8 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 13, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens demonstrators urge governor to tax
billionaires and create a worker bailout fund
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
aacevedo@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Governor Andrew Cuomo said
he doesn’t support a bill that Jackson
Heights State Senator Jessica Ramos and
Manhattan Assemblywoman Carmen De
La Rosa sponsored to place higher taxes
on New York’s billionaires — but people
in parts of Queens most aff ected by
COVID-19 say that he’s just giving the
richest a free ride.
Th eBillionaires’ Tax (S.8277/A.01041)
would establish a “billionaire mark to
market tax” to impose a tax on residents
with $1 billion dollars or more in
total assets, in order to direct that revenue
into a worker bailout fund for New
Yorkers who have been left out of federal
and state aid during the pandemic.
On Sunday, more than 300 people
marched during Make the Road New
York’s “Barrios Not Billionaires March”
in support of the legislation, from Corona
Plaza west along Roosevelt Avenue and
down Junction Boulevard to LeFrak City
complex where they called out billionaire
businessman Richard LeFrak. Th is is just
one of several demonstrations held in the
last few months of the pandemic in support
of the Billionaires Tax.
However, Cuomo believes the bill
would chase away New York’s 119 billionaires.
Ramos, De La Rosa, and the
bill’s backers say “let them leave.”
Organizers with Make the Road New
York (MRNY), the largest progressive
immigrant-led organization in the
state, said the demonstration focused
on improving the Black, Brown, trans,
queer, immigrant and low-income communities
of New York, all of whom have
been disproportionately impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need relief and we need relief
now,” a member of Make the Road New
York said.
One member ofDesis Rising up and
Moving (DRUM) said she lost her job
right aft er the pandemic hit, but as an
international student has had to “worry
about thousands of dollars” in education,
medical and food bills.
“We have not received support from
any institution, our city and state have
failed us repeatedly,” she said. “Th e suffering
of workers have been falling on
deaf ears of Governor Cuomo, our state
and government has repeatedly bailed
out corporations during economic crises
but have turned a blind eye on workers
who are at the cusp of becoming
homeless.”
Th ere were several speakers and chants
to cancel rent throughout the march, as
well asmusic by NYC Mariachi and dances
by theTraditional Indigenous Danza
group who wore colorful Chinelos de
San Diego garments as they led the
march with energetic twirls.
Cuomo said last week that the
Billionaire’s Tax bill is no good on the
basis that the federal government had
exacerbated the crisis in the fi rst place,
and it’s not on anyone but Washington to
refi ll the coff ers of state and local government,
not billionaires.
When asked if there was a limit to his
opposition of taxing billionaires, Cuomo
told amNewYork Metro the state would
have to be under extreme circumstances.
“If the legislation is not going to help
New York, you know what I say to federal
lawmakers? Don’t pass it,” Cuomo
said on Aug. 3. “One percent of the population
pays 40 percent of taxes, and
they’re the most mobile people on the
globe … Th at would be a bad place we’d
have to go to to raise taxes.”
Th e governor says he is holding out for
another stimulus that would off er fi nancial
relief to the decimated budgets of
cities and states, criticizing the executive
order signed by President Donald Trump
over the weekend and over the last few
weeks deriding the HEALS Act.
Th e march ended in front of LeFrak City
Apartments complex, where some members
of MRNY, New York Communities
for Change (NYCC) andNew Immigrant
Community Empowerment (NICE) gave
speeches addressing Cuomo’s previous
comments on the tax.
“Th e rich are getting richer and the
poor are getting poorer, isn’t that a
shame,” said NYCC Chair Leroy Johnson.
A recent study by Americans for Tax
Fairness found that 119 of the state’s billionaires
— of whom 113 are U.S. citizens
and six are foreign-born with residence
in the state — collectively saw their
wealth increase $77.3 billion or by almost
15 percent during the fi rst three months
of the pandemic.
Ramos explained that the tax they’re
proposing would generate about $5.5 billion,
or approximately $50 million per
billionaire.
“Th at sounds like a lot of money to
us — because it is — but it’s not a lot of
money to them,” Ramos said. “Richard
LeFrak alone has made more than $850
million over the past four months. It’s a
fraction of that. It’s like asking them to
go Dutch.”
De La Rosa, who is co-sponsoring the
bill in the Assembly, said once the tax
is imposed, they will be able to create a
worker bailout fund.
“We won’t rest until this bill passes,” De
La Rosa said. “When we impose the tax,
it’s important we create a fund for workers,
because there’s always funds for corporations.
Corporations don’t eat, feel or
die — the people do.”
Th e event ended with the kids having
a go at a piñata that had a photo of
President Donald Trump and Richard
LeFrak, who supports the president and
is among the nearly one in 10 U.S. billionaires
who havedonated to his campaign.
Make the Road New York organized the
event and was joined by Housing Justice
for all Coalition, Street Vendor Project,
Woodside on the Move, Adhikaar, among
other human rights groups. Assembly
members Catalina Cruz and Brian
Barnwell, Democratic candidate for
Jackson Heights State Assembly Jessica
González-Rojas and former Queens district
attorney candidate Tiff any Cabán
were also in attendance.
With additional reporting by Mark
Hallum.
Photos by Angélica Acevedo
Make the Road New York organized “Barrios Not Billionaires March” in Corona on Aug. 9.
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