BUILD Finally Fesses Up to Ratner Funding
October 18, 2005, NY Daily News — A nonprofit group that spearheaded neighborhood support for the huge Atlantic Yards commercial development in Brooklyn has finally admitted it is being bankrolled by Forest City Ratner, the project’s developer. Until last week, the leaders of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development – BUILD – had repeatedly denied…
October 18, 2005, NY Daily News — A nonprofit group that spearheaded neighborhood support for the huge Atlantic Yards commercial development in Brooklyn has finally admitted it is being bankrolled by Forest City Ratner, the project’s developer. Until last week, the leaders of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development – BUILD – had repeatedly denied getting any financing from Ratner. That story began to unravel, however, after The Daily News reported Sept. 29 that the group filed documents with the IRS early this year in which it reported $5 million in donations from Ratner for 2005 and 2006. Confronted with those filings, the group’s leaders at first said the $5 million was only what they were projecting to get for job training programs they would provide for the project. No actual money had been disbursed or even committed by the developer, said Marie Louis, BUILD’s chief operating officer. Then late last week, the group and Ratner made a clarification. Yes, some money has changed hands…
BUILD Admits Ratner Funding [NY Daily News]
The Atlantic Yards project is scheduled to have its first formal public review tonight at an environmental impact hearing before the Empire State Development Corp.
Alo – dead on. Once they go through a few Value Engineering rounds what we get will be very different from what they are selling. But thats life I guess- has happened on every project I have ever worked on. I still think a stadium in Brooklyn will be great, just wish we could let him build the stadium and the stadium alone. But as we all know- the stadium is the Trojan horse- makes up something like 10% of the project. It is all about the renatble office space.
ltj–
And SoDo in Seattle.
housing in close proximity to arenas don’t hold market value.
Gretta, OK, OK I know I sound off the wall but it’s not because I’m PC it’s because I’m furious. I am a white, middle-class, tax-paying brownstone owner but — in spite of the fact that I appear to be a NIMBY enemy of progress to the johnny-and-jane come-lately “activists” at BUILD, I also know a bad deal when I see one. When I say that the city will be paying millions, I do understand that means people like ME will be footing the bill. But I also know that the true cost will be borne by folks much less privileged than me. After all if I get pissed off enough I can afford to move across the country. That’s not a choice for most people. I just think it’s critical than we acknowledge that when the city-slash-taxpayer underwrites a billionaire developer, funds are limited and monies will be re-distributed. I have no say where my tax dollars go but you can bet I’d rather they went to programs like Head Start. And that’s the bitter irony of this whole affair — Mr. “affordable housing” Ratner stealing from the poor to pay the rich.
Oh and I forgot to mention baddest news: Because of a down market and increase in cost of materials, Ratner will cut every possible corner. I know the cheerleaders are thinking of some Gehry dreamscape, but think of it as a Gehry hollywood backlot – A thin veil of Gehry design on the front end (maybe just the stadium) — and large crapbox apt buildings in the back. It will look nothing like these drawings we see now.
Roz – are you OK? Ratner’s development will result in elimination of Head Start in Crown Heights, senior daycare in BedStuy, and youth outreach in Fort Greene?? Please take a deep breath. A much greater risk is that this city will stop doing things that will grow the economy and increase tax revenue because you and your friends charge racism and classism every time it works with the private sector to create a positive environment for development. Money for these programs does not come from the city – it comes from the middle and upper class workers who pay income and property taxes to the city. You are right that we need a diverse city for many economic and social reasons. But please, we’re pretty much talking about what is now a hole in the ground (albeit a hole that is probably close to your home).
Before you get all gushy and lovey about Ratnerville, try doing a building violations search on the current properties he’s developed. Not pretty. Especially that lovely Atlantic Center Mall. And don’t hold your breath about property values going up.
The housing market is flattening and will decline, so good news is he’ll probably have to cut back on # of units, but bad news is he’ll surely cut to death the # of moderate/low income units he’s promised (especially because the legal language outlining this “promise” is flimsy and full of loopholes).
“I would love to live in Ratnerville! High rise luxury.” Hey, ACORN, are you listening? Like Charles Barron said — a guy who’s never afraid to speak truth to power — this is gentrification on a massive level and all in one fell swoop. The collateral displacement of the working class, artists, and people of color will change Prospect Heights for ever, severely decreasing its diversity and community cohesion (yes, the one does positively impact the other). Remember what W said in New Orleans, acknowledging that racism causes poverty? It’s just weeks later and already the Republicans are working diligently to claw BACK public programs to aid the under-priviliged. Well imagine what the impact of Ratnerville will be on adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods. Good-bye Head Start in Crown Heights. Farewell senior daycare in BedStuy. So long youth outreach in Fort Greene. Ratnerville requires hundreds of millions of dollars of government subsidies. It will be paid for on the backs of the very people BUILD and ACORN claim to represent. I live in PH, I am not against developing the railyards (although the cost of building on such a complicated site — fron an engineering point of view — almost guarantees that the project will be overbuilt) and I’m heartsick about this development. The corruption and croneyism take my breath away.
Dan/Ratnerville,
David is referring to the inevitable eminent domain lawsuits. I, for one, would love to live in Ratnerville! High-rise luxury. I already own in P. Heights, so I look forward to increased property values from being near Brooklyn’s main attraction.