There's another sign--beyond my previous coverage (link)--of front-running mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo's alliance with union labor and Cirrus Real Estate, and thus with an expected emerging new plan for Atlantic Yards.
Why did Andrew Cuomo’s campaign hire the carpenters union’s political director?, The Real Deal reported June 2, noting that the hiring of Kevin Elkins means an alliance with perhaps the most forceful construction union in the city.
The Carpenters Union, advocating for union jobs, has sometimes taken on "a role once occupied by the Building and Construction Trades Council as public-facing antagonist to the Real Estate Board of New York," according to the publication.
Developers, of course, might want to avoid unions, or at least union-set wages as part of a state tax break. Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park has long been promised as union construction, though project-specific labor agreements might adjust wages.
The Real Deal noted:
But even if Elkins isn’t there to irritate real estate players from an official post in a new Cuomo administration, his connection to the would-be mayor of New York City could lift his union’s stature further — giving real estate a beefier opponent.
Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council, noted the obvious: that Cuomo is courting the building trades unions.
The Carpenters Union, the article notes, does not support potential changes in the city Charter that would weaken member deference, which leaves the local Council Member in charge of a rezoning, including the potential to require union labor. (That hasn't been the case with spot rezonings near Atlantic Yards.)
The Cirrus connection
The Real Deal notes--as I've previously cited--the plan, announced last year by Mayor Eric Adams, for a $400 million fund involving Cirrus and construction unions to build "workforce housing," and a new Cirrus
alliance with Resorts World New York City to build "up to 50,000 units," a number that offers a lot of wiggle room.
Bottom line: it looks like "Mayor Cuomo" would endorse a new Cirrus plan to complete Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park because--duh--it would deliver jobs and housing. He likely would care less about the impact of that revised, perhaps
supersized, plan on project neighbors.
The other candidates
None of the other mayoral candidates have addressed Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park, except for Comptroller (and former 39th District Council Member) Brad Lander, who has expanded on his
previous comments to join with BrooklynSpeaks to
criticize the state's failure to impose penalties for the unbuilt affordable housing.
Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, who trails Cuomo in the polls, filed
a video about his housing plans at the Vanderbilt Yard but failed to mention the project, as I reported in February. (Too complicated?) An excerpt from today's
New York Times Q&A:
4. What’s one issue in politics that you’ve changed your mind about?
The role of the private market in housing construction.
How so?
I clearly recognize now that there is a very important role to be played, and one that city government must facilitate through the increasing of density around mass transit hubs...
Well, of course. But "the devil's in the details," as the mantra goes.
So it would be interesting to see whether Mayor Mamdani or Mayor Lander (or the others) would embrace the Cirrus plan, because it would bring union support and deliver housing, or wait for some sober assessment.
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