be permitted in Lincoln Park until people of color were included on the Urban Renewal Board. On July 27, 1969, the chapter office in New York City mounted a "Garbage Offensive" to commemorate the 1968 Sanitation Strike and to protest the substandard garbage collection service in East Harlem. The event also promoted the opening of the Young Lords' New York City office. The offensives targeted local city services and were aligned with the National Headquarters mission to develop neighborhood empowerment. In Chicago, the Young Lords occupied local institutions in the Lincoln Park neighborhood to support low-income housing for working families. The New York members had first read about the Chicago Young Lords in an issue of the Black Panther newspaper. It reported actions for Puerto Rican and Latino self-determination and publicized the increasing repression of Jose "Cha Cha" Jimenez and the Chicago National Headquarters. The New York office followed the actions of the People's Church in Chicago and took over the First Spanish United Methodist Church in East Harlem. Over 100 members were arrested in the two-week takeover. National Headquarters members encouraged the New York members not to resist arrests, in order to avoid bloodshed. The New York occupation of First Spanish United Methodist Church in East Harlem took place on December 28, 1969, after several similar actions in Chicago: the sit-in at Grant Hospital, the take-over of People's Park, the occupation of McCormick Seminary, and the occupation of Chicago's People's Church (Armitage Avenue United Methodist Church). In several cities, the Young Lords set up free community programs, such as breakfast and classes. United Methodist Pastor Rev. Bruce Johnson, of the North Side Cooperative Ministry, worked to obtain funds to support the Young Lords programs. Rev. Sergio Herrera, a Cuban assistant pastor of the Young Lords People's Church in Chicago, did not initially agree with their occupation of the church, nor of their murals of Che Guevara and Pedro Albizu Campos. Later he participated in all the neighborhood events. Occupying the Armitage Avenue United Methodist Church in May 1969, the Young Lords set up programs inside what they called the People's Church. The building remained a church but also served as the Young Lords National Headquarters for nearly two years. UMC Bishop Pryor was pressured to oust the two UMC ministers and the Young Lords from the People's Church by Alderman George Barr McCutcheon and members of the Lincoln Park