An aerial view of Anable basin, where Amazon is planning on building new headquarters. (Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)
Dec. 12, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The city and state have at last announced the formation of a Community Advisory Committee—a group of 45 members largely comprised of Long Island City figures—put together as part of Amazon’s planned headquarters project.
The committee, formally announced on Tuesday, has been set up to help gather and provide input on Amazon’s upcoming waterfront campus, and makes up one component of the state-run approvals process the tech giant’s development will be moving through.
Members of the group include community and civic leaders, non-profit heads, area business owners and union representatives. The committee, furthermore, is broken up into three subgroups focusing on items like neighborhood infrastructure and workforce.
The “project plan” subcommittee, which will advise on the state’s plan that aims to rezone the Anable Basin area for Amazon’s campus along with issues related to the headquarter’s construction, will be co-chaired by Denise Keehan-Smith and Elizabeth Lusskin.
Keehan-Smith currently chairs Community Board 2, while Lusskin serves as president of the Long Island City Partnership.
The “Neighborhood Infrastructure” subcommittee, meanwhile, is chaired by both Robert Basch, president of the Hunters Point Park Conservancy, and Melva Miller, executive vice president for the Association for a Better New York.
This committee will advise on, as the name suggests, infrastructure priorities through the neighborhood, and will also build on the $180 million the city recently announced toward its Long Island City Investment Strategy.
The “workforce development” subcommittee will be tasked with developing an “education-to-career” strategy to ensure that more New Yorkers can access the thousands of jobs at Amazon’s future campus.
It will be led by Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor, CEO of Urban Upbound, and Jean Woods-Powell, principal of Information and Technology High School.
The city’s five borough presidents, additionally, will serve on the workforce development subcommittee in ex-officio roles.
The seven committee co-chairs will also take part in a separate steering committee, set to be staffed with city and state officials from respective economic development agencies, as part of the months-long headquarters planning process.
All elected officials representing Long Island City have been invited to join this steering committee as ex-officio members, the city and state said.
The CAC will meet quarterly beginning in January, with its three subcommittees to meet about once a month during the course of the estimated 14-month state planning process.
While the committee, announced just one day before the first city council oversight hearing on the Amazon deal, features a variety of local leaders across the board, it is noticeably missing two elected officials outspoken in their criticism against the project—Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer and State Senator Michael Gianaris.
Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer (center) and State Senator Michael Gianaris. (Photo: Nathaly Pesantez)
Both announced last month that they would not participate in the CAC, feeling that it would validate a process whose underpinnings they are opposed to, and said once more after Tuesday’s announcement that they will not play a role in these talks.
“I did not have input into any decisions related to the Amazon Community Advisory Council, including recommendations for membership, because I refuse to participate in a process meant to accommodate Amazon’s arrival in our community, which I do not accept as a done deal,” Gianaris said in a statement.
Despite heavy backlash against Amazon’s plans for Queens in the weeks since official plans were announced, and which have taken on the form of protests, calls-to-action, petitions and more, some have questioned the effectiveness of Van Bramer and Gianaris refusing to join the CAC.
The topic came up at the Dec. 6 Community Board 2 meeting, for instance, when two board members speaking to a member of Van Bramer’s staff worried that his reasoning for not joining the committee would make for a less democratic process.
“If you don’t join it, you don’t know what’s going on in that committee,” said Bessie Cassaro to Matt Wallace, Van Bramer’s chief of staff. “At least you’ll have eyes and you can see, so I question that decision.”
Pat O’Brien, meanwhile, said the choice by representatives to withhold from participating can be seen as an “abdication” of responsibilities, and questioned whether there was more to the decision.
“I don’t think the people want to get caught in a political pissing match between politicians who are upset that they were excluded,” O’Brien said.
The board member also said that elected officials can be the voice of the opposition while serving in the committee.
Van Bramer, in response, said in a statement on Monday that he stands by his decision.
“I’ve worked with and respect many of the members who have chosen to serve on the CAC,” he said. “And as I’ve said before, whether or not I am on it, my voice will be heard. I will continue to represent the community and advocate for it as we fight against this bad deal.”
