Rallying at City Hall to Protect the Garment Center

Today we gathered at City Hall with members of Workers' United SEIU, Theatrical Wardrobe Union Local 764 IATSE, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Congressman Jerry Nadler, Senators Brad Hoylman and Marisol Alcantara, and fashion designers like Anna Sui and Nicole Miller to release the Garment District Steering Committee’s final report and recommendations on the Garment Center. In the recommendations, the group called upon the de Blasio administration to tie zoning protections to the preservation of space within the garment center for the garment industry.

NYC CLC President Vincent Alvarez delivered remarks on behalf of NYC CLC Board Member/Workers' United Secretary Treasurer Edgar Romney, and highlighted the roughly 200,000 people working in New York’s fashion industry, from celebrity designers and models, to sewers and pressers in factories, and the fact that our fates are woven together.

These garment workers are men and women, many of whom are immigrants, working hard to attain their piece of the American Dream. These are the workers who make designer fashion a reality, and you can't have that without the people who turn ideas into real products.