"The key message here is that New Yorkers should decide where they shop and work," said Walmart spokesman Steven Restivo. "Some of the louder voices in the debate don't represent the interests of New Yorkers."
Which means that the nation's largest retailer won't be present Thursday for the Council hearing on Walmart's foray into New York.
As Lisberg writes:
To Walmart, the Council and its traditional allies are increasingly irrelevant.
This comes as union membership in New York is declining, as a once-iconoclastic city fills with Targets and McDonalds, and as the Council legislates about dog leashes and movie trailers while Mayor Bloomberg wields the real power.