A full list of the CAC members is below:
Project Plan Co-Chairs:
Denise Keehan-Smith, Chair, Queens Community Board 2
Elizabeth Lusskin, President, the Long Island City Partnership
Neighborhood Infrastructure Co-Chairs:
Robert Basch, President, Hunters Point Park Conservancy
Melva Miller, Executive Vice President, Association for a Better New York
Workforce Co-Chairs:
Gail Mellow, President, LaGuardia Community College
Bishop Mitchell G. Taylor, CEO and President, Urban Upbound
Jean Woods-Powell, Principal, Information Technology High School
CAC Members:
Plinio Ayala, President and CEO, Per Scholas
Antonios Benetatos, President-elect, Dutch Kills Civic Association
Kyle Bragg, Secretary-Treasurer, 32BJ SEIU
Paul Camilierri, LIC Resident
Gianna Cerbone, Owner, Manducatis Restaurant
Meghan Cirrito, Board Chair, Gantry Parents Association
Claudia Coger, President, Astoria Houses Tenant Association
Lisa Ann Deller, Land Use Chair, Queens Community Board 2
Paul Finnegan, Executive Director, New York Irish Center
Angie Kamath, University Dean for Continuing Education and Workforce Development, CUNY
Sister Tesa Fitzgerald, Executive Director, Hour Children
Debra-Ellen Glickstein, Executive Director, NYC Kids RISE
Tom Grech, President and CEO, Queens Chamber of Commerce
Kenny Greenberg, Neon Artist and CB2 Member
Chris Hanway, Executive Director, Jacob A. Riis Settlement House
Jukay Hsu, Founder and CEO, Pursuit
Richard Khuzami, President, Old Astoria Neighborhood Association
Debby King, Former Director, 1199 Training Fund Director and LIC resident
Sheila Lewandowski, Executive Director, The Chocolate Factory Theater
Reverend Corwin Mason, Community Church of Astoria
Annie Cotton Morris, President, Woodside Houses Tenant Association
Joey Ortiz, Executive Director, NYC Employment and Training Coalition
Tom Paino, Chair, Hunters Point Community Coalition
Santos Rodriguez, Director of Community Affairs & Strategic Initiatives, NYC Building Trades Council
Julie Samuels, Executive Director, TechNYC
Carlo Scissura, President and CEO of New York Building Congress
Seema Shah, Director of Technology and Innovation Initiatives, LaGuardia Community College
April Simpson, President, Queensbridge Houses Tenant Association
Alvarez Symonette, Chief of Staff, Lady M Confections
Marie Torniali, Chair, Queens Community Board 1
Matthew Troy, Executive Director of Variety Boys & Girls Club, Queens
Andre Ward, Associate Vice President of Employment Services and Education, The Fortune Society
Carol Wilkins, President, Ravenswood Houses Tenant Association
Tom Wright, President and CEO, Regional Plan Association
Frank Wu, Transportation and Safety Committee Chair, Court Square Civic Association
Kathryn S. Wylde, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City
Judith Zangwill, Executive Director, Sunnyside Community Services
A CUNY student representative
Featured Events
13 Comments
To all who are for this Corporate BS. When Citicorp wanted to build the Tallest Building in Queens at the time and move here 25-30 years ago. Jobs for the Community were promised to the community. This is not the case with Amazon as there was no provision for hiring locally. The BIG OFFICE BOOM never materialized went BUST. Never Trust Corporations and Banks. Remember the 2008 down turn/recession. It was caused mainly by BANKS and Corporations. There is not going to be a new Subway line built, or extra buses running. Sure, we may see some tree plantings and sidewalks and sewers re-done. If you read at all you know MTA is talking about cutting service on trains and buses when their next fare increase comes in MARCH. WAKE UP people this is a BAD DEAL.
Without a provision that requires Amazon to hire a workforce that is made up of at least 60% of people who have lived in NYC for a minimum of seven years (slight alternations and modifications could be made to this) then there is no way that this plan won’t cause massive displacement and accelerated rates of gentrification.
Sure JVB and Gianaris are no good,at least they are against Amazon now. The enemy of my enemy is my friend kind of logic. Jobs will go to Amazon workers in other Amazon offices and people coming from out of town mostly. Remember there is no provision that said hey have to hire locally. This on the heels that they wanted to use Eminent Domain if necessary. Amazon’s timeline did not fit the ULURP process. All of a sudden it did when Gov. Corruption and DumBlasio said they will bypass it and also threw bundles of TAXPAYER CASH at Amazon. GREED Won out as usual in NY State & City.Upstate could have used the jobs more than NYC. I fear that LIC has lost BIG TIME with this BAD DEAL.
>it and also threw bundles of TAXPAYER CASH
You’re really gonna freak out when you learn how much money Trump gave his fellow rich developers in tax breaks! Thanks for helping him!
Disturbing how in the proposal released yesterday, the city was willing to use eminent domain to bring Amazon in. I know this could apply to commercial properties (which is still bad) but would also apply to people’s homes. “Oh, you live here? Too bad, Amazon wants this space.”
This is what we’re dealing with, from people on these committees. No one is looking out for the actual community members. Don’t be fooled by the shiny jobs that they’ll fill with their existing employees.
Great. Amazon LIC HQ2 is moving foward!
Gianaris and Van Bramer Logic!
NO to Amazon in 2018!
YES to Amazon in 2017!
NO to 25,000 Amazon JOBS!
YES to Homeless Shelters!
NO to 3,000 SEIU union JOBS for Amazon security/maintenance & 1,300 union construction JOBS through 2034 for Amazon development!
YES to building neighborhood prisons!
NO to all the additional local service jobs (restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, etc.)
YES to allowing over 15,000 apartments built in Long Island City!
These guys have to go!!!!
Well said Jack. This is typical Jimmy Van Bramer – throws his hands up when confronted at a CB2 meeting last year when Homeless Shelters opened up in local hotels overnight, when he knew all along that they were coming as early as April 2017 at the Mayor’s Town Hall meeting at Queens Vocational High School. He does not represent us in the city council. Lets squash his aspirations to Queens Borough President.
He worked to change the zoning loophole allowing “hotels” in light manufacturing zones. A cynical family of cheap motel builders erected them knowing they get $7,000 a month–you read that right–for homeless tenants. The zoning is being upgraded to eliminate that loophole. Van Bramer worked for that. These abusive posters either: do not live here, or are being paid for by real estate types, or Amazon.
Liberal logic
Jimmy Van Bramer and Gianaris signed documents last year saying they wanted Amazon to come and now changed their mind cause they didn’t get their kickbacks. Useless flip-flopping politicians. Click on link below to see the signed document.
https://www.scribd.com/document/370050123/70-NY-elected-officials-write-to-Amazon-re-HQ2-10-16-17
sounds like Van Bramer has abdicated his responsibility as an elected official. We need a councilman who will represent ALL of his constituents.
Gianaris and Van Bramer Continue to Refuse Participation, awesome! If they Choose to stay behind let them stay behind. So, leave them in the dust as LIC moves forward to a better future!!!!!