Friday, February 20, 2015
Protesting tax abatements for luxury developments
From WPIX:
Some of the highest priced buildings in New York reap tax benefits paid for by middle-class workers. That’s one reason some of those workers took to the streets on Wednesday. Another was anger by union construction workers over a major developer choosing to not use organized labor to build the country’s tallest residential building.
It’s 111 West 57th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenue. In front of its construction site at noon Wednesday, a couple hundred construction workers gathered for a rally against the building’s developer, JDS Development Corporation. It has stated publicly that it does not intend to build its iconic structure with union labor.
At the rally, workers said that while they felt buoyed by a recent statement by the city’s public advocate calling for JDS to use union pay scales in order to compensate workers for the project, they were still angry that it was not binding, and that such a high profile project was able to proceed without using organized labor.
The 421-a program will be up for review in Albany in June. At that time, the state legislature has to choose if it will renew the program as it is, revise it, or scrap it altogether.
6 comments:
This loop-hole for the rich is the main reason we have a housing shortage for the middle class in New York and it needs to end as soon as possible.
The wealthy are already being rewarded enough. Former RKO Keith's owner, Tommy Huang, was granted a tax abatement for that landmark structure. Enough said!
NYC does not need any more luxury housing lying empty year after year as an "under-scrutinized long-term investment" for some foreigner's dirty money.
Manhattan is starting to look like a ghost town. There's no community there anymore. It's all moved to Brooklyn.
Manhattan has become uber-wealthy and uber-boring!
now the media notices?
That tax abatement for luxury apts and houses is shameful. I wasn't so awar of it till a couple blocks of hideous 2-family houses went up on Sybilla near me, and the advertising material boasted of no taxes for 10 years. These brick crap-houses were priced at $999,999.00! Really high for that neighborhood. I called it Millionaire's Row. But seriously, why was I paying taxes on my house and the new owners of this blight, not?
What is the uproar about?
This is NY State. I see a commercial to lure business here with a promise of no taxes.
Only suckers pay taxes.
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