Ganas

Ganas is an intentional community, or housing and resources co-operative in New Brighton, Staten Island.

History

The co-operative was founded in 1979, by the Foundation for Feedback Learning, which was founded in 1978. "Ganas" is a Spanish word meaning "motivation sufficient to act", "desire" or "will-power". The community consists of a small core group of a dozen partners who share ownership of eight houses and four commercial buildings, which house retail stores, under the name "Everything Goes". They focus on reuse and recycling and other aspects of simple living. They have a used furniture store, a gallery, a used clothing store, and an Internet "book cafe" selling used books, media and organic espresso. They have an ever-changing international population of 80 to 90 people who live in the houses and cover expenses by either paying, or working in the stores for expense coverage.

Shooting

In May of 2006, co-founder Jeff Gross was allegedly shot by a former resident, Rebekah Johnson. It was alleged that Johnson had been stalking Gross for several years. Johnson lived at Ganas between 1986 and 1989 and again from 1994 to 1996, but was asked to leave the community each time because of her disruptive behavior. Gross suffered multiple gunshot wounds and recovered. Johnson was apprehended by federal authorities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 18, 2007, charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault and attempted grand larceny, and after a trial was acquitted following less than five hours of deliberation by a jury on August 4, 2008.