Sparks Fly over Bailout for Downtown Development
At a public hearing on Thursday, debate arose over the plan to grant CityPoint, the stalled Downtown development, $20 million in tax-exempt stimulus bonds. The proposed development, on the Fulton Mall, would include retail and office space as well as mixed-income housing, and supporters of the project, including Borough President Marty Markowitz, say that it…
At a public hearing on Thursday, debate arose over the plan to grant CityPoint, the stalled Downtown development, $20 million in tax-exempt stimulus bonds. The proposed development, on the Fulton Mall, would include retail and office space as well as mixed-income housing, and supporters of the project, including Borough President Marty Markowitz, say that it will bring jobs to the area, boost the local economy, and promote further development in the area. Seth Pinsky, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation and chair of its Capital Resource Corporation, the group that will decide on the stimulus request on Tuesday, told The Brooklyn Paper that the bonds will cost $308,000 in tax revenues over 30 years, but the project will generate $340,000 in construction-related tax revenues, $5.7 million in tax revenue from ongoing operations, and the creation of 100 construction jobs and about 70 permanent retail jobs in the portion of the development built from stimulus dollars. Opponents say that the developers don’t deserve a bailout for a risk that bottomed out, and they question how much the project would actually benefit the neighborhood: the jobs created are of low quality; national retailers might displace local merchants; and the affordable housing will still be too expensive for some low-income families in the area. John Tyus, a member of Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, told the Paper, “Fundamentally, this project does nothing to benefit the Brooklyn community, and this is a straight-up Bloomberg bailout of developers who speculated and made poor financial decisions.” GMAP
Foes and Supports Clash over $20-mil Fed Bailout [Brooklyn Paper]
City Point Gets Financing Boost from The Feds [Brownstoner]
“Actually many retail jobs do provide Health Ins, and EVERY job teaches employees new skills and provides for advancement – especially when compared to unemployment.”
Sorry, fsrg, but that is crap, and the kind of statements those above use to justify screwing those down below. Yes, working at McD’s will teach you the skill of showing up on time, how to flip burgers, work the fryer, and mop the floor, but that hardly translates into getting any kind of job that involves more marketable skills that mean ever getting out of poverty. And standing bored behind the scarf counter at Daffy’s, or the checkout at Pathmark won’t do much for you either. These jobs are not disgraceful, and are necessary, but let’s not delude ourselves into thinking that those who have them are able to rise up from there without further schooling or training in more specialized skills. So no, if that’s all they (developers) got, it’s not enough.
lol @ rob not realizing he is a troll.
What might Rob say if he didn’t smoke?
I’m guessing something like “then dont smoke cigarettes if you cant afford them.”
rob – Yes, I’m totally in accord on your tobacco rant.
oh i know what it’s like to be nickle and dimed. unfortunately i am a victim of “poor people tax” you know, things that are overtaxed that in general poor people partake in. newports are like 11 bux. GRRRRRRRRRR. and almost every poor person i know smokes. so they are paying a hell of a lot of taxes even if they dont work. it’s f’ed up. cigarettes should NOT be as expensive as they are. yes they are deadly and stuff, but they serve a purpose whether you agree with that or not.
*rob*
rob – You should read *Nickle & Dimed* to get some insight on minimum wage jobs. You can’t earn enough for deposit on rent (even in the boonies) so you live in hot-sheet-type motels; you can’t get insurance; etc. It’s really a hellish way to exist.
MM just handed me my ass on a platter didnt she. hahahah.
grrr, she’s right tho. sorry.
*rob*
http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/troller.htm
Rob,on my last job, one of my co-workers made $12/hr. We got paid bi-monthly. Since I often helped her with HR stuff, I saw her paycheck. After taxes, SSI, and health insurance, her check was somewhere like $437. That’s about $218 a week. A minimum wage job, same deductions, would mean a paycheck of about $175 a week. Rob, that is not a living wage that allows anyone to do anything but subsist. Millions of people do it, but they are never able to get out of subsidized housing, food stamps, or better themselves in any way. They are the working poor, doing everything right – working, and getting nowhere.
Now you dismissively tell them they can’t even be happy with children and family? Or that their situation is because they didn’t finish high school, something you don’t even know to be true. What kind of job can you get with just high school, anyway? Answer, a minimum wage job. Maybe. And BrooklynGreene is also right. The economy sucks for finding a job. I have a degree from an Ivy League university, and I can’t even get an interview. I’m sorry you lost your ID, but I really wish your issues would give you some empathy towards those who have had less opportunities than you have, or at least give you the wisdom to know when to NOT have a public opinion.
As to the point of the article, I can certainly see John Tyus’ point. Downtown Brooklyn at one point seemed to be a wild free for all of tearing down the entire area and throwing up buildings just for the sake of it, or for bragging rights for the Bklyn powers that be. Now we have a landscape from the Manhattan Bridge to Vanderbilt Ave that looks like several bombs were dropped on it. Craters everywhere.