LIU STATEMENT ON CITY’S $127 MILLION FRESH DIRECT GIVEAWAY
City
Comptroller John C. Liu today cast the lone “no” vote
on the Industrial Development Agency’s $127 million subsidy for Fresh
Direct, which received final authorization. He stated the following:
“This
was a bad idea when it was first voted on a year ago, and it’s an even
worse one today. New York City needs jobs, particularly in the Bronx,
but this is a wasteful
way to do business that picks taxpayers’ pockets in order to reward fat
cats.
“During
the Bloomberg Administration, the Economic Development Corporation has
doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate welfare to
companies that fail
to deliver on their promise of jobs for New Yorkers, and we have no
reason to believe this will be any different.
“Even
if the EDC’s dubious projections turn out to be accurate, the Fresh
Direct deal will go down as yet another Bloomberg big business
boondoggle. Spending roughly
$127 million to create 964 new jobs—$131,397 per job—just doesn’t make
economic sense.
STATE MINIMUM-WAGE HIKE COULD HARM LOW-WAGE WORKERS IN NEW YORK CITY
A “perverse incentive” enacted together with the
minimum-wage increase in the New York State budget could
jeopardize the pay or even the jobs of low-wage workers in New York
City, a report released by City Comptroller John C. Liu today is
warning. Comptroller Liu renewed his call to implement an
$11.50-per-hour
minimum wage in New York City, which would make employers ineligible
for this harmful tax credit and help many more workers make ends meet in
the most expensive major city in the nation.
“State
lawmakers did their best to craft a minimum-wage hike that would help
workers in Rochester and Buffalo, but a tax credit for employers
they included as part of that deal may actually harm low-wage New York
City workers,”
Comptroller Liu said. “That’s yet another good reason why we need
to raise the New York City minimum wage to $11.50 an hour. Not to
mention that New York City is just so much more expensive to live in.”
Liu’s report comes out
as the United States marked the
fourth anniversary of the last rise in the federal minimum wage, which
activists have named as a “National Day of Action to Raise Up America,”
calling on elected officials and employers to raise wages for the nation’s lowest-paid workers.
The
“Minimum Wage Reimbursement Credit” included in the New York State
budget gives businesses tax credits if they hire young workers, but
employers only get the credit if they pay their workers exactly the
minimum wage and not a penny more. Employers would receive a
$1.35-per-hour tax credit for each worker between the ages of 16 and 19
earning no more than the minimum wage of $9.00 per hour
in 2016. This could jeopardize the jobs and wages of roughly 120,000
New York City workers making between $9.00 and $10.00 per hour, because
the state would pay their employers to replace them with workers earning
minimum wage.
“New York should be a city where working men and women can afford to make ends meet,” said
Comptroller Liu. “If we are serious about helping families with
children climb out of poverty, narrowing the wealth gap, and growing the
middle class, we need to have the courage to pay all people a livable
minimum wage of $11.50. Let’s not ignore the
fact that the federal minimum wage created decades ago has not kept up
with inflation; if it had, today’s federal minimum wage would be more
than $10.50. Contrary to what many in corporate America would have us
believe, sound economic research indicates that
a New York City minimum wage of $11.50 will help, not hurt, the Big
Apple’s economy.”
RAISES ALARM OVER DEEPENING CRISIS AT NYC HOUSING AUTHORITY
City
Comptroller John C. Liu today called on the New York City Housing
Authority (NYCHA) to open its operations to the public
as well as reject a plan to raise $750 million in a new bond issue,
amid grave concerns over a deepening crisis that threatens the
Authority’s finances and operations.
Formal
comments were submitted earlier this week, with Liu raising key
concerns at tonight’s NYCHA public hearing on its Annual Plan for Fiscal
Year 2014.
Comptroller Liu’s full submission to NYCHA can be found at:
Comptroller
Liu noted that there are even questions about the legitimacy of the
current NYCHA board, given that Mayor Bloomberg has not yet
appointed new board members as required by a new state law.
“The
Mayor’s refusal to act is tantamount to vetoing legislators’ actions
and demonstrates his contempt for the legislative process,” Comptroller
Liu said. “In the meantime, it is unconscionable that NYCHA is holding
just one public hearing in light of its fiscal woes, significant issues
of crime and safety, and literally groundbreaking plans to offload 14
parcels of valuable land in Manhattan to be
used for luxury housing.”
Comptroller
Liu also questioned NYCHA’s plan for a new bond issue. “As it is, the
Authority is sitting on about $700 million in unused capital
funds and clearly lacks the capacity to spend the new funds it is
seeking. NYCHA should postpone any new bonds until the new board has an
opportunity to assess NYCHA’s financial condition. In order to restore
public faith in its finances, NYCHA also should
accept our longstanding invitation to join Checkbook NYC, our
financial-transparency website.”
LIU TO CBS, TWC: COME TOGETHER NOW
With a deadline looming on the Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC)-CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS) contract negotiations that could cause service disruption, City Comptroller John C. Liu is offering his boardroom as a venue and his staff as facilitators in order to help the parties iron out their differences.
“More than a million New York City TWC customers may experience a blackout of CBS and Showtime beginning tomorrow
morning if an agreement is
not reached, barring them from watching their favorite television shows
even as they continue to pay for the programming,” Comptroller Liu
wrote in a letter Wednesday
to Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation, and Glenn A.
Britt, chairman and
CEO of Time Warner Cable. “It is time to stop using the customers as
leverage in these disputes. TWC and CBS must come together now. My
office stands ready to host or assist in facilitating a meeting of the
parties in order to help resolve this dispute quickly
and without disruption of service.”
Comptroller
Liu sits on the New York City Franchise Concession and Review
Committee, which authorizes the television franchise agreement between
New York City and Time Warner Cable and provides TWC access to New York
City customers.
