Wal-Mart Gives Money To City Employment Program, Marty Markowitz's Concert Series

Wal-Mart stepped up their New York public relations blitz last week, donating $4-million to a city program that will help more than 1,000 Brooklyn teens get jobs this summer. And today The New York Post reports the retail giant has cozied up to Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz, paying $150,000 to be the corporate sponsor of Markowitz's Martin Luther King Jr. summer concert series.

Markowitz, a longtime critic of bringing a Wal-Mart to Brooklyn, seems to have softened his opposition to the store, according to the Post. He thanked Wal-Mart for their philanthropy and support and told reporters, "I am not philosophically opposed to Walmart but I have been consistent in demanding they show a commitment to Brooklyn by paying a fair wage, offering health benefits [and] using union workers in any construction projects in New York City."

Wal-Mart has struggled for years to open a store in New York City and crack the country's largest urban market, but has consistently faced stiff opposition from community leaders who fear the big-box store would force local mom and pop businesses to close.

Recently, however, Wal-Mart has made some significant headway. City Council president Christine Quinn has been negotiating a deal for a Hunts Point location, and the Cropsey family, namesake of Brooklyn's Cropsey Avenue, has been pushing to bring a Wal-Mart to a large piece of land they own in Bensonhurst.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an advocate of free-market principles, defended Wal-Mart at a press conference last week after the 4 million dollar donation to Summer Youth Employment Program, which places people ages 14 through 24 in minimum wage jobs at major retail chains, according to the New York Times.

When asked by a reporter if the corporation's sudden charity for the city had something to do with their aggressive campaign to open stores here, he shot back, "You're telling me that your company's philanthropy doesn't look to see what is good for your company?"

Markowitz gave an even more telling response to the massive donation, saying simply, "This is a good, major first step."

The Brooklyn Paper reports that for months, "Walmart has tried to silence its critics with a major advertising campaign. In January, the company began taking out ads in dozens of local papers, including the Brooklyn Paper and Courier-Life chain, and started a website that recruits city residents to sign a petition in favor of a city store. The company also released a poll saying that 76 percent of Brooklynites would welcome the superstore".

Steven Restivo, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the company "has contributed close to $13 million across the five boroughs since 2007" according to the Post.

Comments

[TheAlchemyst]

05:55 PM on 07/12/2011

When Ikea came to Red Hook, it killed almost all the local mom & pop furniture stores in all 5 boroughs. Walmart entering the game will kill off most of the remaining locally owned brick and mortars in NYC, except for restaurants, bodegas and sex shops. All those storefronts will either become decrepit or bought up by Duane Reade, Starbucks, and any other big chain that feels like it should show more presence than it already does.

But hey, if you want New York City to be composed of corporations instead of the small business backbone that created it, go ahead and support WalMart and kill the final bastion in this country for independent businesses.

[DFD CPA]

01:06 PM on 07/12/2011

Are they going to pay people enough to not have to rely on government assistance?

[temashana13]

10:44 AM on 07/12/2011

Keep the criminals out of this city! They are one of the worst corporations out there!!!

[corwin]

06:47 AM on 07/12/2011

DOn't let people have a choice where to shop! Don't let the Smart People win! Stop Wal Mart

[turamali]

11:49 PM on 07/11/2011

Please DO NOT let them in.

[altohone]

09:54 PM on 07/11/2011

Thirteen million would not even cover the cost of food stamps for their employees.
The amount is paltry for a city the size of New York.
Do not let them in.
They will suck city coffers dry.

[bluguy8]

06:26 PM on 07/11/2011

Hey markowitz . If they come in you go out

[BarryWolk]

04:20 PM on 07/11/2011

Be careful, mr. markowitz, as we WILL NOT hesitate to vote you out of office.

Walmart is VERY anti-female and anti-worker and there is NO place for them here in NYC. They will devestate Brooklyn's small shops, which will never return. DON'T DO IT, MARTY!!

[MIKEinNYC]

03:49 PM on 07/11/2011

Stuff I recently bought in Walmart: Mobil 1 motor oil; Fram oil filter, Ajax dishwashing liquid, Bandaid brand bandages, Scotts lawn product, Raisinmaid raisin bread, milk, Coke, popcorn, Wrigley's gum, raisinettes, Wrangler jeans, Hanes underwear. All American made stuff.

You don't like it? Don't shop there.

[Morena]

05:34 PM on 07/11/2011

Lol - there's a difference between where a product is "made" and where it is "assembled". At least two of the brands you listed play that game!

[bluguy8]

06:28 PM on 07/11/2011

Wrangler jeans, Hanes underwear are no longer made in this country . If it says they are it's false ticketing

[MIKEinNYC]

09:58 PM on 07/11/2011

You're mostly right. The Hanes was made in the Dominican. The Wranglers were assembled in Mexico of US made materials. I'm OK with that. I see the Dominicans and the Mexicans driving our cars, drinking our sodas, eating our food, watching our TV and movies. At least it's reciprocal.

[MIKEinNYC]

03:43 PM on 07/11/2011

If you don't like Walmart don't shop there. Just don't be so presumptuous as to tell others where they may or may not shop, even if the stores are full of CCC, (cheap Chinese cr@p), like almost all of the other stores.

[HelloWerld]

04:14 PM on 07/11/2011

Or use your power as a citizen to try to keep the store that nobody likes out of New York for the multitude of reasons it would be bad. You have your ways, others have theirs.

[Dukette]

08:10 PM on 07/11/2011

If nobody likes the store let them open in NYC and go out of business for lack of employees and customers.

[turamali]

11:56 PM on 07/11/2011

You obviously have never lived in a town that has had a Walmart open up, within a year all small shops are gone. The choices of what you can buy are what Walmart allows you to buy, there is no where else to go to shop so you get what they decide you can have. The company is horrible to their staff, their policys are despicable and they are a blight on this country; but hey shop there if you think that is what is best for the country.

[UCR]

03:18 PM on 07/11/2011

I'm not sure if Wal-Mart would be a good or bad thing for low-income New Yorkers. The chain would most likely offer discounted food, clothing, and other essentials that "Mom and Pop" stores can't afford to sell so cheaply. Meanwhile, the wealthy, lazy, or anti-corporation hipsters may be able to maintain the Mom and Pops. Thoughts?

[laydeesimba]

08:22 PM on 07/11/2011

LOL - there are no "mom and pop stores" in the city anymore. They're all bodegas that charge $7.00 for a half gallon of milk and $4.00 for 2 loose cigarretes! But kool-aid is still $2.00 a packet!

[hemorrhage]

02:43 PM on 07/11/2011

Legal bribery. I'll bet there are plenty of pols who will take credit for it too and put their names on programs. Please remember those who accept this bribe when you vote...

[canchita]

01:38 PM on 07/11/2011

They can keep their doors wide open and give away all their merchandise and I still will never step foot in a Wal-Mart.