City Council Tells Walmart To Stop Donating Money To NYC Charities

Rebecca Fishbein

Walmart, bastion of cheap patio furniture, Mickey Mouse Dolman t-shirts and financially abused workers, has been doing its best to weasel its way into NYC for a while now. And like any good corporation hellbent on destroying the very fabric of the so-called American Dream, it looks like Walmart's trying to curry favor with New Yorkers by funneling cash into charitable funds—but the City Council smells a rat, and they've told the retailer to back off.

According to the Post, 26 of the Council's 51 members have penned an open letter to Walmart and the Walton Family Foundation demanding they keep their "toxic money" out of the city. "We know how desperate you are to find a foothold in New York City to buy influence and support here,” the letter reportedly reads. “Stop spending your dangerous dollars in our city. That’s right: this is a cease-and-desist letter.”

Apparently, the keepers of Walmart's financial treasure chest have been handing millions of dollars to local charities, with recent beneficiaries including the New York Women’s Foundation and HIV/AIDS non-profit Bailey House. The ever-controversial charter school programs have also been on the receiving end of Walmart cash, which can't possibly sit well with city elected officials. Plus, the charity money comes tainted with the blood of a million mom-and-pop shops, and today City Council Members like Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito gathered on the steps of City Hall, decrying the corporation and ripping up mock Walton Family Foundation checks cut to the city.

http://gothamist.com/2014/06/04/city_council_tells_walmart_to_keep.php#.