--Molinaro said workers who are due to get benefits should receive them, but new employees should not be rewarded with such generous packages. Backing Bloomberg and taking aim at unions, Molinaro called on Albany to return the power to negotiate benefits to the city. Molinaro also said overtime earnings should not figured into pension payouts. "It's labor that's killing us," he said. Deputy Borough President Edward Burke said unions have been able to keep their deals in place because they are able to "scare politicians" into supporting them. He called on ordinary citizens to storm the Bastille. "It has to be a fight between two marching factions," Burke said. "The challenge is to attach it to things people care about." But all is not lost, Molinaro said, with a number of projects aimed at boosting the quality of life from one end of the Island to the other nearing completion. Saying that jobs and economic development are his top priorities, Molinaro said that the popular Trader Joe's
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Courtesy/Borough President's Office
EAST SHORE: The 135,000-square-foot indoor track planned for Ocean Breeze will be one of the premier running facilities on the East Coast.
will open its first store here on the site of the old Ford dealership in New Springville. A new Target will go in next to Costco in New Springville, he said, while Kohl's opens a new store at the old Frank's Nursery in New Dorp. Molinaro said City Planning should certify both projects in April, and that the agency also would certify the Woodrow Shopping Center by June.
And a new Stop and Shop is coming to Forest Avenue in Port Richmond, Molinaro said. "I have to get people to work," he said. "I need jobs. I need tax money." Molinaro said he would continue to attack Island traffic problems as well. Piggybacking on improvements being done to the Staten Island Expressway, Molinaro proposes adding a