Posted by WBAI 99.5 FM on December 1, 2018
On December 1, 2018, City Watch hosts Jeff Simmons and Edwina Martin focused on World AIDS Day with guests: New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm; Johanne Morne, Director of the New York State Department of Health’s AIDS Institute’ and, Eugene Eppes, a Community Linkage Specialist at Alliance for Positive Change.
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City Council Members Daniel Dromm, in foreground, and Carlos Menchaca discuss the Trump Administration’s proposed changes to policy regarding the applications for green cards. Photo by Michael Rock.
By Michael Rock
Originally published by Queens County Politics on November 21, 2018
City Council Members Daniel Dromm (D-East Elmhurt, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights) and Carlos Menchaca (D-Brooklyn) last night held a town hall meeting in front of several hundred worried immigrants to discuss a Trump administration proposed rule change that would make it harder for immigrants reliant on government benefits to obtain or keep their green cards.
The town hall held in the PS 69 auditorium in Jackson Heights specifically was called to address the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposed rule change that would render immigrants who receive certain forms of public assistance (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP and Section 8 vouchers) potentially ineligible for U.S. permanent residency (Green Card).
The rule change was published in the Federal Register in October, kicking off a 60-day public comment period.
Dromm opened the meeting, where he described the rule change as a “threat to our immigrant communities.” “If the Trump Administration implements this, it will be detrimental to our immigrant community, and our city will lose money if this policy goes through as proposed,” he said.
Assemblymember-elect Caralina Cruz. Photo by Michael Rock.
Assemblymember-elect Catalina Cruz (D-Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights) agreed. “As a formerly undocumented American, our constituents shouldn’t have to suffer consequences if they apply for citizenship,” she said.
Meanwhile, Councilmember Donovan Richards (D-Arverne, Bayswater, Broad Channel, Cambria Heights, Edgemere, Far Rockaway, Howard Beach, Jamaica, JFK Airport, Laurelton, Rockaway Beach, Rosedale, South Ozone Park, Springfield Gardens), recognizing his many Latino constituents asserted that there was no positive reason to implement this policy.
“This is about striking fear at the very heart of those that make America great in the first place,” Richards said. “We must get together, organize, and educate each other,”
City Councilmember Donovan Richards. Photo by Michael Rock.
Despite Menchaca’s indication that as many as 475,000 New Yorkers could be affected by the change, he offered attendees reason to hope. He made it clear that the regulation is “…just a proposal,” and that a potential law change was “months away.”
He also indicated that there was a way in which average voters could attempt to prevent the proposal from being enacted, encouraging all attendees to comment on the matter at www.uramericanstory.us by the December 10 deadline. DHS are obligated to read every comment. As of last night, 68,000 Americans have done so.
“Make sure your voice is heard by telling them, you’ll slow it down,” said Menchaca.
“One thing we know from history is that uncertainty produces fear, and fear is what robs people of their agency. The solution is to dispel rumors through education and remind people of their own power. These town halls are a vehicle for that education and empowerment. People need to know that the public charge rule is just a proposal. It is not final. You still can and should seek public benefits if you are eligible,” he added.
Read more here.
(Photo: Make the Road New York/ Twitter)
By Tara Law
Originally published in the Jackson Heights Post on July 10, 2018
Trans people and their allies marched through Jackson Heights and Corona yesterday for the seventh annual Trans Latinx March.
The march is organized each year by TRIP Queens, the trans justice project of immigrant activist group Make the Road New York. The Trans Latinx March aims to promote awareness that trans people live in the neighborhood and are part of the community.
Several hundred marchers, including many in traditional Latino dresses, started the parade at Make the Road New York’s 92-10 Roosevelt Ave. office and then walked up Roosevelt to Junction Boulevard and back down 37th Avenue.
The march struck a somewhat more serious tone than the Queens Pride parade in Jackson Heights last month. The marchers passed by a shrine to 14 trans people who have been killed in the United States over the past year, and many marchers carried posters decrying transphobia.
