FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2011

CONTACT: Chris Keeley, 917-847-3625

New Yorkers Disrupt Gala of Super-Rich With

Calls for Economic and Political Reform
Dozens of People Gathered to Tell NY’s Wealthy Elite,
“It’s Time You Pay Your Fair Share”
January 20, 2011 (New York, NY) – Dozens of people from around New York City, Yonkers,
Poughkeepsie and Newburgh converged on the reception for the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual
gala at the New York Hilton Hotel tonight calling on attendees to pay their fair share in helping the state
get through these tough times. Watch the video and see pictures.

Chanting “Hey you millionaires, pay your fair share!” as they disrupted the cocktail hour held outside
Grand Ballroom on the third floor of the Midtown Manhattan hotel, the groups distributed flyers and gave
brief speeches about how the economic crisis and the state’s
revenue crisis directly impacted them and their communities.
Specifically, they called for the extension of the existing tax
rate on the highest earning households to continue.

Handouts distributed by the group criticized The Committee to

Save New York, a new coalition of real estate, finance, and
other businesses that have raised more than $10 million to
support the budget cuts Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected
to propose in the weeks ahead. Earlier this week, the
governor threatened to shut down the state government later
this spring if his proposals were not adopted.

The Committee to Save New York, which is led by the Real Estate Board and others, is expected to use
the tens of millions on television and radio ads around the state. Some ads that generally prop up the
Governor, but not any specific proposals, have already begun airing.

"The Committee to Save New York's proposal to give tax breaks to millionaires means somebody else
has to pay, and that somebody else is going to be low and middle-income New Yorkers," said James
Dean, a VOCAL-NY Board Member. "That's not a surprise given that the special interests behind it are
the landlord lobby and Wall Street. But the reality is that letting the fair share tax expire will mean cuts to
HIV/AIDS and other health programs, affordable housing, re-entry services and other investments that
make New York strong."

People converging on the banquet called on The Committee to Save NY to disclose who is donating
money for the ads and the rest of their work -- not just their lobbying expenses -- and, in light of the
governor’s promise to bring new levels of transparency to Albany, they called on Mr. Cuomo to more
strongly urge the Committee to disclose those financial backers. Numerous press accounts state that
Cuomo’s senior staff is actively working with the Committee, which is led by some of the governor’s oldest
allies.

"The only thing that's going to get New York out of this crisis is jobs - good jobs and training - and the
billions that could be raised through progressive taxation could put thousands of New Yorkers back to
work," said Brenda McPhail, a member of Community Voices Heard and unemployed resident of
Newburgh, NY.
“Governor Cuomo's plan to create jobs through tax breaks will only put more money in the pockets of the
richest 3% of New Yorkers,” said McPhail. “What about the 97% of New Yorkers who are not rich? We
need direct job creation, and we need it now."

The groups explained that a surcharge on New York’s highest earning households -- similar to the Bush
Tax Cuts at the federal level -- are set to expire in a few months unless the legislature and the governor
extend it. If it expires the state’s revenue deficit would instantly jump from $9 billion to $10 billion this
year, and from $10 billion to $14 billion next year.

Recent polls by Sienna College found that a majority of New Yorkers support the extension of the existing
millionaire's tax, while three in four also support expanding it for the highest earning households.

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