By Chris Engelhardt
Following Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement of a $20 billion plan to protect the city from future storms, clergy and Hurricane Sandy victims grilled mayoral candidates Thursday on how they would leverage those funds to create jobs, expand affordable housing and invest in neighborhoods.
Candidates Anthony Weiner, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, city Controller John Liu and Bill Thompson tackled a series of questions at Thursday night’s Reviving Our City Mayoral Candidates Summit at First Baptist Church of East Elmhurst.
Faith in New York – a new citywide faith-based organization – in partnership with the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, the Sandy Regional Assembly and the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance hosted the event, presenting a platform of priorities for Sandy rebuilding funds to create better jobs for New Yorkers in the hardest hit communities, including immigrants and youth, and affordable housing. Roughly 1,400 people attended the event, making it the most heavily-attended mayoral forum to date.
“Sandy recovery efforts have exposed the long-standing disparities that existed in our city before the storm,” Monsignor Fernando Ferrarese, ombudsman of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens, said. “We can’t afford to have our next mayor squander this historic opportunity to increase equity across New York City through economic development, housing and employment for those who need it most.”
Check out TimesLedger Newspapers’ full story in next week’s issue.
Reach reporter Chris Engelhardt by e-mail at cengelhardt@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
