FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 17, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 47
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Anti-development will jeopardize New York City’s economic recovery
BY THOMAS J. GRECH AND LOUIS J.
COLETTI
It has been a diffi cult 14 months for
our city and our local economy. Th is time
last year, we were looking at unemployment
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numbers most of us haven’t seen in
our lifetimes. Sadly, due to the pandemic,
we’ve lost a number of cherished small
businesses that served our neighborhoods
and created jobs for New Yorkers. As
more and more of us get vaccinated and
COVID restrictions are lift ed, we’re fi nally
returning to normal.
But even before the pandemic, our
economy was at a crossroads. We were
moving toward more high-paying jobs in
tech, and more lower paying jobs in the
service sector, all while robust pathways to
the middle class were slowly disappearing.
Historically, the one industry that has
provided stable, middle-class jobs for New
Yorkers has been the construction trades.
Construction and real estate account for
20 percent of New York City’s GDP, 10
percent of jobs and 5 percent of wages.
Construction also has a catalyzing eff ect
on other industries. For every $1 million
spent on construction, eight new jobs are
created.
Th e industry is also a driver of small
businesses, as well as minority- and
women-owned businesses. One hundred
and seventy-seven WMBE contractors
are members of the Building Trades
Employers Association, and minorities
and women make up 55 percent of the
Building Trade Union workforce.
Unfortunately, aft er a decade of growth,
COVID hit the construction industry
hard, wiping out years of progress in the
blink of an eye. Over the course of the
pandemic, $9.8 billion in construction
activity, 74,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in
wages were lost.
Now, the recovery of the industry is
threatened by the baffl ing rise of antidevelopment
sentiment amongst politicians
and candidates for offi ce. Th is jeopardizes
the economic recovery of our
entire city, and closes off job opportunities
for families struggling to make ends
meet.
Turning away billions of dollars in private
investment into our communities
that would create jobs and generate tax
revenue for our city would be foolish.
We also cannot aff ord to wait for federal
action. Even if President Biden’s infrastructure
plan passed today, we’d still be at
least two years away from shovels being in
the ground on those projects.
New Yorkers need to put food on the
table and pay their bills today. Th ere are a
number of ways the city can support construction,
from expediting standard permitting
at the Department of Buildings,
to establishing a single point of contact in
the mayor’s offi ce to streamline large projects.
But we also need elected offi cials at
all levels of government that understand
the vital role private sector development
will play in our economic recovery.
We have a unique opportunity to
remake both the physical and social infrastructure
of our city. But we cannot do
that without supporting the construction
industry, which provides a clear and stable
pathway to the middle class for millions of
New Yorkers.
Th omas Grech is the president and CEO
of the Queens Chamber of Commerce.
Louis J. Coletti is the president and CEO of
the Building Trades Employers Association.
WISE WORDS FROM
GEORGE ORWELL
As tearing down monuments and
statues, rewriting history and changing
names of buildings named aft er
historic fi gures continues under the
growing cancel culture, it reminds me
of something George Orwell once said.
“Every record has been destroyed or
falsifi ed, every book rewritten, every
picture has been repainted, every
statue and street building has been
renamed, every date has been altered.
And the process is continuing day by
day and minute by minute. History
has stopped. Nothing exists except an
endless present in which the Party is
always right,” Orwell said.
His vision of 1984 may soon become
today’s reality.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
THE SHOOTINGS
MUST STOP!
A 10-year-old boy named Justin
Wallace was shot and killed in
Edgemere for no logical reason. He is
one of many who have been killed as a
result of gun violence.
My heartfelt prayers go out to the
family of Justin Wallace, who are
grieving so much at this time.
Now, more than ever, we need to
work harder to get guns off the street.
Here is something to think about:
Murder in the city is up 9 percent as of
May, and shooting incidents are up 86
percent! Th e number of shooting victims
is up 72 percent!
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill
de Blasio need to work harder to help
get those numbers down, as do the
state Legislature and City Council. If
they don’t, more innocent children can
become victims.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Bellerose
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