Black Ministers Threaten to Pull Support For Cuomo Over LaGuardia Plan
(DNAINFO) Jeff Mays — A group of ministers and elected officials is calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to ensure that 30 percent of the $4 billion plan to rebuild LaGuardia Airport is handled by firms owned by minorities at the highest levels of the project.
In a letter to Cuomo and Rep. Joseph Crowley, the group, Mobilizing Preachers and Communities, said that no minority-owned firm is a primary partner with LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the consortium chosen to rebuild the airport’s central terminal in May.
“For this project to have been allowed to begin and reach this stage without significant (minority) participation, and with no plan to include the surrounding neighborhoods, is a moral stain on our great city,” the letter read.
“I’m a staunch supporter of Gov. Cuomo but I’m also going to hold him accountable,” said Rev. Johnnie Green, pastor of the 1,500 member Mount Neboh Church in Harlem. “If you can’t help our community then you won’t receive our support. We are not giving our vote away for free anymore.”