Councilmember Daniel Dromm noted in a speech to the crowd that, in some ways, trans people have an even greater need for visibility than the LGBTQ community as a whole.
“This march is the most important march in Queens,” Dromm said. “We often forget about the T, in the LGBTQ.”
The Consul General of Mexico, Diego Gomez Pickering, also made an appearance to give an Ohtli Award to Bianey Garcia, an organizer for Make the Road’s trans project. The honor is among the highest awards handed out by the Mexican government to Mexican citizens living abroad.
Councilmember Francisco Moya also announced at the march that he intends to apply to the city to co-name Answer Triangle— which is located between the intersections of Whitney Avenue, Aske Street and Roosevelt Boulevard— Trans Latinx Triangle.
On Twitter, Moya said that the city should change the name of triangle into something meaningful that embodies, “love and acceptance.”
“Today we’re constantly asking the question, ‘who are we as a city, as a country?’” Moya wrote. “Are we a place that tolerates hate, transphobia and bigotry? Or are we a place that offers refuge to the oppressed, where people are free to express themselves and their love however they want?”
Read more here.
Transit advocates are asking subway riders to call the mayor and demand fair fares. Photo: Getty Images
By Kristin Toussaint
Originally published by Metro New York on May 14, 2018
As you wait on subway platforms this week, you may see transit advocates asking you to call Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office to ask him to adopt “fair fares.”
Members of the Riders Alliance and Community Service Society, an organization that advocates for low-income New Yorkers, announced on Monday a weeklong grassroots campaign in an effort to secure half-priced MetroCards for those living in poverty.
In April, New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Finance Committee Chair Daniel Dromm recommended that the mayor institute the Fair Fares initiative in the Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
“The administration should fund a program to provide half-fare MetroCards to individuals and families living below the poverty level so that approximately 800,000 low-income people could save up to $726 per year,” they recommended.
But de Blasio did not include the initiative in the proposed budget, prompting Johnson and Dromm to release a statement saying they were disappointed that it did not address all of the City Council’s priorities.
Nearly $1 billion in additional revenue is expected in Fiscal Year 2018, they noted, and they said that “the administration should use this additional revenue to institute Fair Fares to help our most vulnerable neighbors,” as well as to fund a property tax rebate for middle-class homeowners and put some money in reserves.
Now, with the passage of the city budget just weeks away, advocates with the Riders Alliance and Community Service Society gathered in Harlem on Monday to bring that call to action to regular New Yorkers. In front of the 125th Street subway stop, they announced a weeklong canvassing effort to ask riders to call Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, voice their support for Fair Fares and ask him to join the cause.
The location is also meant to raise awareness of the Fair Fares initiative, the advocates said. Making the announcement in Harlem — parts of which have poverty rates around 30 percent, or nearly one-third of residents — they hoped to reach some of the riders who may qualify.
Citywide, 19.5 percent of New Yorkers live below the poverty line. At an estimated cost of $212 million out of a $90 billion budget, Riders Alliance said, nearly 800,000 of these working-age New Yorkers would be eligible for Fair Fares, with participants saving up to $726 annually.
“New Yorkers living at or below the poverty line should not have to wait any longer for relief from the often prohibitive cost of public transit in our city,” said David R. Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society, in a statement. “Our Fair Fares proposal could save working poor New Yorkers hundreds of dollars a year and give them the freedom to access more of what New York City can offer them and their families. We have overwhelming support for this plan and now simply need Mayor de Blasio to pick up the phone and listen to his constituents. Fair Fares can’t wait.”
Read more here.
Trabajadores Luis Gil, Mauricio Jimenez, Jose Francisco Lopez con Modesta Toribio. Robo de Salario. (Photo: El Diario)
Por Edwin Martinez
Publicado en El Diario el 17 de octubre 2017
“La otra semana le pago”. “Deje de molestar tanto”. “Qué quiere que haga si a mí no me han pagado”. “A mí no me importa que usted no tenga pa’ comer”. “Si me sigue llamando le echo a ‘La Migra’”. Esas son algunas de las frases que diariamente cientos de trabajadores informales escuchan por parte de subcontratistas que se “aparecen como ángeles” en momentos de vacas flacas, y luego de ponerlos a trabajar con salarios de solo $80 por el día entero, principalmente en labores de demolición, pintura, construcción y limpieza, se niegan a pagar y terminan borrándose del mapa.
