GJNY letter to IDA Board Members
GJNY Press Release 11-9-01
Testimony Before the State Assembly
Good Jobs New York
275 7th Avenue, 6th floor
New York, NY 10001
tel: 212.414.9394
fax: 212.414.9002
GROUPS
URGE CITY TO POSTPONE VOTE ON THE $1.1 BILLION GIVEAWAY TO NEW YORK STOCK
EXCHANGE
NYSE
Chairman Grasso Seems Hesitant; Mayor-Elect Bloomberg Questions
"Retention" Deals
For
Release November 9, 2001
Contact:
Bettina Damiani - Good Jobs New York (212) 414.9394 cell: (646) 246.4093, or
Jahahara Alkebulan-Ma'at - Alliance for a Working Economy (718) 857.4865
With
a vote scheduled Tuesday on a $1.1 billion subsidy package for the New York
Stock Exchange, the largest subsidy deal in New York State history appears
in doubt. Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso expressed misgivings about the
project yesterday. In light of the events of September 11th,
Grasso is concerned about the 900-foot office tower slated to be built atop
the Exchange's new trading floor.
The
subsidy deal, financed by New York City and State, would provide the NYSE a
new 600,000 square-foot trading floor across the street from its current
location on Broad and Wall Streets. Yesterday, Grasso reiterated what many
advocates and developers have recently suggested: the new trading floor
should be built within the reconstructed World Trade Center complex.
The
New York City Industrial Development Agency board will vote on $920 million
of city-backed bonds to finance the project on Tuesday, November 13th, at
9:00 am at 110 William Street in Manhattan.
"If
the city and state are so intent on subsidizing a new trading floor for the
NYSE, they should invest public monies in ways that support the
reconstruction and make the area amenable for all New Yorkers," says
Bettina Damiani, project director of Good Jobs New York.
Long
before the September 11th attacks, Good Jobs New York, the
Alliance for a Working Economy and numerous other raised questions about the
NYSE subsidy package explaining it was a bad deal for New York taxpayers.
Now, with the tower in doubt, the deal is even more questionable. That's
because current deal calls for rent from the office tower to go to the city
to help offset debt service and tax breaks.
"With
the city's current budget crisis, it's unconscionable that the city would
use taxpayer dollars on a project that does not benefit the reconstruction
efforts of Lower Manhattan," says Jahahara Alkebulan-Ma'at, Citywide
Coordinator for the Alliance for a Working Economy.
Good
Jobs New York's website -- www.goodjobsny.org
-- outlines the city's largest retention deals. Specifics on NYSE at www.goodjobsny.org/nyse.htm.