A group of Bushwick activists announced its “reclaiming” of a vacant ground-floor commercial space at 1083 Broadway on July 20, along with publishing a press release obtained by Bushwick Daily demanding that the building owners, “turn over usage of the space to those . . . who have cared for their property and each other for the past year.”

According to the release, which is included in full at the bottom of this article, a group called The Gym was operating out of the space with permission from the leaseholder. The organization used the space to assemble and send out protest kits, Caitlin Baucom told Bushwick Daily. Baucom is a tenant of the residential portion of the Building and one of the organizers involved in the current occupation. In August 2020, after several months of using the commercial space as a protestor resource hub, the group was forced by the building owner to vacate. Since their removal, the space has remained unused and vacant according to the press release.

After being removed from the space, the press release states the organizers “continued daily operations on the sidewalk, storing supplies in the upstairs tenants’ hall and distributing hot meals, PPE, hygiene kits, diapers, clothing, legal, medical, housing, and cash assistance to and with our neighbors.”