Not An Alternative

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, HIGH NOON - DEMONSTRATION AND RALLY @ GIFFORD MILLER’S MAYORAL CAMPAIGN OFFICE

CONTACT:

917-400-9377 Ina Howard

917-646-202-5479 Beka Economopoulos

Monday, April 18, 2005

MEDIA ADVISORY DEMONSTRATION AND RALLY @ GIFFORD MILLER’S MAYORAL CAMPAIGN OFFICE TUESDAY, APRIL 19, HIGH NOON

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The communities of Williamsburg and Greenpoint are facing one of the most aggressive rezonings in NYC history.

This Tuesday, April 19th, at noon, the Williamsburg Creative Industries Coalition– representing more than one-hundred local community groups and businesses– will rally at Gifford Miller’s mayoral campaign office to declare, “We need a hero!” and to ask Miller to help them save their neighborhood.

City Council Speaker Miller was a no-show at the April 4th public hearing where hundreds of community members testified against the Bloomberg rezoning scheme. Miller later removed the chair of the zoning committee, Tony Avella –the only community representative who listened to community concerns at the hearing– from closed-door negotiations over the Williamsburg/Greenpoint rezoning. Community groups have had difficulties scheduling meetings with Miller or the other figures involved in talks that will seal the fate of their neighborhood. In order to be heard, they will gather outside of Miller’s office Tuesday.

The Creative Industries Coalition supports local Community Board 1’s development plan which preserves the architectural character of the neighborhood, protects the 4,000 jobs that would be lost under the Bloomberg plan, allows for park development and access for all community residents, creates affordable housing, and still provides reasonable returns on investment for developers.

The Bloomberg plan would allow the construction of up to twenty-two 40-story luxury condominium towers (taller than the Williamsburg Bridge) on the Williamsburg/ Greenpoint waterfront, permanently destroying the architectural character of the neighborhood, blocking light from hundreds of other buildings, drastically raising rents for local residents and businesses, eliminating the light industrial manufacturers in the area, overburdening an already over-taxed subway line and causing other deleterious effects for the local community and New York City generally.

For more information about the community’s plan, including the 197-a’s proposed by the Community Board, a schedule of upcoming events relevant to the rezoning debate, a list of involved organizations, and more see: www.communityplan.org

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***GREAT PHOTO OP***

“Tug of War” outside Miller’s office with community members in Flower costumes on one side, and Tower costumes on the other. Demonstrators will carry cardboard shovels, pick axes and road signs, to symbolize that the community should be involved in the development of our neighborhoods.

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Directions to rally:

1 block east of Broadway and a little north of Fulton Just south of City Hall Park, between Ann and Beekman

Subways: 4/5/6/2/3 to Fulton/ Bway Nassau OR R/W to City Hall OR J/M/Z to Brooklyn Bridge/Chambers