Norwood News

Followed by a crowd of more than 500 people, including activists, politicians, union leaders, local clergy, new moms and a radical marching band, 16-year-old Adolfo Abreu wrapped yellow tape around the Kingsbridge Armory. The message from the northwest Bronx community was simple, clear and written in black letters on the yellow tape, both in English and Spanish: “It’s Our Armory.”

The Armory, of course, is owned by the city, but is in the process of being turned over to The Related Companies who plan to transform the massive castle-like structure into a huge shopping mall.

But people at the rally — which was organized last Wednesday night by the Kingsbridge Armory Redevelopment Alliance (KARA) and ended with the taping of the Armory — wanted Related to know that they expected something in return for their Armory.

As part of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), they want Related to require its mall tenants to pay a living wage ($10 an hour, plus benefits). And they’re enlisting the help of heavy hitters to take up the fight on a bigger stage.

In the packed, yellow-lit auditorium of Our Lady of Refuge Church on 196th Street, local elected officials and prominent union leaders, including Stuart Appelbaum of the Retail, Wholesalers and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Fred LeMoine of the Bronx Board of Business Agents were joined for a cameo appearance by Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson who is currently the city’s comptroller.

When asked whether he would take up KARA’s fight for living wage jobs, Thompson said, “It’s a tough question. The answer is yes!”

Earlier this spring, the board of the city’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) approved $17.3 million in tax breaks to help Related complete its Armory mall project. Thompson’s representative on the board was a lone dissenting vote.

At the rally, Thompson said his position on living wage jobs at the Armory and other development projects represented a sharp contrast from the views of his opponent, Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Thompson said he thinks the city should be tying tax breaks into the creation of good jobs, “not just during construction, but after construction” as well. He added, “Some of the models [for linking tax breaks to post-construction jobs] that we’re seeing are not part of how the city thinks.”

In Los Angeles, benefits agreements with living wage requirements are becoming part of most big development projects. But, as job advocates and even Related officials have pointed out, wage requirements have not been part of the Bloomberg administration’s development model.

Related has committed to entering into a CBA for the Armory project, but says requiring living wages from its future tenants would be unrealistic. KARA and members of Community Board 7, with the help of the Bronx Borough President’s office, however, are negotiating for living wage language in a CBA that could change Bloomberg’s model for the five boroughs.