ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York

“Theory of Change”

ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York follows a Marxism-like “theory of change” philosophy of left-wing activism. ALIGN claims that the American economy is currently an “extraction economy” where a small number of corporate executives exploit the workers who constitute the majority of the economy. The organization’s goal is to devise strategies to encourage the government to fundamentally restructure the economy into a “living economy” where workers, the environment, and social justice are prioritized over profits. ¹

Campaigns

Amazon

In late 2018, corporate tech giant Amazon announced that it would be opening up part of its second headquarters in Long Island City, Queens. The location had been thoroughly scouted by Amazon after over a year of vetting and soliciting invitations from cities around the United States. However, many left-leaning groups opposed the opening of the new headquarters on the ground that Amazon exploits its employees and the environment. The fight against Amazon was centered on a proposal to give Amazon $3 billion worth of economic incentives primarily based around tax credits. ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York joined a coalition of groups to both campaign against the bill and convince the public to oppose Amazon’s expansion. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was an outspoken opponent of the bill and supported the opposition to Amazon. ²

In February 2019, Amazon announced that it was cancelling its plans in Long Island City, citing public pressure against the project. ²

NYC Workers Coalition and NY HERO Act

In 2020, ALIGN helped build the NYC Workers Coalition, an alliance of 85 pro-labor-union groups that sought to increase government support for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2021, the coalition successfully pushed for passage in the New York legislature of the NY HERO Act, which instituted a series of labor regulations designed to implement COVID-19 safety regulations and limit the terms of employment that employers can require. ³

NYC Subway

ALIGN is campaigning to increase spending on the NYC subway system by $800 million in the short term with an $8 billion long-term maintenance fund. The organization contends that current spending levels are too low and exacerbate inequality in the city since primarily lower-income individuals use public transportation. ALIGN is also advocating for converting NYC’s bus fleet to electric vehicles to reduce air pollution. ⁴

Climate Works for All Coalition

ALIGN is a member of the Climate Works for All Coalition, a coalition of New York-based advocacy groups that support government policies that combat climate change. In 2014, the group proposed plans to New York City to create 40,000 “green jobs” per year and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. ⁵

Climate and Communities Stimulus Platform

In October 2020, ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York and the Climate Works for All Coalition released a report outlining a plan to spend $16 billion over three years to create 100,000 jobs for non-white New Yorkers hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some media outlets have called the proposal “NYC’s Green New Deal.” ⁶ The plan proposed spending $7 billion on “green” retrofitting of city infrastructure, and another $3 billion on new environmental construction projects, such as building parks. Government and contracted employees hired for the projects would be heavily weighted toward union members and non-white workers, supposedly to compensate for the unequal impact of the pandemic. ⁷

Leadership

Maritza Silva-Farrell has been the executive director of ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York for over a decade. Previously, Silva-Farrell worked as an organizer for three years at Citizen Action of New York. She currently sits on the board of the Partnership for Working Families, the Edward J. Malloy Initiative for Construction Skills, Jobs with Justice, the New York Communities Organizing Fund, and the Cornell Worker Institute Advisory Council. ^{8 9}

Jake Streich-Kest is the campaign coordinate of ALIGN. Streich-Kest previously worked on Fight for 15 in New York and founded Fast Food Justice. He also led the successful campaign to pass UPNYC, which provided state funding for NYC’s universal pre-K program. ¹⁰

Phoebe Topakian Flaherty is an organizer at ALIGN. She previously worked on a campaign with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to unionize New York City airport employees and increase pay for 40,00 employees. Before then, she campaigned for benefits for low income workers in Chicago with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. ¹¹

Grants

ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York gives grants to local left-of-center allies. In 2018, ALIGN gave $45,000 to the Center for Working Families, $25,000 to UPROSE, and $20,000 to Make the Road New York. ¹²

Funding

In 2018, ALIGN: Alliance for a Greater New York generated $1,661,077 in revenue, nearly all of which came from grants. ¹²

In 2020, ALIGN was awarded a $120,000 grant for its climate change program to be paid over two years by the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation. ¹³

Also in 2020, ALIGN was given $40,000 from the New York Foundation to expand its efforts to support workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹⁴

Substantial funding in 2020 also came from labor unions, with the Teamsters union and Ironworkers Greater New York and Vicinity District Council reporting providing funds to ALIGN. ¹⁵

In 2019, ALIGN received $185,000 from the Partnership for Working Families, $130,000 from the New York Women’s Foundation Inc., $90,000 from Make the Road New York, $85,000 from the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, $60,00 from the Movement Strategy Center, and $30,000 from the Tides Foundation. ¹⁶