White People Targeted Financially – How Is This LEGAL?

Authorities in New York City and the state have praised the New York Port Authority’s proposal to set aside a sizable chunk of the roughly $20 billion JFK International Airport reconstruction project for companies run by women and people of color.

“We did not want to return to the neighborhood and have people ask us, ‘Well, what did you do?'” On that project, nobody resembles us. Nobody in that initiative speaks for us,” the woman declared.

First announced in 2017, a combination of public and private sources would finance the $19 billion renovation project for JFK airport. Minority and women-owned business enterprises, or MWBEs, will receive rehabilitation contracts totaling $2.3 billion out of that $19 billion. This is in line with Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s objective of expanding governmental collaborations with MWBEs. Currently, 680 MWBEs have received contracts for the JFK reconstruction project.

Hochul said, “Record engagement by local minority- and women-owned companies will assure exactly that.” “By strengthening the state workforce, this transformative endeavor uplifts these firms and increases community investments.”

According to its website, the Port Authority has in fact publicly supported “a proactive diversity and inclusion effort” that seeks to raise “contract participation” with MWBEs. More precisely, the organization wants women- and minority-owned companies to account for 10% and 20% of its contract partners, respectively, by 2030. The classification of enterprises owned by women from ethnic minorities is not precise.

Contracts for the JFK airport refurbishment may not have been completely off-limits to white-owned companies. Additionally, the Port Authority has collaborated with Queens-based companies, some of which may be run by white males. It has awarded almost 200 of these companies contracts for $950 million relating to JFK.

Nevertheless, the organization’s dedication to collaborating with nearby companies has been seen as a kind of outreach to minorities. The JFK rehabilitation project has always been about “advanc[ing] more fair contracting,” according to Adrienne Adams, speaker of the New York City Council, in a way that will help “M/WBE enterprises, local small businesses, and Southeast Queens people.”

Donovan Richards, the president of Queens Borough, also stated that helping the “thousands of Queens citizens from historically disenfranchised neighborhoods who name the airport their job” was a priority in addition to collaborating with Queens-based businesses.

Representative Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) voiced a similar opinion. “I see the value of providing possibilities for wealth-building and entrepreneurship to people who have suffered obstacles in the past,” he remarked.

State Assemblywoman Alicia Hyndman commented that her constituents place a high value on the racial composition of the people and companies working on the refurbishment during a celebration honoring the $2.3 billion in MWBE contracts. “We did not want to return to the neighborhood and have people ask us, ‘Well, what did you do?'” On that project, nobody resembles us. Nobody in that initiative speaks for us,” the woman declared.

She added, maybe pointing to the well-known hip-hop clothing brand FUBU, “For us, by us, to make sure that this community that we represent looks like us.”

The JFK rehabilitation project has $2.3 billion in contracts for MWBEs, surpassing the previous record of $2.2 billion in public-private contracts with MWBEs set by those responsible for reconstructing adjacent LaGuardia Airport. 2028 is the estimated completion year for the JFK redevelopment project.

“The Port Authority has set high targets for MWBE involvement in order to foster inclusivity in the design, financing, building, and management of our major redevelopment projects throughout the area,” stated Chairman Kevin O’Toole of the Port Authority. “JFK’s reconstruction is a game-changer for MWBE enterprises that were too frequently placed on the sidelines during big, significant capital projects, just as we have done at LaGuardia Airport and Newark-Liberty’s new Terminal A.”