Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shared a photo of a decrepit bathroom inside one of New York City's public housing apartments on Twitter Friday as an example of what progressives are aiming to fix with their $3.5 trillion spending package.
'These are our conditions in NYCHA. No winter heat, black mold, kids poisoned by lead,' Ocasio-Cortez writes.
'Politics-as-usual makes communities like mine politically disposable. “We can do it later” does nothing for them. They deserve details & answers.'
The hefty measure, key to President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda, now faces an uncertain future after hitting opposition from moderate Democrats in Congress, particularly Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
They and moderate House Democrats think the progressive wish list, which would establish universal pre-K, expand healthcare and a host of other social benefits, costs too much.
But on Friday, as the president raced to Capitol Hill to try and get a deal done, Ocasio-Cortez claimed it's about more than money.
'It’s not about the number, it’s about impact,' she wrote on Twitter.
Underneath her message was a photo of a bathroom inside a Queensbridge Houses apartment in the NYC neighborhood of Long Island City.
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted a photo of an NYC housing project in a state of extreme decay as a message to her colleagues to pass the $3.5 trillion Democrat-backed bill
The Queensbridge Houses development is a subsidized housing project under the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the largest housing project in North America.
The photo shows a bathroom in a desolate state of disrepair, with exposed concrete and broken tiling, with debris filling the tub and the remnants of a sink hanging off the wall.
The Queensbridge complex isn't in her district, but rather the neighboring district of Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).
She credited the photo to an August story in the Astoria Post about 11 residents of the housing development suing NYCHA over hazardous living conditions including the presence of asbestos and lead paint inside apartments.
Other images in the original report show the horrifying conditions poor Americans are living in, including insect infestations and unsafe and improper pipe installations.
She invoked NYCHA earlier today when speaking to reporters amid intense inter-party negotiations over Biden's two infrastructure bills.
A vote on a smaller, bipartisan $1.2 trillion compromise was scheduled for Thursday but delayed after the 93-member Progressive Caucus threatened to tank the bill if the $3.5 trillion measure doesn't come to a vote first.
President Joe Biden came to Capitol Hill today and briefly spoke to Democratic lawmakers about the ongoing battle to pass his Build Back Better agenda
He was greeted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who accompanied him to the meeting alongside other House Democratic leadership
The larger bill, which includes sweeping social and environmental reforms like free college and an electric vehicles subsidy, has no Republican support and can only pass Congress with the support of nearly every Democrat across both houses.
Ocasio-Cortez has been one of the most vocal lawmakers threatening to tank the compromise bill.
She shook her head when asked if just approving a fiscal framework to Biden's hefty legislation would be enough for her to vote for the bipartisan compromise.
'We need a vote,' she said. 'We need to be real: Are we going to deliver universal pre-K to this country or not? Are we
