Michael Che Grew Up in New York City’s Projects. Now He’s Trying to Help Them.

I liked Che a lot, but his defense of Kevin Hart has left a bad taste in my mouth. Just saw Hart on TV this morning, and he was unrepentant and unapologetic for his long history of bigoted jokes.

Dear Mr. Che: I love you and love this idea. Know who else grew up in the projects? Howard Schultz, CEO emeritus of Starbucks. Ring him up and get some more input, and assistance. He's an alum of the Canarsie Bayview Houses. I'm sure he'd be willing to get involved. He should. And mazel tov. What a great idea this is -- thank you for jumping on it.

I liked Che a lot, but his defense of Kevin Hart left a bad taste in my mouth.

Bravo for Michael. (I'm a big fan of his.) However, it's outrageous that a single individual should have to fork over money so that public housing residents can have decent accommodations. It's the government's job to keep the housing up to par. It's because of the current meanspiritedness of the US that sufficient funds aren't allocated to do so.

Doing the right thing. Best of luck to you.

I watched the Golden Globes the other night...for about 20 minutes. The uber rich and famous Hollywood types were all there, chewing their salad greens, cracking each other up, anxiously waiting for the trophy for their work. Now, if all the rich overpaid, line memorizers got together with people like Che they might be able to make a big huge dent in public housing...instead of a movie about it. The money is in the bank...in their banks. Now it needs to be put to work...for the common good.

Well done, Mr Che. Well done.

I don't know many entertainers that grew up in a disadvantaged environment and reach back to help those in the same circumstances, so kudos to Mr. Che and friends. I worked in the projects he grew up in (Al Smith) for a utility around the time he was a small child, and the complex was thoroughly shot back then and the rest of them in the neighborhood. NYCHA couldn't keep up with the maintenance needs of complexes that were ageing some, and all the repairs done were reactive and largely only partial. The tenants didn't have political visibility so the workers at most of the projects never had adequate resources to service the place and do a good job to make the places habitable. After a while, like the tenants, even the well meaning workers lowered their expectations that things were going to improve. The Housing Authority also had to contend with a small number of disruptive tenants who acted out and didn't care about their fellow tenants. One apartment in the Vlladek Houses had a backyard type swimming pool and lawn furniture instead of furniture in the living room, others vandalized the elevators. Outside of the bad apples, the vast majority of the tenants are elderly/disabled people,single mothers with children or working poor and any effort via the potent club humor brings to bear and draw attention to the conditions our fellow citizens live under, might embarrass government enough to take action. Hopefully Michael Che reaching back is the start of something good.

Kudos to Michael Che. We need to think, though. If it all got fixed in a New York minute, what happens after that? The buildings should be resident-owned. People need jobs. People need training. People can do work. Need doorknobs? Is there some way to harness the internet to find a building being torn down, one with salvageable doorknobs? The concept of The Projects failed before it got out of committee. Involve the people who live there. Rehab and maintenance and landscaping and lighting and plumbing— should be done by the people. Donations and apprenticeships and fundraising and barter—-now we're thinking. City can’t afford it? Demand that City offices have leased office space in the buildings. Take the money used to pay rent to fatcat Tax cheat corporations, use that money to transition the buildings to become resident owned. And, stop calling them The Projects. Call them The Work Shares Buildings. Work shares equal ownership. A 16 year old wants work, why pay transportation to a job when s/he can work one building over, developing a trade, earning a salary and earning homeowner work credits. We got the internet. What we need is out there.

I applaud Mr. Che for helping to shape a positive narrative around public housing, which in my view, is needed more than ever in the face of lack of affordable housing today. President Ronald Reagan cut funding for public housing nationally in 1985/1986, and the present head of HUD, Ben Carson has accelerated the cuts in funding for NYCHA. With a massive shortfall in funding, sadly maintenance suffers. I was raised in public housing in the Bronx (Justice Sonia Sotomayor Houses, formerly Bronxdale), and lived there from the early 50s, and left in the mid 70s. The "projects" in the 50s did not have the connotations they acquired later, especially in the 70s and beyond. I recall the sense of community there early in my childhood, but also experienced the gradual deterioration later, as drugs became a major problem. A point to be made: I was raised in public housing, but I lead a productive life in society, as have many fine working folks who live in public housing. The public perception of residents in public housing needs to change. I recommend these books to read: Public Housing Myths, by Nicholas Dagen Bloom, Lawrence Vale Public Housing that Worked, by Nicholas Dagen Bloom Affordable Housing in New York City, by Bloom, Lasner

Jeff Besos, the richest man in the world, could hand over the $32 Billion to fix affordable housing in NYC in a heartbeat with only a blip in his bottom line. Instead, he spends his time increasing his bottom line by expanding Amazon and putting small businesses out of business. I wonder if it ever occurs to him that there is another way?

This is such a great idea. I lived for a few years as a young single mother in Boston's public housing, with all those same problems, and they do just wear you down. I hope people get at least as excited about contributing to this as they did to "the wall."

