August 15 - 21, 2013
A Soho resident recently created a parody political flier, below, for Margaret Chin, riffing on one supporting her sent out by the new Jobs for New York PAC, above. Sean Sweeney of Downtown Independent Democrats separately has created a piece spoofing the pro-Chin Jobs for New York mailings. Fifteen thousand of them were mailed out and arrived at residents’ homes on Mon., Aug. 12.
Continued from page 6 “Jobs for New York and its members believe strongly that New York City needs to create jobs, strengthen the local housing market and create more affordable housing options in order to make the local economy grow,” he said. “Margaret Chin’s time in public service makes it clear that she shares this view. She’s the kind of leader New York City needs in office right now.” He praised Chin for her “balance.” “She has amassed a very balanced record over the years,” he said, “creating jobs…a happy balance.” He noted that Jobs for New York isn’t just composed of REBNY, but also includes the likes of the mason tenders and carpenters unions. The economic recovery is still pretty tepid,
and the PAC doesn’t want to see things backslide, he added. Plus, due to term limits, there will be a big turnover next year in the Council, with about 20 new members, he said. So, they are targeting a few Council races they feel are “competitive” — with Chin vs. Rajkumar clearly being one of them. The PAC spokesperson argued that it’s incorrect to say that REBNY “takes issue with affordable housing.” Practically the only new affordable housing being created in Manhattan below 96th St. is being built by REBNY members, he noted. These units are part of the 421-a program, or “80/20,” under which 80 percent of a building’s apartments are market rate but the remainder are affordable, in return for which the developer gets a tax break. However, generally, these units are not permanently affordable.
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