At face value, an announcement Thursday that developer Forest City Ratner to be filled by public housing and local residents was good news for the borough's unemployed.
However, as the details came in, the picture got a whole lot murkier.
As Councilwoman Letitia James, D-Fort Greene, pointed out in a statement, many of the jobs to be offered at the soon-to-be-opened Barclays Center are part-time and in traditionally low paid employment sectors including janitorial, food service and ticket sales.
Forest City Ratner later admitted that the "full-time equivalent" number of positions pegged to Thursday's announcement was actually closer to 1,240.
That seems a far cry from the scores of well paying jobs promised before the city approved plans for Atlantic Yards redevelopment and construction on Barclays Center began.
But for the single mother of two at Ingersoll Houses or the teenager at Gowanus Houses, a job created in one of the tightest employment markets in post-WWII history is still exactly that—a job.
What do you think? Is Forest City Ratner dodging its responsibilities to the neighborhoods surrounding its mega-project receiving millions in public funds at Atlantic Yards?
Or is it time to stop looking the jobs gift horse in the mouth?