Eso le pasó al ecuatoriano Mauricio Jiménez, quien en el 2014, tras la angustia de llevar tres semanas sin trabajo, fue contratado por un paisano suyo en obras de construcción, y no solo le “robaron” su pago sino que terminó siendo el malo de la película.
“El tipo empezó pagando bien, pero luego ya me daba poco, no me daba la semana completa, solo partes, y al final ya no me volvió a pagar y me quitó dos semanas. Lo llamaba y lo llamaba y lo buscaba en su casa, pero se molestó conmigo, se puso tenso y nunca me pagó”, comentó el inmigrante, quien decidió demandarlo, y aunque ganó el caso en la corte tras dos años de batalla, finalmente el dinero se perdió.
“Se desapareció y nadie sabe nada de él. Seguramente sigue haciendo esto como un negocio, sigue contratando más trabajadores, los roba y desaparece, pues ese es el modus operandi de muchos subcontratistas que lucran a cuenta de los trabajadores y cambian de celular, de nombres de compañías o de lugares de trabajo”, agrega el inmigrante, quien en enero del año pasado volvió a caer en las garras de otro empleador deshonesto.
“Me volvió a pasar con otro paisano ecuatoriano. Me quedó debiendo un mes, pero ahí, gracias a la ayuda de esta organización se llegó a un acuerdo y me pagó los $2,500 que me debía, porque los abogados lo llamaron y seguramente a él le dio miedo que se corriera la voz o que se metiera en problemas”, agregó Jiménez, al tiempo que contó sobre otras tácticas sucias que suelen aplicar.
“Muchos pagan cada quince días y se inventan una semana de ‘security’ que no se sabe por qué es, y siempre va a quedar ese dinero faltante porque esa semana se queda en el aire y al final, si son honestos, pagan el resto pero esa no la pagan”, dijo el trabajador, advirtiendo a quienes tienen historias similares que denuncien y luchen por sus pagos.
“Eso que hacen ellos es un asalto en el que uno sabe quién es la persona y cuanto le robo, y sabiendo esos datos uno puede denunciar y la justicia tarde o temprano llega y se les frena el negocio sucio que están montando”, dijo el ecuatoriano.
Mauricio Jimenez. Robo de Salario. (Photo: El Diario)
El salvadoreño José Francisco López, padre de cinco hijos, también cayó en las redes de los empleadores avivatos, y le fue peor, porque hasta su vida estuvo en juego.
“Yo quería cobrar mi sueldo y me decían que ya me habían pagado, me enredaban y pasaron semanas que no me pagaron, pero eso no fue lo peor sino que una vez el patrón hasta me tiró una máquina encima para matarme porque recibí una llamada”, comentó el inmigrante, quien quedó deshabilitado y ahora depende de su hijo de 17 años, quien sostiene a la familia, trabajando en un lavadero de carros y en una pizzería. “Mi jefe me terminó robando como unas cinco semanas, no me dio compensación por un accidente que tuve y aunque llevo año y medio con el caso en la corte, aún no me han podido recuperar nada, pero sigo en la lucha porque eso va a salir bien”, agregó el trabajador, quien siente rabia de que los empleadores “jueguen con el hambre” de familias enteras.
Los casos de Jiménez y López son solo una pequeña muestra de una realidad que cada vez es más común. Modesta Toribio, defensora de los derechos de los trabajadores de la organización Make the Road Nueva York, aseguró que las estafas de subcontratistas han ido en aumento, pero advirtió que con datos básicos se pueden recuperar los salarios. Esta organización recibe en sus oficinas un promedio de 300 denuncias al año.
