Atlantic Yards: Sealed With a Kiss?

The kisses gauarantee nothing.
here, read this, it was published in today's NY Sun.

Dear Editors:

Regarding Monday's editorial, "Brooklyn Fairy Tale," the most insidious aspect of the non-binding, "affordable" housing deal between Forest City Ratner (FCR) and ACORN, trumpeted by Mayor Bloomberg, is this: the Mayor, Marty Markowitz and Bertha Lewis made big hoopla about a 50-50 housing deal, at a Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference about two weeks ago. One week later at a City Council hearing on the Atlantic Yards proposal, FCR announced that what was once 4,500 proposed housing units is now 7,300 housing units, with no commitment at all to make any of those 2,800 additional units "affordable." So what was loudly called a "groundbreaking" 50-50 agreement is now, in reality, a non-binding agreement that would include a miniscule 6% of housing for truly low-income earners and 24% for "moderate" earners, leaving 70% luxury. That's called bait and switch. And guess what? Half of the rents of the so called "affordable" units are market rate rents that you could find walking into any real estate office in the areas surrounding the proposed development in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. We, the taxpayers of New York City and State, are subsidizing Ratner's market and luxury rate housing–as well as the most expensive private sports arena ever built–to the tune of $1.6 billion, and rising, in public subsidies. Why?

Posted by: Bo Guss at June 9, 2005 3:33 PM