Actors hired to attend rally

From the Daily News:

At a rally outside City Hall, an activist calling for the city to move forward with a developer’s plan to turn a long-vacant landmarked school in the East Village into college dorms poured his heart out about how the group was just comprised of concerned community folks.

“We have jobs here. We don’t get paid for this, and literally we spent hours uncovering information,” Jose de Yarza said.

But while de Yarza doesn’t get paid for his advocacy, that doesn’t appear to be true for some of the 30 people standing quietly behind him, holding signs bashing Mayor de Blasio and local elected officials.

The Daily News obtained a casting email seeking people to “beef up attendance” for the rally, held by the newly formed group East Village Cares, in exchange for a rate of “$50 CASH / 2.5 hour booking.”

One person holding a sign at the event confirmed attending as a result of the casting call. Another declined to answer, saying it wouldn’t be right to discuss whether he’d been paid. Two others approached by The News denied being paid or getting the casting call email.