the scene where the campaign dramatically escalated one step higher. A few weeks later, on August 17, when the Sanitation Department failed to respond after weeks of civil disobedience, someone set fire to the mound of trash here, on 3rd Avenue. Abandoned cars were dragged into the street to further jam the roads. At times, traffic was at a standstill for blocks along major roads such as Madison and Lexington Avenue. Fires were similarly set at different intersections in the neighborhood on August 17, and in the following days as well. It is uncertain who first set the fire, as over time many residents had taken the initiative to contribute on their own. But in effect, the act not only blocked the intersection but now also prevented any commuters from removing it themselves. The city government had few options but to face the issue, which was edging closer to a full-blown riot.

5. Stop 4: The Garbage Offensive Spreads in El Barrio – 3rd Avenue and East 111th Street

The Garbage Offensive was not one single location or date. Throughout the ensuing weeks, similar demonstrations were held at a variety of intersections, including here at 3rd Avenue and 111th street. Throughout August, the Young Lords also blocked intersections further along 3rd Ave at 115th and 118th, as well as on numerous parallel thoroughfares including Park, Lexington, and First Avenues. Looking up and down 3rd Avenue today (or any of the parallel avenues), one can appreciate the nearly endless possibilities available to the Young Lords during the Garbage Offensive. Whenever law enforcement arrived or a roadblock was cleared, protestors simply shifted a few streets away and blocked yet another intersection – there was no shortage of roads nor garbage to do so. Activist Hiram Maristany later recalled, “[The city] realized we could keep doing this and they would never catch up to us.” After weeks of demonstrations here and throughout the neighborhood, and with growing support from residents in El Barrio, the city finally acknowledged the problem. City officials agreed to make significant changes to sanitation and garbage collection in the neighborhood.

6. Stop 5: First Spanish United Methodist Church, 163 E 111th St

In December 1969, the winter after the Garbage Offensive, the Young Lords requested to use the First Spanish United Methodist Church to provide a free breakfast program for the community. Unfortunately, the group’s request was denied, and the church’s minister called the police on the Young Lords. Thirteen Party members were assaulted as a result. A few weeks later, the Party overtook the church and renamed it the People’s Church. For 11 days, the Young Lords provided free breakfast, clothing, health services, daycare, education services, community dinners, poetry, and films for the community. The church minister, who was against the occupation, called law enforcement again, resulting in the arrest of 106 Young Lords members and supporters on January 8, 1970. Despite pressure from the local church leadership, high-ranking members of the Methodist Church leadership opted to drop all charges against the group.

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The NY Young Lords and The Garbage Offensive of 1969

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