A week ago there was an article in Queens Chronicle, one of our local papers. "DiNapoli calls Flushing fabulous", state comptroller offers glowing economic report on business. (9/29/2011)
There is a photo under the headline, with a smiling Grace Meng and Peter Koo, Tom DiNapoli looking heavenward, and an almost grimacing Toby Stavinsky.
Speaking to an audience Thursday at the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Flushing, the state official painted a rosy picture of the community's economy. "The dire effects of the recession are not felt here," DiNapoli said.
He attributed that to the plethora of small businesses, many of them founded by Asian immigrants, that have made Flushing the place that is, "brimming with life and vitality".
Flushing is fabulous. Flushing is brimming with life and vitality. But Flushing most definately feels the dire effects of the recession.
As the economy falls deeper and deeper into a depression, the American public has become less afraid to acknowlege the reality of class. The brothers and sisters occupying Wall Street make it very clear what richest 1% are doing to the 99% of the rest of us. There is a class war going on, and the rich have been winning.
Flushing's elected officials side with the 1%. They don't have the wealth and power of the 1%, but they identify with the goals of the 1%, to help the rich get richer. Some of them have or have had direct ties to Wall Street and to bankers. Why should Flushing have so few schools and 60, count them, 60 banks within walking distance from each other?
DiNapoli gave statistics on how Flushing businesses grew by 37.6 percent between 2000 and 2009. He also found that neighborhoods with the large immigrant populations had stronger economic growth than the city as a whole. Wages had also risen, according to Mr. DiNapoli.
Giving out fact sheet figures does not always tell the whole story, but I understand that those figures are all Mr. DiNapoli may have to go on. But Councilman Peter Koo, Assemblywoman Grace Meng and State Senator Toby Stavinsky all know, or should know, more about the Flushing community that they serve.
They must see the very expensive luxury condos that have sprung up on almost every other block. They must see that many of them are nearly empty, some after two or three years. Others are rusting shells that have not been completed. Real housing was knocked down to build these things. Real people lost their apartments, rooms, housing to build them. And now they sit empty or nearly so, waiting for the rich occupants they anticipated in the boom times. And our grinning elected officials in Flushing are still heaping praise on those that built them or the banks that invested in them.
Speaking about all the building projects in Flushing, Stavinsky said: "Jobs are the reason I support extensive development," while stressing that affordable housing is a need and should not be overlooked. Like Stavinksy, every Flushing politician has given lip service to "affordable housing" during their campaigns. But when it is ribbon cutting time, the only housing that has been produced is for the upscale and wealthy. To them, an empty expensive condo is better than an affordable unit that is full of rent paying residents.
City Councilman Peter Koo (R Flushing) who came here as an immigrant and now owns five pharmacies , said he wants the city to protect small businesses, saying they face too many regulations. (Like what, minimum wage?) I think a better use of space would be to tell us what regulations he is opposed to, rather than telling us in each interview that he came as a (poor) immigrant. If this is central to his story, then give the details on how he came with nothing, got his degree while working for Dunkin Donuts and then opened the pharmacies. Where did the seed money come from, or was it from saving Dunkin Donuts tips? I'm not being sarcastic, I want to know. I have too many neighbors here in Flushing, who also came as immigrants, but are having trouble making ends meet.
They might not show up on Comptroller DiNapoli's spread sheets, since many of the businesses they work at pay off the books or have two accounting books. One is the true account and one is the doctored account that lists fewer employees, or just the ones taxes are being taken out for.
Many of the Flushing businesses that are reaping praise for their success despite the failing economy are successful because they hire undocumented workers and pay them less than the labor laws require.
Peter Koo's major gripe is the condition of the Flushing Long Island Railroad station. "It looks like a third world station," he said. At first I couldn't believe that of all things, he was concerned with the cosmetic look of a railroad that serves a fraction of the Flushing community. Maybe there is "stimulus money" for this kind of project, that might work its way into the hands of the Flushing developers. Or maybe Peter Koo has nostalgic memories of living and raising his kids in Long Island while taking the LIRR to his growing pharmacy empire?
