A disturbing 28 of 51 City Council members have strongly stated their support for a Stadium on the West Side. After the flip is a list of the council members by district, and their phone numbers, who sent an open letter to Sheldon Silver and Joseph Bruno asking for approval for the stadium. The newest to join the supporting ranks are in bold. If ''and only if''you live in one of these districts call them! The text of the letter is also copied here after the click. Also contact Council Speaker Gifford Miller -(212) 535-5554 - and tell him to get people in line.
Resouce:
map of district numbers
QUEENS - District#32 - The Honorable Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. - (718) 318-6411
QUEENS - District#19 - The Honorable Tony Avella - (718) 747-2137
BRONX - District#14 - The Honorable Maria Baez - (718) 584-6955
BRKLYN - District#41 - The Honorable Tracy L. Boyland - (718) 345-3110
BRLYKN - District#40 - The Honorable Yvette D. Clarke - (718) 287-8762
QUEENS - District#27 - The Honorable Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. - (718) 776-3700
BRONX - District#17 - Honorable Maria del Carmen Arroyo - (718)-402-6130
BRKLYN - District#37 - The Honorable Erik Martin Dilan - (718) 642-8664
BRKLYN - District#44 - The Honorable Simcha Felder - (718) 853-2704
BRKLYN - District#46 - The Honorable Lewis A. Fidler - (718) 241-9330
QUEENS - District#30 - The Honorable Dennis P. Gallagher - (718) 366-3900
QUEENS - District#24 - The Honorable James F. Gennaro - (718) 217-4969
BRKLYN - District#43 - The Honorable Vincent J. Gentile - (718) 748-5200
MANHTN - District#7 - The Honorable Robert Jackson - (212) 928-1322
QUEENS - District#28 - The Honorable Allan W. Jennings, Jr. - (718) 657-4787
S.I. - District#51 - The Honorable Andrew J. Lanza - (718) 984-5151
QUEENS - District#20 - The Honorable John C. Liu - (718) 888-8747
MANHTN - District#10 - The Honorable Miguel Martinez - (917) 521-2616/2640
QUEENS - District#21 - The Honorable Hiram Monserrate - (718) 205-3881
BRONX - District#18 - The Honorable Annabel Palma - (718) 617-1869
BRONX - District#13 - The Honorable Madeline T. Provenzano - (718) 931-6060
BRKLYN - District#34 - The Honorable Diana Reyna - (718) 963-3141
BRONX - District#15 - The Honorable Joel Rivera - (718) 842-8100
QUEENS - District#31 - The Honorable James Sanders, Jr. - (718) 527-4356
BRONX - District#12 - The Honorable Larry B. Seabrook - (718) 994-9900
QUEENS - District#25 - The Honorable Helen Sears - (718) 803-6373
BRKLYN - District#45 - The Honorable Kendall Stewart - (718) 951-8177
QUEENS - District#23 - The Honorable David I. Weprin - (718) 465-8202
Part of the motivation for many of the council members may have to do with the "pledge" to give construction jobs to minorities. There are two problems with this rational. 1. It is only a pledge not a guarantee; council members would server their constituents better by making sure they get such assurances in writing. 2. The jobs issue itself is a red herring. There are and will be plent of construction jobs in the city for the next decade. There is currently more residential development going on than has in a generation. There is an enormous amount of construction planned for lowe Manhattan and the WIlliamsburg waterfront. Lastly there will be an enormous amount of construction on the Railyard site and surround neighborhood no matter what is developed there. It does not have to be a 1.3 billion dollar hand out to the Jets that fleeces tax payers.
their letter:
Dear Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Bruno:
We write to you, as members of the City Council of New York, to state that we support the construction of the New York Sports and Convention Center (NYSCC) on Manhattan's Far West Side. We believe the NYSCC will be a terrific economic engine for New York - creating thousands of permanent and temporary jobs for New Yorkers and generating millions of dollars in revenue each year to pay for other vital government services like education, health care and public safety, and other municipal services.
We also support the City's investment toward the public infrastructure for the NYSCC - specifically the retractable roof which will permit the venue to be used year-round for conventions, trade shows and large events. This $300 million investment will not take money away from existing programs, but will, as study after study has shown, generate much needed revenue to pay for other government services.
In closing, we ask that you approve the NYSCC when it is put before you at the Public Authorities Control Board.
Thank you.
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(this post orginally published here)