“Esta práctica se ha vuelto muy común, especialmente en el área de la Roosevelt, en Queens, donde yo recibo semanalmente entre 5 y 7 casos de robo de salarios de inmigrantes a los llevan a trabajar duro y luego no les contestan el teléfono y no les pagan, pero es importante que ellos sepan que tienen derechos y que podemos ayudarlos a que les den su dinero”, aseguró la activista, al tiempo que agregó que el 80% de los casos que manejan tienen un final feliz para el trabajador.
“Muchos trabajadores no tienen idea que pueden recuperar el dinero y dejan a los contratistas que se roben su plata, pero si no se hace nada contra ellos, no solo van a perder su derecho de obtener su salario sino que van a seguir haciéndole eso a otras personas”, comentó la dominicana, quien pidió que los trabajadores siempre tengan información precisa del contratista como la dirección donde vive, nombre completo, teléfono, placa del carro que usa y hasta fotos del empleado en el sitio de trabajo.
La activista afirmó además que en esta lucha para que se respete la dignidad de los trabajadores sería muy útil si hubiera leyes más fuertes que persigan más a los subcontratistas aprovechados, por lo que mencionó que al Departamento de Labor del Estadole hace falta un seguimiento más feroz de los “mala paga” y más prontitud en el manejo de los casos.
Daniel Dromm, concejal del distrito de Jackson Heights y miembro del Comité de Labor del Concejo Municipal, destacó que los asuntos laborales en Nueva York están delineados por el Estado y advirtió que aunque en 2011 se aprobó el Acta de Protección Salarial que protege a los trabajadores, necesita fortalecerse más a través de la organización y la educación.
“La ley está ahí, pero seguimos escuchando gente que trabaja y no le pagan, por lo que es importante seguir el trabajo que estamos haciendo desde el Concejo con fondos para advertirle a todos los neoyorquinos, tengan papeles o no, que las leyes los cubren y que todos los trabajadores tienen sus derechos y pueden reclamar si son víctimas de jefes que no les pagan”, advirtió el líder político de Queens, quien pidió que se incrementen los castigos a los subcontratistas “ladrones”.
“Ellos son criminales y están haciendo algo terrible, por lo que es necesario verlos como delincuentes y darles mayores castigos incluso enviarlos a la cárcel, porque no podemos permitir que victimicen a personas vulnerables que están cayendo en sus manos”, agregó Dromm.
Se Hace Camino coordinadora Modesta Toribio. Robo de Salario. (Photo: El Diario)
Rafael Espinal, presidente del Comité de Asuntos del Consumidor, lamentó especialmente que muchos subcontratistas pretendan legitimar el robo de salarios amenazando a los trabajadores con ‘La Migra’, y advirtió que ordenará una investigación más exhaustiva sobre esta problemática para ponerle freno a los empleadores abusivos.
“Los trabajadores deben recibir un pago por el trabajo que realizan y nunca ser intimidados por los empleadores que desean explotar su estado migratorio”, dijo el concejal de Brooklyn, donde se reportar muchos de estos robos de salarios. “Como presidente de la Comisión de Asuntos del Consumidor del Concejo, haré que el personal investigue y estudie estos abusos para asegurarnos de que estamos haciendo todo lo posible para lograr que los neoyorquinos reciban salarios que se han ganado con trabajo duro y que han sido robados por propietarios de negocios turbios”.
Cristóbal Gutiérrez, defensor laboral de Make the Road NY advirtió que los trabajadores que han sido víctima de lo que describió como un negocio endémico no deben permitir que violen sus derechos.
“La ley dice que cualquier día trabajado en este país, independientemente del estatus migratorio, debe ser pagado conforme a la ley del estado en el que se está trabajando, al menos el ingreso mínimo correspondiente”, dijo el chileno mencionando que organismos como el Departamento de Labor, las fiscalías y hasta las cortes de pequeños reclamos están prestas a ayudar. “Aunque cada caso es diferente hay que pedir ayuda, pero lo ideal es que si hay varias personas a las que les está pasando lo mismo se unan y van a ser más exitoso”.
El Departamento de Trabajo de Nueva York, que tiene una unidad de ayuda de salarios no pagados, advierte que los empleadores que no cumplen con sus obligaciones salariales están cometiendo un delito, considerado menor y hace un llamado a que las víctimas presenten sus reclamos.
