« Is There Any Point to an Atlantic Yards SEIS? You Bet | Main | Lots of people looking for part-time arena jobs, but they were never the justification for the subsidies and tax breaks »
June 28, 2012
Amid Gloom, Job Hopes Rest Heavily on New Arena
The New York Times
by Joseph Berger
Atiya Cheatham woke up two hours earlier than usual, murmured her daily prayers, brushed and curled her long ebony hair and put on her best interview outfit, a cream-colored, three-quarter-sleeved blouse and khaki slacks.
Then she headed from her home in the Wyckoff Gardens housing project in Brooklyn to join some of the 26,000 young men and women hoping to land one of the 2,000 jobs as ushers, ticket sellers and food and drink vendors that will become available at the Barclays Center arena near Downtown Brooklyn that is to open in September. The arena job is one of 10 she has applied for since May.
“It is frustrating,” Ms. Cheatham, a 22-year-old graduate of a community college in upstate New York, said of her job search, as she waited inside a gymnasium at St. Francis College to find out whether she had survived the first round of prescreening. “They say you need a college degree, but now that I have a degree it’s still hard,” she said. “But I have faith something will come my way.”
Given the number of job seekers who will be streaming through over the next few weeks, the arena job fair was strikingly orderly and fast-paced, and the atmosphere was one of anxious but hopeful longing. Still, the sheer number seeking these generally part-time and low-paying (though union-scale) jobs was a powerful illustration of just how bleak the city’s job picture is, especially for black New Yorkers.
NoLandGrab: What about Bruce Ratner's promised 10,000 office jobs?
Related coverage...
NY1, Residents Line Up For Chance At Barclays Center Jobs
Most say they'll take any job. But working at the arena is what attracts them.
"I love basketball and I love my borough and I'm looking forward to work as a usher, ticket person," said East New York resident Donte Brown.
Posted by eric at June 28, 2012 11:35 AM