Mr. Che should be rightfully lauded for "giving back". I personally appreciate his unvarnished assessment of where public housing is (broadly applicable beyond NYC) without sugar coating some of the behaviors of human nature that allow the need to persist.

"I think there is something to knowing that someone from where you're from made it out...." There are as many decent, talented kids where Mr. Che comes from as there are in any tony place in Manhattan--maybe even more. That is something we should all wrap our minds around...

My wife and I sometimes don't make it all the way to the end of SNL. However, we always stay tuned until "Weekend Update" is over.

I think Che is thee comedic voice on race! His jokes are often swallowed on delivery which makes me pay even more attention. I loved his routine on what "rights" other groups want whereas African Americans would settle for "civil rights!" For the first time in decades, during the Giuliani Administration, NYC received substantial funding from the federal government under Clinton/Gore, and yet what did he do with the $? He also took $450 million from the MTA...those projects were a social failure - too big, too neglected. Kiddos to Che - keep up the great work you do. We are listening. Signed Old White Lady.

Star? There are no stars on SNL anymore. Additionally, I recall when SNL provided comic relief. Many, many moons ago....

Dear Mr Che Your descion is what I'am always waiting to hear from people who have grow up in the projects and decided to give back. I live near Queensbridge Housing in Long Island City, and has had some successful rappers and have not heard of any giving back, I hope that your descion will encourage more people like your self to help those in need and encourage young people to listen to you. Thank you very much Barbara

None of y'all lived in the projects. Anyone who lived in The Projects knows ain't no heat like Project heat.

I hope Mr. Che continues using humor on SNL to highlight the state of public housing not only for NYC but for the whole country. NYCHA does not have a monopoly on substandard public housing. Maybe the public will laugh themselves into being concerned enough to be willing to demand elected offices to address the problems. Competent leadership must be demanded. Since I will miss his show, I hope he periodically scheduled other shows to benefit the non-profit.

How many can say that they moved from Park Slope 'proper' (Flatbush Av to 4th Street, above 5th Av to PPW) to the Glenwood Project (or any other Nycha 'compound')? I survived that 'exile' at the age of 14, in 1963 (and for 6 long years thereafter) -- and, despite the uproot and resulting ignominy, I somehow managed to 'maintain' the love I had for my Dad. (N.B.: In 1963, Park Slope -- and 751 President St. in particular -- did not require great wealth and at least one post-graduate degree [that's "degree," not "diploma"] of its residents [or, I should 'say,' of those 'beneath' 8th Av]. And Glenwood was a middle-income project [in which case, I hate to think what less-than-middle income was or wrought] that was 'chock-full' of "white" people like me [but for the circumstance that 'everyone' else was Jewish] -- and, thus [???] never lacked for heat, working elevators or any such thing or service that tenants of even a 'first class,' 'privately held' rental building might reasonably expect.

It's admirable - anyone who has notoriety that is willing to raise funds for charitable causes should be thanked. Thank you Mr. Che. NYCHA has abandoned its mission of providing clean, livable housing to its residents. The de Blasio administration has neglected to install competent leadership to manage the vast infrastructure. It should be managed by HUD - the city has shown it's not capable of meeting the minimum housing requirements.

Somebody help me. The article says that Mr. Che grew up in a housing project on Allen Street yet the title states that he grew up in New York City's projects. Did he live in more than one project or did the Times fall victim to calling a project a projects? I'm confused.

It is nice that Michael Che is hosting a comedy fundraising event, but why not get EVERYONE FAMOUS you can involved and tell everyone so tons of people show up and help raise money? You can have nice 'only people who care about this' over for dinner if you like. These people need monetary help!

The public has so limited information on public housing that we fill in the blanks with ignorance. It is irresponsible for public housing to be equated with disrepair an despair, but it seems to be the universal theme of many countries. If one in fourteen New Yorkers live in public housing and many others are on the waiting list, it is not a luxury it is a need and part of the fabric of the city. I wonder how many politicians rely on the votes of such citizens to keep their jobs, then abandon them after the election with rhetoric.

I'd recommend the book "High-Risers" which is about the Chicago public housing, and explains in detail how and why they deteriorated (mostly NOT the fault of the residents themselves). Public housing used to be reserved for white people, which I didn't know. Public housing has a weakness in how it's funded. In a good year, funds are allocated to build them, but then budget cuts means no maintenance. We saw this in Britain, too, in that tragic fire. Government took no responsibility.

Fix public housing - great idea. The question is how to incentivize residents to take pride in and help take care of their own environment once work is done. $32 billion for 400,000 residents is $80,000/resident and an incredible amount of money per apartment. Any money raised needs to be spent wisely to keep continued support for doing so going forward. Mr. Che seems like a good man whose heart is in the right place.

Bravo Michael Che. Paying it forward is an elevated act of human kindness and caring. Thank you