“El Departamento de Trabajo ayuda a cobrar los salarios adeudados a los trabajadores que no han recibido el salario mínimo, una vez que nos presentan un reclamo. Las normas laborales investigan y se esfuerzan por recopilar estos reclamos para salarios pendientes de pago, salarios retenidos, deducciones ilegales y también hacemos cumplir las reglas que prohíben a los empleadores tomar sobornos ilegales de los salarios”, advierte ese organismo.
La Fiscalía General del Estado también ha lanzado una dura batalla para recuperar los salarios robados de los trabajadores y aseguran que en el último año lograron pagos pendientes de más de $2.7 millones que beneficiaron a más de 1,500 empleados en casos civiles y penales. Desde el 2011 el monto supera los $30 millones.
“Como Fiscal General, estoy comprometido a luchar en nombre de los trabajadores de Nueva York para asegurar que obtienen un pago justo por cada jornada de trabajo”, aseguró Eric Schneiderman. “Seguiremos luchando todos los días en favor de las familias trabajadoras de Nueva York”.
Leer más aquí.
By Matt McClure
Reported by NY1 on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 08:05 PM
A group of Jackson Heights residents has filed a class action lawsuit against the MTA. They say lead paint chips falling from the elevated 7 train line pose a public health hazard. NY1’s Matt McClure filed the following report.
Standing under the elevated 7 train along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights you can’t help but notice it: Paint chipping and falling away.
“I have two small kids,” said Dudley Stewart, a Jackson Heights resident and one of the plaintiffs in the case. “
Every day we walk through Roosevelt Avenue and I get worried because you see the dust falling from the train. We know it’s filled with lead aint.”
A recent study by a painter’s union found lead levels in paint chips here were more than 40 times the legal threshold.
Now, four Jackson Heights residents have joined together in a federal class action lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), calling on the agency to fix the problem.
“This is something the MTA has known about for years,” Steward said. “We want them to fix it. They refuse to fix it. Now is the time to force them to do it.”
“When all other avenues have failed, we believe that this lawsuit will then force the MTA to cure this hazard, which has existed for too long,” said attorney Dan Woodard, who represents the plaintiffs.
Among other things, the lawsuit accuses the agency of intentionally causing dangerous conditions by painting the structure with lead paint, then not maintaining it. City Council Member Daniel Dromm says it’s a public health hazard. He also believes it’s been 35 years since the structure between Woodside and Corona has received a fresh coat of paint.
“They keep telling us it’s in the budget,” Dromm said. “We’ve not seen it painted.”
Tammy Rose, an area resident involved in the lawsuit says the structural conditions of the elevated 7 line are so bad, one day as she was driving down Roosevelt Avenue, a bolt fell and hit her car.
“If a bolt falls off, imagine the amount of paint chips that are falling that we don’t see,” Rose said.
“You can see the structure is in very bad shape,” Dromm added. “I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen down!”
The MTA does not comment on pending litigation, but a spokesperson says their previous tests showed lead levels within EPA standards. The spokesperson also denies that it has been 35 years since the bridge has been painted, although they didn’t say when it happened. There is money in the agency’s current Capital Plan for the painting, but there’s no word on when it might happen.
For the residents who filed this lawsuit, it can’t come soon enough.
See more here.
By Allison Hope
Originally published by DNAinfo on June 17, 2016
Students from the Earth School have successfully advocated to push a national online education provider to include an LGBT-specific curriculum. Photo: Colin Schumacher
EAST VILLAGE — An education company that supplies learning materials to millions of students across the nation will be adding LGBT studies to its elementary school curriculum after one New York City public school fought to make it happen.
BrainPOP, an interactive digital educational company based in the Flatiron that’s used by students in public schools across the city, has agreed to create a new LGBT Civil Rights-specific curriculum by the fall — following nearly a year of pressure from students the East Village’s Earth School as well as an outpouring of grief following the recent tragedy in Orlando.
