Honk if You're Not Down With Walmart
The group Walmart Free NYC released a study that, according to the Daily News, says Walmart’s designs on East New York would result in a gridlock nightmare. The article notes: “The report predicted that if the planned Gateway II shopping center included a Walmart, it would draw 10,692 more cars every weekday than the mall’s…
The group Walmart Free NYC released a study that, according to the Daily News, says Walmart’s designs on East New York would result in a gridlock nightmare. The article notes: “The report predicted that if the planned Gateway II shopping center included a Walmart, it would draw 10,692 more cars every weekday than the mall’s developers predicted in their environmental study. That’s a 32% jump in traffic, they said….All the new vehicles would slow traffic by 29% on the already congested Shore Parkway, the study found.” No word on whether the group is conducting a similar study about how a ShopRite might affect the area. Meanwhile, Gateway II developer the Related Companies tells the newspaper that the study is poppycock. In other Walmart-is-coming news, an article in Crain’s brings word of the following: “Walmart has reached a deal in principle with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York that guarantees union workers will construct or renovate any stores that the retailer opens in the city during the next five years. The deal is a coup for Wal-mart Stores Inc., which faces stiff opposition from grocery and retail unions worried that the retailer’s entry into the New York City market will put downward pressure on the salaries of their members.”
Brooklyn Walmart Foes Say Plan is Traffic Jam in the Making [Daily News]
Walmart Inks Construction Union Deal [Crain’s]
Photo by jerdlngr
spot on BHS
*rob*
WalMart has become the Sarah Palin of the big box stores. Any mention of its name inevitably leads to foaming-at-the-mouth hate discussions.
Brooklyn already has the GatewayI mall, which consists of about five big box stores, and it is highly successful and popular with the surrounding community. It is so successful that the GatewayII mall is in the works, no doubt with 4-5 more big box stores. Many of these big-box stores do all they can to emulate WalMart’s business model.
Question to the WalMart-haters: WHY do you become so irrational at the discussion of this one particular store, to the point of producing a “traffic study” that claims to measure the increase from ONE STORE in a sea of big-boxes?
I think the anti Wal-Mart fight in NYC has a lot to do with class-ism and snobbery as well as unions.
Stores that are non-union but have a solid middle to upper-middle class suburban reputation are welcomed, while Wal-Mart with it’s lower to lower-middle class rural reputation is shunned.
NYGuy7, why are you not out there protesting every other business in the city that has crappy or no benefits?
When a new Target opens, the NY Times runs articles on how cool they are and no one protests, even though they offer the same or worse pay and benefits than walmart.
“yeah – how many of these anti-walmart peeps actually LIVE in East New York? ”
Same question for the pro-walmart people.
I don’t really care if they open one there or not.
But then again, I also don’t have some unhinged extreme hatred for people who are in unions.
The Walmart issue is just one front in a larger war between free market economic realities and the union mentality in New York.
Even the Democratic Governor is stating this. The Teacher’s unions, the Healthcare unions, the State Worker’s unions and City Worker’s unions will all have to give some. JUST LIKE THE PRIVATE SECTOR HAS.
Expect to see more battles on television, newspapers and radio with ads and “studies” showing how bad things will be if free market economic fixes are employed in New York.
Unions have a place in society, but they’ve overplayed their hand in New York and we are the highest taxed state with the worst business climate in the USA.
With the unemployment rate this high, I don’t see why people are even considering turning away the world’s largest retailer.
Ever notice how the worst predictions by the so-called experts never come to pass? “If you allow that business to open or building to be built, the resulting X and Y will tear apart all that we love now.”
And it NEVER happens.
People love to complain but they should just be silenced!
IMBY, why is it selling out? And yes, why not pump them for school improvement funds…I’ve got no problem with that.
Oh god… I just found myself agreeing with fsrq! AACK! And I’m a union member! I think I’m going to hell.