Dear friends,
A reminder that our next monthly meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 11th at 6:30pm.
Instead of a typical meeting, we will be going to Barnard College to walk through the
exhibition. Vanessa Thill, AAD member and co-organizer of this exhibition, will give us a tour.
Directions:
The exhibit is located at the Milstein Center at Barnard College. Take the 1 train to 116th St. Make a right after entering the Barnard gates at 117th and Broadway. The Milstein Center is directly across from the large white tent. For any access issues, contact Vanessa at 510-589-5459.
In the past few months, AAD members have been active on a number of fronts, including organizing with local communities to fight developer landgrabs in
and
. Members have been getting together to tour exhibitions about resistance and displacement around town (thank you Cindy!). Check out the recent AAD-produced episodes of
on our
(Thank you Alessandra!) and make sure you follow us on social media to get the latest information.
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Our monthly meeting is the second Tuesday of every month. All are welcome!
Call on Candidates Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin: End Violence Against Women! End 24-hour Workday!
Join home care workers and other workers at the NYS Department of Labor to demand that candidates for Governor of NYS, Kathy Hochul and Lee Zeldin pledge to end the violence. For years, home care workers in New York City have been suffering, being forced into 24-hour workdays that have been destroying their physical and mental health. They are dedicated to providing care for patients with acute conditions, such as those who are bed-bound and suffer from severe dementia. To add insult to injury, they are only paid for 13 hours of each 24 hour day. When workers file complaints at the Department of Labor, it has failed to recover wages for workers, helping the abuses continue.
Join home care workers who ask Hochul and Zeldin: do you commit to ending this violence against women of color? Will you enforce the laws meant to protect workers and those who require care?
Wednesday, October 12th, at 10:30amOutside the Department of Labor, 199 Church St, Manhattan, New York
Penn Station Redevelopment: an Overview
The proposed Penn Station redevelopment was in the news a lot this summer but many are still confused about what is being proposed. We've compiled a series of quotes and links from groups / articles critical of the Penn Station redevelopment to help shed some light on this controversial proposal:
From Penn for All:
New York State and Governor Hochul plan to demolish the neighborhood around Penn Station and replace it with ten glass skyscrapers owned by the mega-real estate firm, Vornado Realty Trust. Vornado is already calling the area its “campus”. The plan:
Builds ten new glass skyscrapers as gentrified, “class A” office space
Evicts more than 2,300 residents – including rent stabilized tenants, seniors, condo and co-op owners – and demolishes their homes
Kills off 10,000 small business jobs by demolishing over 1,300 places of business — offices and storefronts.
Demolishes over 40 stunning buildings that are important to New York City’s cultural and architectural history.
Casts shadows that reach all the way to New Jersey
Violates our city’s zoning rules and bypasses approvals from City politicians
Leaves Penn Station underground with lipstick-on-the-pig improvements to the current rats nest.
Funnels riches and opportunity to Vornado … who is already plenty rich
Would cost well over $10 billion.
From Op-ed in the New York Daily News by State Senators Liz Krueger and Brad Hoylman :Here’s the deal: A developer is willing to pay for the cost of a new train station in return for rights to build new office space. Sounds good, right? Yes, except we don’t know how much the train station costs, how much money the developer is paying, how much money the developer is making, or how big the development is going to be.
Plus, who’s the backstop for such an ambitious proposal if it doesn’t work out? You, the taxpayer.
From Reinvent Albany:
Report Raises Basic Question:
Does it make sense for New York to partially pay for a train station by giving a real estate developer more than a billion dollars to build on some of the most valuable land in the world?
Reinvent Albany published a detailed analysis of New York State’s secretive plan to pay for upgrades to Penn Station by diverting New York City property taxes from the future development of nearby land by Vornado Realty Trust. These payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) – which state sources say will be set at the same reduced rate as nearby Hudson Yard – will result in Vornado getting a tax break worth roughly $1.2 billion.
From Rethink Penn Station:The plan to demolish the Penn Station neighborhood promoted by Governor Kathy Hochul and the Empire State Development Corporation (ESD), is backward and deeply flawed. Not only does it destroy blocks of a unique New York neighborhood, Penn Station itself would remain buried beneath Madison Square Garden.The Hochul/ESD plan is “lipstick on a pig,” as Penn Station’s essential transit operation would remain unchanged subjecting tens of thousands to crowded and dangerous conditions. With the Hochul/ESD plan, thousands of apartment dwellers and small business owners would be displaced. Historic buildings, many of them irreplaceable (including the fabled Hotel Pennsylvania), would be demolished.New York City deserves a great train station with modern transit operations—we have that plan, and our plan does NOT call for the wholesale destruction of a neighborhood. It does not displace thousands, and it does not demolish our architectural heritage.We see the Hochul/ESD plan for what it is. A cynical land grab in exchange for political contributions. It is corrupt, and places the wants of billionaires over the needs of the public good. It is a vulgar development strategy without regard for public benefit and we wholeheartedly oppose it.More links to opinion pieces and press can be found here.