Interview with Teresa Toro

WG: According to financial analysts, New York will be impacted in a very positive way by the new gay marriage legislation. It could bring in millions? TT: Everyone understands that weddings are a billion dollar industry. With same-sex couples in the mix, and New York not requiring residency for same-sex marriages, we should definitely see a major boost in the local economy. In June 2011, the Huffington Post noted: “In a 2007 report, former city Comptroller Bill Thompson found gay marriage would pump $142 million into the economy of New York City alone.” Our city government recently announced its “I Do” campaign to encourage same-sex couples to marry here. It’s on the official nyc Guide online.

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In the last few months, I have been able to write about issues that would have been difficult to convince the daily citywide papers to publish. I have often been frustrated, after working for weeks on a story with a journalist, to suddenly, without explanation, have the story axed by their editor. The freedom to write about anything and the encouragement from the editors at the WG News+Arts has been tremendous. It has helped get important issues into the major dailies, including the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal; and online magazines including Curbed, Brownstoner, Gothamist, and The Huffington Post.

Our story on the problems regarding the construction at Northside Piers was picked up by the Post, and the result was that it opened a dialogue between the developers, the Toll Brothers, and the building’s board and residents. We suspect that it had larger ramifications, including possibly sparking a national class action law suit. I will be doing a follow-up story on this in the coming months and I hope to have good news to report.

Another way to get stories into the press, I’ve learned, is to cite celebrities. In a recent story published here on the WG, I wrote about Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who received a huge 421a tax break on his multimillion dollar condo. That story was picked up, with my blessings, by the Daily News, where it ran not just as a story, but a cover story. And our report on Mayor Bloomberg’s failures in his third term was picked up by the Wall Street Journal. Several other WG stories also sparked coverage elsewhere, including our piece about the discovery of promises, but no guarantees, for affordable housing with the vote in City Council regarding the Domino Sugar factory, and the approval of a zoning change in order to build market rate housing. That was snatched up on the internet and appeared on the New York Observerwebsite. It shows you the importance of local papers like theWG News+Arts. It’s great to know we are making a difference. Even in tough economic times the WG continues to grow and deliver ground-breaking journalism.

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By William Harvey

This afternoon, I was reminded why I love this area: A culturally-mixed group—Hasidic, Hispanic, Polish, African- and Anglo-Americans—were playing a friendly pick-up game of soccer in McCarren Park. Where else does one see such a diverse group?

I hope this area of North Brooklyn will continue to be this diverse, economically, culturally, and ethnically. I write this to share an idea I have that might help to preserve and to enhance this diversity. I do not wish to divert attention from problems such as racism, economic discrim­ination, ecological disaster, affordable housing, and the lack of city services in North Brooklyn nor do I wish to be disjunctive in any way, I hope to share an idea that might benefit everyone in North Brooklyn.

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One Festival Day, Not Six, Could Bring Relief

The idea for a community-run festival celebrating Williamsburg’s unique character is a good one; but the Bedford Avenue commercial corridor is already too saturated with crowds, noise, street peddlers, and sanitation issues to withstand the present six-event schedule of Williamsburg Walks (WW) and the thousands of visitors it attracts.

Nominally a city-sponsored event, loosely supported by various profit and non-profit partners, WW’s coordination has over the past three years fallen increasingly into the hands of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG), a grassroots advocacy organization that has led the community in challenging environmental hazards, developers, and the city’s rezoning process. NAG, unfortunately, appears to have inherited the undemocratic management style that has characterized WW from the start; in its role as coordinator, it has also begun to hear complaints from residents and merchants that the annual six-time summer street fair is excessive.

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