I think that Peebles' rhetoric is absurd, but I hope that he plays the violin loud enough to build this tower.
P.S.:
It's still 1,663' tall.
https://www.ebony.com/career-finance/real-estate-developers-don-peebles/
"....Despite its optimistic goal, the project is experiencing a major hurdle. The idea for Affirmation Tower was conceived after New York’s former governor Andrew Cuomo put out a call for proposals for the Hudson Yards development site. But since his ousting, New York’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, has rescinded the RFP, stating that she would instead like to use the site for affordable housing.
“I feel that this idea of making our people comfortable with the disproportionate burden of poverty, the poor education that our young people are victimized by, and the criminal justice system that criminalizes our young people, for the most simplistic mistakes is just unacceptable,” Peebles says of the decision. “What we need to do is to change this burden of poverty and lift this burden of poverty off of our people, so that we don’t need as many social services and government support — that we can do it for ourselves. And that means that we have to grow black businesses.”
Multiple attempts to reach the governor for comment were unsuccessful. But while the team behind Affirmation Tower finds the decision disappointing,
they view it as a temporary setback.
“We view this award as inevitable and we’re looking at this pause as an opportunity for greater alignment with the Governor’s priorities,” Livingston asserts. “Given the tremendous benefits that Affirmation Tower presents to the state in terms of tax revenue, and to the community — when you look at what’s happening in the world of construction and the overall New York economy — we need to have a catalyst for economic growth and Affirmation Tower is certainly poised to do that.”
Livingston sees this “temporary pause” as an opportunity to have greater alignment with the governor’s vision.”
Peebles believes that the plans they once had will reach fruition and with it will come an opportunity for real economic justice. “As Dr. King once said, justice too long delayed is justice denied,” Peebles quotes. “And the same goes for economic justice.”
While more Black entrepreneurs have been able to participate in America’s growing economy, Peebles believes the real estate industry is no further along than when he started. He feels a personal obligation to make sure this changes for future generations. “If we’re not the ones to do it, then who’s going to do it? And if it’s not at this time, when?”
Prev
Linear Mode
