WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES FEBRUARY 22, 2018 17
De Blasio makes grand promises in his plan for a fairer NYC
BY EMILIE RUSCOE
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
Mayor Bill de Blasio outlined
not one, but two broad policy
blueprints at the State of the
City address on Feb. 13 in Brooklyn.
The fi rst is a 12-point plan to make
New York “the fairest big city in the
world,” which builds on the successes
of his fi rst term in offi ce and renews his
commitment to many of his signature
issues. The second is a 10-point plan to
fortify civic engagement in New York.
Both position the city — and the
mayor — as nationally infl uential and
both help defi ne de Blasio’s positions
on issues that are highly visible on the
national stage.
“Three years, 10 months and 15 days:
That’s how long this administration
has to ensure we become the fairest
big city in America,” de Blasio told the
crowd gathered inside the Kings Theater
on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn.
“We will take on that mission and we
will do it with speed and urgency.”
The most well-defi ned initiatives under
the “fairest city” umbrella included
the promises that every NYPD offi ce
will wear a body camera by the end of
the 2018; that a “3-K for All” nursery
school program will be citywide by
2021; and that the administration will
work to help create 100,000 jobs that pay
$50,000 or more for New York residents.
He also listed steps the city has taken
to expand its aff ordable housing initiative
and to combat the eff ects of climate
change and the opioid epidemic. De
Blasio also touted ThriveNYC, the
mental health initiative spearheaded
by fi rst lady Chirlane McCray.
Some of de Blasio’s “fairest city” talking
points lacked specifi city, such as a plan
for improvements at rundown New
York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
facilities in the wake of revelations that
more than 80 percent of the city’s 400,000
offi cial NYCHA residents have been without
heat or hot water at times this winter.
Other proposed initiatives seemed
to provide little toward advancing
the administration’s strategy for addressing
key issues, such as de Blasio’s
insistence on returning to Albany with
his oft -thwarted plan to fi nance work on
the subway with a millionaire’s tax.
Both the “fairest city” agenda and a
civic engagement initiative, called Democracy
NYC, build off of grassroots
political momentum resulting from
the 2016 election. Throughout the
address, de Blasio emphasized New
York’s role as a national leader.
Early in his speech, de Blasio
proudly made the point that despite
a Halloween terrorist attack, New
Yorkers came out in force for that
evening’s annual parade in Greenwich
Village.
This, said de Blasio, demonstrates
something essential about the character
of the city: “We will not be intimidated,
and we will not change.”
Proposed Website for American-made goods gets mixed reviews
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
A Queens congresswoman
wants to help inform the
public about American-made
products — but some business owners
in Ridgewood and Glendale aren’t
sure about her proposed solution.
Congresswoman Grace Meng introduced
legislation on Feb. 7 titled
the “MadeInAmerica.gov Act,” which
would create the fi rst-ever U.S. government
website for consumers to
fi nd information about products that
are made in America. If passed into
law, the act would require the United
States Department of Commerce to
create and maintain a MadeInAmerica.
gov website within two years of
the enactment.
“It is time that the federal government
did more for American
businesses and American workers,”
Meng said. “Consumers who wish to
know which products are made in
America should have a trustworthy,
easy-to-use resource, and American
businesses should be provided a
space in which they can easily connect
consumers to products that are
made in America. This legislation
will promote products made in
the USA, support the labor behind
them, and encourage people to buy
American.”
Although the nationwide number
of manufacturing jobs in America
has increased slightly since 2010, that
number has continued to decline in
New York City. While there were
more than 265,000 manufacturing
jobs in the city in 1990, there are
fewer than 75,000 today, according
to the New York State Department of
Labor. One local manufacturer, who
runs the business his father started
in 1943, said that number was higher
than 800,000 during the 1960s.
Vernon McDermott is the owner
of McDermott Light & Signal in
Ridgewood, a marine navigation light
manufacturer that was founded by
his father, Julian A. McDermott.
When asked what he thought about
an online database to keep track of
American-made products, McDermott
said that “manufacturing is
history now for this city.”
The main challenge for McDermott,
whose primary competitors are from
diff erent states, is the rapid increase
in minimum wage, he said.
“Raising minimum wage is a fi ne
idea if the business is done in the
city,” McDermott said. “But my biggest
competitor is in Florida, and they
pay $8 an hour.”
McDermott’s budget is much tighter
as a small manufacturer who has
to pay his employees more every year.
He was frank in saying that he didn’t
think creating a website would help
turn the tide, adding, “If they’ll spend
any amount of money on it, I’d say no.”
Another local manufacturer also
pointed to employee wages when
asked about Meng’s legislation, but
on a much larger scale. Richie Huber,
an engineer for Superior Interlock in
Glendale, said that in a global market
it’s nearly impossible for New York
companies paying $15 per hour to
compete with companies across the
world that pay less than $1 per hour.
Superior Interlock was founded
in 1946 and creates specialized
key-interlocking mechanisms for industrial
equipment. Since their product
is so specialized, Huber said, they oft en
compete with international companies.
On the Superior Interlock Website,
there is a logo with an American fl ag
that says “Proudly Made in the U.S.A.”
“I do, at times, have diffi culty trying
to fi nd a source of origin of a product,”
Huber said about Meng’s legislation.
“I try to support domestically made
products and source as much of our
components domestically as we can.”
According to a U.S. Census Bureau
survey, the total number of manufacturing
jobs in Queens in 2016 was
45,796. When it comes to having a
real impact on American-made goods,
however, Community Board 5 district
manager Gary Giordano expressed
how diffi cult it would be to change
consumer habits.
“Too many people are looking for
the cheapest product they can get,”
Giordano said. “We would need an
unwritten agreement that if we want
to make more here in America we’ll
have to pay more and buy less, but it
will be better quality.”
Meng’s bill has been referred to the
House Energy and Commerce Committee
where it is awaiting further
action.
Image via Pixabay
