Shannon Ritchie testifies in support of tax as public school teacher

Hi, my name is Shannon Ritchie.

I've lived in New York City for nearly 20 years.

I'm raising my son here and I fully support a peditaire tax.

It feels a bit strange to even need to write and speak on this issue when the wealth disparity in our city is so apparent.

You all see it every day.

As a public school teacher in Brooklyn, I had students who lived in family shelters, learning alongside students who lived in waterfront penthouses.

Some kids would travel to faraway island resorts during winter break,

while others I'd send home with extra snacks, even gloves and hats that I swiped from last year's lost and found, because I was worried a week away from school would mean they'd go without basic necessities.

These disparities, at least in the area where I taught and I still live, are only becoming more and more glaring.

And we're seeing them here as people testify,

complaining about the second homes that they own here in New York City and having to pay slightly more in their taxes.

I'm not going to give you my sympathy.

Towers are going up along the river, sitting empty.

Luxury condos sell for millions, and no one actually lives there.

Maybe I'm nosy, but it's hard to miss that the new big glass boxes behind my apartment, with soaring ceilings and tons of natural light, sold for eye-watering prices, and now they just sit empty.

Occasionally, someone will come to clean, draw the curtains, but it's an insult that I witness daily as my husband and I search rental listings, wondering how much longer we can afford to live in this neighborhood that we've called home for decades.

A peditaire tax feels like an obvious way to fund our most necessary public needs.

The rich will barely notice the difference.

At most, it will be a footnote from their tax consultant.

The children who can now attend a well-funded after-school program instead of riding the bus for hours until their mom gets off work, they'll notice.

The teacher who doesn't need to cut into her food budget to buy pencils and notebooks for her students who came to the first day of school with empty backpacks, she'll notice.

The proposed $500 million will change so many lives for the better.

We voted for this, we canvassed for this, and our city deserves this.

Please stop platforming the ultra-wealthy and those who can be bought by them, and listen to the actual New Yorkers who live here and make this city what it is.

Thank you.

Thank you.