“Children of all ages are exposed to the terrible news, and as parents and teachers, we are once again faced with having to explain the unexplainable. To help provide kids with context, we’ll be publishing a topic that addresses the historic Gay Rights movement and encourages tolerance and acceptance,” BrainPOP Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Din Heiman wrote on the company’s website Monday — a day after gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people in an LGBT club and wounded 53 more before he was killed by police.
“I do hope that the Earth School children that expressed a wish to see a BrainPOP topic realize that their request was heard, and led to real change even before the events of this tragic weekend,” Heiman added in a separate email to the school shared with DNAinfo New York.
Heiman told DNAinfo he planned to prepare standalone LGBT educational materials ready in time for the new school year.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito hugs a student from the Lower East Side’s Earth School during a meeting to brainstorm ways to advocate for an LGBT-inclusive curriculum in their elementary school.
The announcement came as welcome news to the students at the Earth School, where fourth and fifth grade students had been calling on BrainPOP to create an elementary school curriculum devoted to the fight for LGBT Civil Rights.
“What is the purpose of education if not to change things for the better?” said Earth School teacher Colin Schumacher, who spearheaded the charge after his fourth grade class realized last year during their civil rights studies that BrainPOP had nothing available regarding the LGBT community’s struggle.
The students sent an email to the company to find out why and to ask that it get added. When the company failed to respond, the students called elementary and middle school principals in the area and asked if they would lend their support. The students sent a second request to BrainPOP with the list of supportive educational leaders, but still heard no response, Schumacher said.
The Earth School’s Principal Abbe Futterman eventually got an email from BrainPOP’s Editorial Director, Jon Feldman, who wrote, “I doubled-checked with our standards provider, and it seems that at present only four states, including New York, have specific standards around LGBT rights. Every one of those standards is at the high school level. While there are high school classrooms that use BrainPOP, we do not create topics that are applicable only to those grades,” according to the email she shared with DNAinfo.
BrainPOP officials wrote in the email that they would consider, “revising the Civil Rights movie to better highlight the connection between the historical movement of the 1960s and the activism it inspired in subsequent generations. This will naturally include the LGBT Rights movement.”
But that wasn’t a sufficient response for the students, they said.
“The kids did not believe that adding LGBT rights as an addendum to any existing video is fair and equal treatment for one of the most significant civil rights movements of their lifetime,” said Schumacher, who teaches fourth and fifth grades at The Earth School, which serves 300 students between pre-K and fifth grade.
The students kept up the battle this spring, creating a standalone website entitled,“Kids for LGBT Rights Now,” which features a multi-faceted effort to push for LGBT-inclusive curriculum in schools, including a video they produced and starred in while wearing a rainbow of different colored shirts, standing in front of various locations of LGBT significance including Stonewall Inn.
The website also includes a blog with updates on their efforts as well as a petition calling on BrainPOP to add LGBT content to its suite of offerings.
On April 29, the students met with LGBT Liaison for the NYC Department of Education Jared Fox, who met with them and advised them on ways to make their advocacy campaign more effective, they said.
“We work closely with schools to develop grade-appropriate curriculum that aligns with the New York State standards and includes positive representations of LGBT individuals and history,” Fox said in a statement. “We support the work of The Earth School in creating an inclusive curriculum and encouraging students to get involved through project-based learning.”
A few weeks later, students met with more city officials including New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, her Community Engagement Liaison Mili Bonilla, and City Council and LGBT Caucus Member Daniel Dromm.
Dromm, who faced homophobia as one of the few out gay teachers in the New York City system in the early 1990s, then sent a letter to BrainPOP as well as to Apple CEO Tim Cook, since Apple has been heavily promoting BrainPOP on its products.
“These incredibly inspiring activists have one simple mission. They want BrainPOP, a resource they highly value, to cover history accurately. I look forward to receiving your response about why such content is not on your site and why you have no plans to address its glaring omission,” Dromm’s letter read.
On June 8, the students attended the New York City Council pride celebration where they showed the video the kids produced calling on BrainPOP to create standalone LGBT resources. “The kids were the hit of the evening,” Dromm said. “They received a five-minute-long standing ovation.”
