Construction union group rips AARP, other unions for backing de Blasio zoning plan

A day after members of AARP, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, 32BJ and other labor unions joined Mayor Bill de Blasio in front of City Hall to call for passage his rezoning plan, a coalition spearheaded by construction unions and contractors questioned their support for the measures.

The labor coalition, Building Blocks NYC, questioned why AARP and other unions would support zoning proposals that do not come with new safety or training standards for workers. The group includes the Greater New York Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, New York Communities for Change, Faith in New York and the Real Affordability for All coalition.

“AARP NYC is the latest in a slew of short-sighted organizations that are putting politics above the health and safety construction workers,” Greater NY LECET Executive Director Patrick Purcell said Thursday in a statement. “The mayor’s housing plan will put the lives of workers on the line to build housing that, at the end of the day, is unaffordable to working class New Yorkers. The plan is a violation of the basic tenants of the labor movement, yet we see powerful unions are backing it. Why? Because their membership isn’t building it.”

When asked how many retired construction members are AARP members, a Building Blocks NYC spokesperson said “thousands of retired laborers” are among advocacy group’s New York membership and suggested construction accidents could cost AARP future members. The coalition has emphasized that 16 construction workers died in New York City in 2015, but New York City Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been said none occurred on HPD sites.

An AARP representative said that the type of worker protections sought could not be done through zoning, echoing an argument that the de Blasio administration has repeatedly made.

“AARP supports safe working environments for all people working in our city, but worker safety protections cannot be addressed in the zoning and mandatory inclusionary housing provisions that form the mayor’s plan,” an AARP spokesman said in a statement. “We support the plan because it would provide badly needed affordable housing for many of our members and hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.”

The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, 1199 SEIU, 32BJ, United Federation of Teachers and DC37, which have backed the mayor’s zoning plan, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The de Blasio administration has been engaged in negotiations with the New York City Council over two zoning proposals that are an integral part of the mayor’s affordable housing plan: Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, which would allow larger residential development in future rezonings, but require some of it to be permanently designated affordable housing, and Zoning for Quality and Affordability, which aims to support senior care facilities and mixed-income developments by allowing taller homes in some areas and reducing the number of parking spaces required with certain projects.

The Council is expected to vote on the two measures this month. Lawmakers have been hearing from residents who fear the targeted income levels are not low enough and could spur gentrification, and from Building Blocks NYC, which wants local hiring provisions and state-approved apprenticeship programs tied to the plan.

City Councilman Jumaane Williams, who said he is not involved in the Council’s negotiations, said he and his colleagues are still pushing for the zoning framework to target a lower average income than 60 percent of the area median income, which is $47,000 for a family of three.

“There’s a lot of folks that want to make sure we get deeper than that,” Williams said. “There’s people trying to get down to 30 percent (of AMI) one way or another.”