Business

Faith Leaders Throw Support Behind Living Wage Bill

Clergy members from the Bronx and across the city led a silent march on City Hall on Nov. 17 to voice their support for the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, or “Living Wage Bill.” The legislation, sponsored by Bronx Council members Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma, would require most development projects that receive public funding to pay workers employed there a living wage — $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 an hour without. The bill was sparked by a contentious debate last December over the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory, when the City Council — backed by a fierce coalition of Bronx advocates and Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. — voted down plans for a shopping mall at the hulking Kingsbridge Road landmark.

Webster Re-Zoning Moves Ahead

Community Board 7 members voted unanimously on Nov. 16 to approve re-zoning changes for Webster Avenue and select blocks in Norwood and Bedford Park. The borough president’s office will hold its own public hearing on the zoning changes on Thursday, Dec. 2 at Borough Hall, 851 Grand Concourse. “This has been a long four-year project,” said Fernando Tirado, district manager of Community Board 7. “We hope that with the help of City Planning we can turn this [stretch] into an inviting area for people to come in.”

After 7 Months, Telco Calls It Quits

Telco Department Store, on the corner of East Fordham Road and Marion Avenue, opened seven months ago. In October, there were still “Grand Opening” signs in the storefront. But now, Telco is planning to clear out and close up shop following the holiday shopping season. “We spent a fortune to get this store running here and now we are leaving,” said Telco manager Ahmed Wahman, 50, as blaring speakers promoted the liquidation sales. After opening its first store in 1972 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Telco expanded to various outer-borough locations across the city. Their core customers were middle-class families, Wahman said. In the Bronx, however, people weren’t buying, Wahman said.

New “Business Incubator” Coming to the Bronx

Michael Bloomberg, New York’s pro-business mayor and an entrepreneur himself, has his sights on the South Bronx as the next hub for start-up businesses. The mayor and the city’s Economic Development Corporation broke ground on a “Business Incubator,” in the BankNote building, on Garrison Avenue in Hunts Point, on Nov. 3.