One City, One Future
In the Press
One City, One Future
Crain's New York Business, 03/26/2009
A citywide minimum wage. Mandatory inclusionary zoning. An independent Planning Commission chair. These are just some of the dozens of ambitious proposals laid out in One City/One Future, a report to be released Monday by a coalition of 65 civic, environmental, immigration and labor groups.
Four years in the making, the report draws a blueprint for economic development centered on creating living-wage jobs and affordable housing, making the city greener and enhancing its quality of life.
“Economic development hasn’t led to broadly shared prosperity,” says Brad Lander, a candidate for City Council in Brooklyn, who helped develop the report. “It’s gone along with a more and more polarized city.”
The group—which was conceived by the National Employment Law Project, the Pratt Center for Community Development and Jobs With Justice—plans for its road map to serve as a litmus test for candidates in this year’s elections. In the coming months, candidates will be asked at forums whether they support the report’s 54 recommendations. The group won’t make formal endorsements, but One City/One Future is intended to drive the conversation during the campaign season.
The plan calls for a city minimum wage to compensate for the high cost of living, mandatory inclusionary zoning on large-scale residential developments to boost affordable-housing stock, and a Planning Commission chair independent from the Department of City Planning to promote a broader range of opinions. The commission and the department have long been headed by the same person.
With redevelopment of Coney Island and the Kingsbridge Armory in the works, the report looks to expand on provisions won by labor groups in Willets Point requiring prevailing wages at subsidized economic development projects.
Many of the 54 recommendations are drawn from successful experiments in cities like Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington.
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The MTA voted on March 25 to enact a massive fare hike and unacceptably deep cuts in service on subways and buses throughout our community - including to the B67, B69, B75, B77, B23, and the F train. There is another choice, but it calls for courageous action in Albany. Please join me in calling on State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith to do the right thing.
Honor Julian Brennan’s Memory by Helping Build Schools in Afghanistan
Marine Lance Corporal Julian Brennan, who grew up on 15th Street in Park Slope, was 25 when he was killed in Afghanistan on January 24, 2009. In a remarkable act of compassion, his parents Bill and Thya Brennan are asking us to make contributions to the Central Asia Institute, which builds schools in Afghanistan.