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Mostly Cloudy Residents faced large union turnout at iStar meeting
Throngs of residents waited on line for hours in front of City Hall — on a rainy and windy Wednesday night — to oppose a developer's request for a 20-year tax break to develop the Superblock property at a meeting where hundreds of union supporters turned out to show their support for the plan.
The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency held a public hearing as it considers the developer iStar Inc.'s request for a tax incentive to build two luxury apartment buildings on the long-vacant property, part of a new plan that includes a labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
After the IDA rejected its previous request for a 25-year payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT program, last year, iStar split with its previous developing partner, AvalonBay, and teamed up with Plainview-based E.W. Howell, one of the largest construction firms on Long Island, and the project is expected to create 2,000 construction jobs as the buildings are constructed.
People who waited on a line that stretched down West Chester Sreet claimed that the early and "overwhelming" turnout from union workers, both from Long Beach and out of town, prevented many residents from getting into the meeting at its 6:30 p.m. start time. Some said that they had to wait for hours until the Nassau County Fire Marshal, who was on hand to make sure the room never exceeded its capacity, allowed more people in throughout the hearing, which ended at midnight.
Those who made it early said they found hundreds of union supporters in yellow shirts gathered in front of City Hall and a tent set up at Kennedy Plaza. Some residents accused union members of "intimidating" those who are against the $109 million tax abatement, and said that the unions packed the room with their supporters in an attempt to prevent opponents from speaking.
"I was luckily able to get there at 4:30 p.m.," said resident Michele Knox. "I had to push my way through a sea of neon yellow and was able to get the only vacant seat available ... Not only were the supporters given the keys to the city but were able to -- without any interference -- intimidate, belittle and block residents from trying to attend. A tent and circus atmosphere was met with a blind eye ..."
Local civic groups had anticipated the strong union turnout, and encouraged residents to show up early.
“I waited 15 minutes to get in," said Kevin Reilly, vice president of the North East Bay and Canal Civic Association, who arrived shortly after 5 p.m. "But as you got closer to the end of the day, the pictures that [people] were sending up of the line that wrapped around the block — I think a lot of people might have been intimidated as well. My feeling is I think that the labor unions honeslty believed that we were there to stop that building from going up. The case is that we don’t want to shoulder the bulk of this tax break.”
But a number of union members strongly disputed claims of intimidation, saying that they were the ones who were met with hostility by residents at the meeting as they voiced their support for the project. Some who did not live in town were occasionally criticized during the meeting, but those union workers said they also had a right to share their opinions.
"I spent most of the day in the rain and wind ... " said John Shepard, a member of the New York District Council of Painters and Allied Trades, who said he arrived at 3 p.m. "We all want our side of the story told because everywhere we go, we're told no, we don't want to build it. We live in the land of no — it was no on the Colisuem. There is going to be a million dollars a week for three years in payroll on this job."
He added: "Our organizations all have codes of conduct and that's treating everyone with respect, especially women. If we even see someone like an apprentice being offensive he gets reprimanded. We honor and respect everyone's opinion."
Shepard noted that when IDA Executive Director Joe Kearney announced a break at 8 p.m., many union members left and more residents were allowed to enter. Many residents emphasized that they were not against local union jobs, but the “excessive” tax break.
City Hall's sixth-floor auditorium has a capacity of 415 people, and the Long Beach Police Department was also on hand to manage the large number of people who waited to enter the building. Kearney acknowledged the large union turnout at the start of the forum and urged members to leave after they spoke in order to accommodate residents. Police Commissioner Mike Tangney said that throughout the hearing, between 700 and 800 people attended, and he and Kearney maintain that everyone who waited on line was eventually allowed upstairs.
A number of residents, however, said that between the bad weather, a lack of parking and the extremely long wait, they grew discouraged and left.
“Many of my civic members expressed frustration that they were stuck outside in storm-like weather so they could be able to get inside the building,” said Sam Pinto, president of the Eastholme Civic Association, who arrived at 4 p.m.
“I got on the 4:40 p.m. train and … I show up and I have to wait on a line,” said Angelo Lomonte, a Republican and former Zoning Board of Appeals trustee, who works in Manhattan. “We get to City Hall and there is a line all the way to the curb. The union came in and packed the placed at 3:30 p.m. — why did the city let them into the building that early? And when the city realized what was going on, that they were all union members and not residents, why didn’t they try and tell people to come back at 5:30?”
City Manager Jack Schnirman said that the meeting was run by the IDA, and that the city had encouraged the agency to hold the hearing at a larger venue in town in anticipation of the large crowds.
