Living Wage Fight At Kingsbridge Armory Moves to City Hall

At the final public hearing on the future of the Kingsbridge Armory on November 17, 2009, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. joined Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), and the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) in demanding the City Council vote "No" on the rezoning and sale of the Kingsbridge Armory until the developer, The Related Companies, has signed a fair and binding Community Benefits Agreement that includes living wage jobs, first source local hiring, protection of the right of retail workers to join a union without fear or intimidation, community and recreation space, and the exclusion of a supermarket or a big box grocery store.

New York City Council members on the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard a clear message from Diaz, Appelbaum and dozens of KARA supporters of living wage jobs at the Armory: It's time for the City Council to require living wage jobs in publicly subsidized development projects.

Most subcommittee members questioned the Deputy Mayor and Related's position that the requirement of living wage jobs would effectively kill the development because retailers would not agree to it. Bronx Council member Joel Rivera called Related's proposed mall an "economic exploitation project" not economic development and added, "I refuse to believe development will stop if living wages are mandated. Queens Council member Eric Gioia summed up his concerns saying, "City development is about jobs that will allow people to take care of their families. What I am hearing today is that the only way to develop a community is to keep the people poor. As a city, we need to be a leader. We need to do better.

A living wage in New York City is at least $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 an hour without benefits.

Council opposition to developing the Kingsbridge Armory if Related does not sign a Community Benefits Agreement with living wage jobs was evident at the hearing. This follows a recent vote by four members of the City Planning Commission (CPC) who took the unusual step of voting against the project and in favor Diaz and the community's call for a binding Community Benefits Agreement.

The City Council must now decide whether or not to approve the rezoning and sale of the Kingsbridge Armory to Related.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Kingsbridge Armory
• KARA
• RWDSU
• City Council

[pshinspections]

$10 an hour is slavery. It takes $60k a year to provide for a family, and people have been stupid enough to "take what they're giving" and accept HALF of the living these jobs used to pay. It is the people's fault. Why? Because you voted for these fools that approved the lower standard of living as the norm for America.

NOW THEN... If the people are to reclaim the LIVING WAGE, they have to revolt. Or, do nothing, just keep pissing in the wind, and nothing will change.

Your choice. GET MAD.

[pshinspections]

It is clear to me that politicians do not abide the will of the people and must be overthrown. It is too late for the vote.