They may offer Jacuzzis, indoor swimming pools, weight rooms and free HBO, but one councilman looking to make a step to the state Senate believes there is one thing some hotels in the city don’t offer: good jobs.[Photo caption: Councilman Joseph Addabbo Jr., center, stands with hotel workers outside a Comfort Inn in Maspeth. The hotel receives state tax breaks that the councilman says are unnecessary. (photo by Ben Hogwood)]
And what’s more, the state is giving hotels, such as a Comfort Inn in Maspeth, thousands of dollars in tax breaks without asking for anything in return.
Councilman Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach), stood outside the Comfort Inn on Maurice Avenue to highlight his problem with the state’s Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program. The councilman is running against state Sen. Serphin Maltese for the District 15 seat and has been stepping out of his council district in recent months to bring attention to concerns affecting the wider area.
The state created an earlier version of the ICAP in the 1970s to encourage the building or updating of industrial and commercial space during a fiscal crisis. The program provides exemption from real estate taxes for industrial buildings that are either built or renovated primarily in the outer boroughs. The Comfort Inn in Maspeth, which opened in 2005, has received $237,644 as a result of the program.
Though legislators tweaked the program in June, it still gives money to businesses that don’t need it. It also doesn’t mandate that the companies create quality jobs with benefits. Addabbo wants to see this changed.
“Workers are in jeopardy of not getting minimum wage,” he said, adding that they are also not ensured benefits or a good work environment. The councilman was accompanied by two guests to illustrate his issue: Brian Gaffney, a Glendale resident and employee of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and Ulises Moscoso, an Astoria resident and employee of the Crowne Plaza LaGuardia.
Gaffney said employees at the Waldorf Astoria are members of a union and receive health benefits, decent wages and a pension. Moscoso, meanwhile, said most of his coworkers are underpaid and don’t have insurance. “If I get sick, I have to go to the emergency room,” he said.
Addabbo previously criticized the ICAP for giving the majority of tax breaks to big business. Rite Aid of New York has received the most in ICAP breaks, with McDonald’s Corp., Amereda Hess Corp. and ExxonMobil Corp. following close behind.
Addabbo called for the legislation to be reworked to ensure the ICAP tax breaks are distributed properly. “The handing out of money really needs to be done better,” he said. “We need guarantees before they get one single penny out of our state government.”