The Earth School students with their teacher had planned to return to the New York City Council on June 21 to be recognized for their work as part of the annual ceremony to highlight the accomplishments of New Yorkers — and the news of their success will make the visit even more powerful, Dromm said.
“Many people have laid down their lives, Harvey Milk and others, in this cause for LGBT civil rights,” Dromm said, “So I think to present history in an intellectually honest way is something we must do.”
Read more here.
By Christopher Barca
Originally published by the Queens Chronicle on May 5, 2016
PHOTO BY MARK TURNAUCKAS / FLICKR.
Popular fast-food chain Chick-fil-A will open a restaurant in the Queens Center mall this fall. Councilman Danny Dromm has called for a boycott of the location, citing company leadership’s past verbal and financial support of anti-LGBT groups.
The Queens Center mall is packed with restaurant options, be it fast food or sit-down dining.
Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) wants hungry shoppers to avoid one location when it opens later this year: Chick-fil-A.
After published reports said Saturday that the popular fast-food eatery will open its first outerborough location inside the mall this fall, Dromm slammed the company on Monday over its leadership’s past comments condemning same-sex marriage and financial contributions to organizations that supposedly sponsor anti-LGBT causes.
“Chick-fil-A is anti-LGBT,” Dromm said in a statement. “I am deeply disturbed that Chick-fil-A continues to give 25 percent of their charitable contributions to anti-LGBT organizations, including over $1 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.”
According to reports published in 2012, the WinShape Foundation — created by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy and his family — had given millions of dollars in donations and grants over the years to groups such as the Marriage & Family Foundation and the National Christian Foundation, many of which were criticized as being anti-LGBT by gay and lesbian advocacy organizations.
When the Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that the federal definition of marriage as being only between one man and one woman was unconstitutional, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy tweeted it was a “sad day” for the nation and that the Founding Fathers would be “ashamed” of the decision.
In the years since the comments, Chick-fil-A and the WinShape Foundation have ceased giving funds to such groups with the exception of a $1 million donation the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, an organization that demands prospective ministry leaders condemn “impure lifestyles” like homosexuality in order to be hired, among other issues.
Dromm hammered Chick-fil-A for its continued relationship with the FCA, calling Monday on shoppers to boycott the eatery and the Queens Center mall to reconsider its contract with the company.
“This group imparts a strong anti-LGBT message by forcing their employees and volunteers to adhere to a policy that prohibits same-sex love,” he said. “It is outrageous that Chick-fil-A is quietly spreading its message of hate by funding these types of organizations.
“I hope that the Queens Center mall will reconsider giving a company so deeply invovled in anti-gay discrimination a lease on their property,” he continued. “Believers in equality should boycott these purveyors of hate.”
Chick-fil-A spokeswoman Desiree’ Fulton fired back on Tuesday, saying the restaurant does not discriminate against LGBT employees or customers and no longer financially assists anti-gay groups.
“Our intent is not to support groups with political agendas,” Fulton wrote in an email to the Chronicle. “The Chick-fil-A Foundation gives 100 percent of its dollars to programs supporting youth, education and the local communities in which our restaurants operate.
“The Chick-fil-A Foundation partners with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,” she continued, “specifically to provide free summer sports camps for hundreds of young students in urban environments throughout the nation.”
A spokesman for Macerich, Queens Center mall’s management company, had no comment on Dromm’s remarks, but said work on the Chick-fil-A location has begun and the new addition to the food court should open “sometime in the fall.”
Speaking at an unrelated press conference at the 105th Precinct in Queens Village on Tuesday, Mayor de Blasio criticized the eatery’s leadership for its previous comments and financial donations, but said he doesn’t agree with Dromm on a possible boycott of the location.
“It is a country in which people have a right to open a business,” de Blasio said. “What the ownership of Chick-fil-A has said is wrong. I’m certainly not going to patronize them and I wouldn’t urge any other New Yorker to patronize them, but they do have a legal right.”
Read more here.
