Unions speak, politicians jump.
That’s the summary of organized labor’s latest “successful” mission — keeping Walmart out of the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.
With little fanfare, the developer Related Cos. announced Friday that Shop-Rite would be the tentpole store for its Gateway II Plaza.
That ended months of reported talks between the developer and Walmart — whose entry into the five boroughs has been opposed by unions and kowtowing politicians, even as multiple surveys show strong support from New Yorkers.
Mayoral wannabes Council Speaker Chris Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer all celebrated the Walmart defeat.
Retail-union head honcho Stuart Appelbaum is the big “winner” here.
But you know who loses?
People looking for work, for one.
Walmart’s project would’ve been more than 200,000 square feet — with 500 full-time employees.
Shop-Rite’s will be one-third that size — barely 70,000 square feet — with fewer than 300 employees.
(The smaller space, of course, also means fewer construction jobs.)
Consumers lose out, too: In a literal apples-to-apples comparison of identical shopping lists, a nearby Walmart’s receipt came in 25 percent cheaper than a city Shop-Rite’s.
This is the lite version of what Appelbaum did to The Bronx three years ago.
Aided and abetted by Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Appelbaum and the council quashed a deal between Related and City Hall that would’ve brought 1,200 permanent jobs to the long-abandoned Kingsbridge Armory.
Appelbaum and Diaz got the council to require Related to set a well-above-market “living wage” of $10 an hour for jobs in the renovated armory.
Related walked away, sparking Diaz’s infamous declaration: “The notion that any job is better than no job no longer applies.”
Last month, Appelbaum and Diaz finally found a Kingsbridge project they could endorse — with 1,000 fewer jobs than were on offer three years ago.
Presumably, the union-puppet politicians are happy that Brooklynites have been deprived of jobs and lower prices.
Pitiful. Just pitiful.