AY Financial Docs: The Morning After
The lack of coverage and analysis of the Atlantic Yards financial documents released yesterday is pretty astounding. Radio silence from the Times and the Daily News, Metro mentioned it at the end of an article about a different aspect of Yards, and The Post wrote a reasonably in-depth article about what the docs revealed but…
The lack of coverage and analysis of the Atlantic Yards financial documents released yesterday is pretty astounding. Radio silence from the Times and the Daily News, Metro mentioned it at the end of an article about a different aspect of Yards, and The Post wrote a reasonably in-depth article about what the docs revealed but held off from weighing in on their usefulness or credibility. The Sun was the only paper that delved a bit into the response of critics of the project, even editorializing that “there does not seem to be enough information to make an accurate estimate of Forest City Ratner’s return.” This is the same conclusion that David Smith, an affordable housing expert in Boston, came to when Norman Oder presented him with the documents. “These cash flow schedules are like a Japanese landscape watercolor; fascinating and evocative in their own right but only lightly drawn, he wrote in response. They make one hungry for more detail, without which it is impossible to have a properly informed opinion about either the expected profit the developer may make relative to the risk, or whether the public is receiving fair public benefit for the public resources contributed.” Oder also noticed that the projections include more affordable units in Phase 1 than initially indicated by the City Planning Commission but qualifies that by pointing to the footnote that says, “For discussion purposes only. Actual results may vary.
Three Pages of Mystery [Atlantic Yards Report]
Critics Deem Atlantic Yards Documents Insufficient [NY Sun]
Ratner Nets Brooklyn Bonus [NY Post]
The Jackhammers Begin [Metro]
Photo by lachance
the term “nimby” is a smoke screen
National outrage? Give me a break! Other than the handful of NIMBY’s living in the footprint, NO ONE cares about alleged eminent domain abuse. Get a life!
8:28-
In case you haven’t gotten the clue, I ain’t giving up. This is my neighborhood, my home, the community I have committed to. If it bothers you so much, why are you posting? If it’s not worth posting about, you’re not setting a very good example.
In reality, federal judges are influenced by public opinion, as Magistrate Levy implied at the federal hearing on eminent domain. The national outcry against eminent domain abuse was even brought up by the ECDS/Forest City.
The current cash flow documents show that there simply are not enough facts to support the Atlantic Yards project. How can the average New Yorker support this when they don’t know what the fiscal and impacts will be?
Try to imagine the following scenario, and see if you think your opinion of the project would change:
1. The AY project managed to build new buildings around privately owned properties without demolishing them through eminent domain.
2. Rather than override all city zoning laws with 60 story towers, the buildings were limited to the 8-12 story height limit and required open space of zoning laws for nearby neighborhoods. The City Planning Commission would have some approval authority over it, rather than none.
3. The MTA sold the site to FCR for its real value rather than undervaluing it and selling it for a 65% discount, giving away 100’s of millions of dollars.
4. The so called “affordable housing” took into account actual median incomes of Brooklynites, rather than an inflated fictional median income that includes that of surrounding suburbs; and thereby made the rents actually affordable to average Brooklynites (in reality they will be close to Park Slope market rate).
5. The project did not close off existing city streets, creating a huge dividing barrier between neighborhoods like 1960’s urban renewal housing projects.
6. FCR picked up the cost of utility and infrastructure improvements, rather than you and me subsidizing them with our tax dollars to the tune of $200 million.
If all this were true, I bet FCR could still make a mint. Would you project proponents be opposed to these ideas?
get a grip pro-AY forces. this is a
D-U-M-B-D-E-A-L!!!
I own a house in the area and I am now going to sell it. Congrats Bruce, you won, I’m outta here.
LOL.
I cant belive i’m being forced to pay for a crack team of PR commandos.
Guilt has never and will never work towards changing the minds of pro-AY people. Give it up.
D-O-N-E-D-E-A-L!!!
3:20PM here- sorry can’t opine on Eminent Domain – please refer that to the courts.