Spinola slams Kingsbridge Armory decision, pledges counter-campaign

Steven Spinola, president of REBNY, and the Kingsbridge Armory

Last week’s City Council decision that quashed the controversial Kingsbridge Amory renovation in a 45-1 vote is being met with grumbles and finger-pointing from the real estate industry. Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said the trade group plans to campaign against the decision. “We will clearly be reminding people what’s been lost as a result of the decision,” he said. “Every couple of months, we’ll be calculating how many people don’t have work, how much it’s costing the city to keep the armory from deteriorating, how much is being lost in taxes. We would like to remind Borough President [Ruben] Diaz and other people who produced this what the costs will be.” The major point of contention in last week’s vote was a requirement that employees at all retailers in the new $310 million mall be paid a “living wage” of $10 per hour, plus benefits. [Post]