New York, NY – Walmart execs are boycotting a City Council hearing on the chain’s plans to open its first store in New York City, the Daily News has learned.
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Philip Serghini, Walmart senior manager for community affairs, said in a letter to Council members that the company will skip Wednesday’s hearing. He also criticized the Council for picking on Walmart – even though other big chains like Target, Kmart and Costco already have stores in the city.
“The joint hearing …does not appear to consider the impact of the hundreds of N.Y.C. stores operated by these companies; rather it focuses solely on Walmart,” Serghini wrote.
“Since we have not announced a store for New York City, I respectfully suggest the committee first conduct a thoughtful examination of the existing impact of large grocers and retailers on small businesses in New York City before embarking on a hypothetical exercise,” Serghini wrote.
“For these reasons and more, we respectfully decline participation.”
Walmart is eying an East New York site at the Related Companies’ planned Gateway II shopping center for its first city store.
“If you run away from an opportunity to sit in front of the Legislature of the city you say you want to be in, that speaks volumes. If you’re not proud of who you are and what you do, you run away,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), a Walmart opponent.
“If they don’t show up it’s because they don’t have anything to say to refute the arguments that my colleagues and myself have put forth,” she said. “If they did …why wouldn’t they come and rub my face in it?”
She said she’s made her opposition clear to Related, which doesn’t need City Council approval for the Gateway site but frequently has other projects before the Council.
But the developer has showed no signs of backing off.
Socialism at its best from this city council all they do is pandering to unions if I were Walmart I will open up just to spite these phony corrupt politicians
It’s obvious to any intelligent person that Walmart doesn’t care about the state or its neighborhoods. They only care about money. This is why they are throwing a tantrum like a bratty child.
What a city…you can build a mosque on Ground zero but you can’t build a Wal-Mart anywhere…
walmart also does not provide benefits to many of employees and then it teaches it employees how to apply for welfare medicare and other services.
so the net price of the products that you buy from walmart is more than you think