At last night’s Hudson River Park Trust Board of Directors’ meeting, chair Diana Taylor was put under the spotlight for hurting New York families by a group of attendees.
Taylor who also acts as a board member for Sotheby’s was asked repeatedly how she could allow Sotheby’s to lock out hard working New Yorkers for four months now under her name. As the demonstrators highlighted Sotheby’s record breaking profits and repercussions the lockout is having on their families, Taylor simply ignored the demands for answers and attempted to continue with the meeting.
One attendee asked her:
Tell us why you are not doing the right thing? We have families who are going to lose their healthcare. We want to go back to work. We are hard working New Yorkers, we are respectable people, we want our jobs back.
It was then that Taylor broke her silence and revealed this response:
I have one thing to say to you. I’ve had one conversation with [Sotheby's CEO] Bill Ruprecht about this, and I told him that if he accedes to any of your demands, I will resign from the board.
The response resulted in chuckles from her arrogant and wealthy counterparts, but only fueled the passion behind the demonstrators voices who highlighted that Hudson River Park is about making the park accessible to New Yorkers everywhere. How Taylor can chair the Hudson River Park board while simultaneously putting working New Yorkers on the street is an outrage and a clear indication that she is out of touch with not only New Yorkers but struggling Americans everywhere. You can see the whole thing here: