New York Observer (Blog), By Azi Paybarah, April 12, 2011. Protesters looking to block Wal-Mart from opening their first store in New York City are now aiming at the developer who could play a role in the mega-store's arrival: Related Companies. Here's video of a musical protest conducted inside the Time Warner building, where Related is headquartered.
New York Daily News (Blog), By Adam Lisberg April 13, 2011. The battle over Walmart moved to the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development Wednesday as the agency considered selling a chunk of city land to developer Related Companies for the new mall the big box chain is eyeing for its first city store
Crain's New York Business, By Daniel Massey, April 13, 2011. Walmart opponents took their campaign to a mayoral hearing Wednesday, trying to delay the transfer of a city-owned parcel in Brooklyn to The Related Cos. The retailer has had talks with Related about building its first store in the city on the site in East New York, Brooklyn. The property already has City Council approval for retail use. News that the real estate giant would welcome Walmart has opened it up to protests from the retailer's opponents, who want Related to lease to a unionized company like ShopRite.
Huffington Post, By Matt Ryan April 13, 2011. Last Friday, NY Jobs with Justice / Urban Agenda, along with New York Communities for Change, the Retail Action Project, and other members of the Walmart-Free NYC Coalition staged a flash mob in Time Warner Center, headquarters of the Related Companies, the real estate developer currently in talks to lease Walmart space to build its first store in New York City.
Nearly a hundred singing and dancing New Yorkers converged on Related's lobby with brass band backing to let the mega-developer know we don't want it opening the floodgates for Walmart to take over our city.
WNYC, By Cindy Rodriguez, April 12, 2011. A public hearing on the purchase of city land in Brooklyn by a major real estate developer Wednesday drew dozens of opponents who feared that Wal-Mart will move into the East New York property.
Huffington Post, By Matt Ryan, March 30, 2011. One hundred years ago last Friday, 146 workers, mostly young immigrant girls, lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Trapped inside a sweatshop behind doors that had been locked to prevent theft and keep out union organizers, dozens of girls chose to throw themselves to their deaths nine stories below rather than be consumed by flames.
Traumatized by images of innocent bodies left strewn on city streets for days, New Yorkers rose to the occasion, initiating a wave of legal reforms and union organizing drives that laid the groundwork for the New Deal and the most exceptional gains that American workers have ever achieved.
Crains Insider, March 17, 2011. In an unusual, perhaps unprecedented occurrence, left-leaning New York Jobs with Justice sided with state Senate Republicans yesterday in rejecting the regional economic development councils proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "This could be a first," said a Jobs with Justice spokeswoman, "though we occasionally get a Republican who questions bottomless tax breaks." She said Cuomo hasn't provided enough details on the councils to demonstrate that they're "a coordinated, long-term strategy to create good jobs throughout the state." Senate opposition was not unexpected, given that the councils entail new spending largely outside of legislators' control.
This afternoon, members of the Getting Our Money’s Worth Coalition responded to State Senate Republicans refusal to fund Governor Cuomo’s proposed Regional Economic Development Councils:
Albany Times Union, By Rick Karlin, January 28, 2011. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday nominated a veteran business advocate as CEO and president of the Empire State Development Corp., New York's main economic development organization. And while unions have frequently been on the other side of business groups on several issues -- from the push for family leave to property tax caps -- representatives of labor groups generally had little criticism of Adams. One exception was Allison Duwe, executive director at the Coalition for Economic Justice, which has criticized business tax breaks and supports an expansion of workers rights. She said appointing an economic developer like Adams is "business as usual" at the Capitol.
This morning, members of the statewide Getting Our Money’s Worth coalition testified at a public hearing on Economic Development in the 2011-2012 Executive Budget.