Bushwick canning collective needs $3.9 million to stay put
A collective of canners — those who fish out glass and metal from garbage cans and recycling bins — have been asked by their landlord to purchase the Bushwick property upon which they operate if they want to stay in place. Even though the L train tracks run directly below, forestalling most high-rise construction, the asking price is still a steep $3.9 million, leaving the group’s fate unclear.
“Our landlord is good to us, but I struggle just to pay the $4,100 in rent,” says Ana Martinez de Luco, who runs the Sure We Can collective, the only licensed non-profit entity of its kind in New York City. The company was created seven years ago as a 501(c)(3) by Eugene Gadsden, a former canner turned community activist, and De Luco, a Roman Catholic nun, along with the help of some philanthropic residents and UN contacts.
Operating at its Bushwick location for the last three and a half years, it provides guaranteed fixed payouts for the cans brought on site, along with additional amounts for those who sort and stack their inventory.
“This is the last thing you do for a living, when you can’t find anything else,” De Luco said.