PACB Gives Ratner What He Wants
After an Oscar-worthy head fake on Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with the two other members of the Public Authorities Control Board, George Pataki and Joseph Bruno, gave the thumbs up to Bruce Ratner’s vision for Atlantic Yards. “I am pleased the developer is committed to addressing numerous community concerns through several specific actions…
After an Oscar-worthy head fake on Tuesday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, along with the two other members of the Public Authorities Control Board, George Pataki and Joseph Bruno, gave the thumbs up to Bruce Ratner’s vision for Atlantic Yards. “I am pleased the developer is committed to addressing numerous community concerns through several specific actions that will result in significant neighborhood improvements,” said Silver. Last time we checked, traffic congestion, overcrowded schools and a surfeit of chain stores didn’t exactly qualify as improvements (though there were some last minute changes, including 200 more units of affordable housing and $3 million more for improvements to neighboring parks) but then again, pols who live upstate must have a better grasp of what’s better for Brooklyn than the four assembly members closest to the site. So where does this leave those who oppose the project? Eminent domain lawsuits, scale negotiations and a guy named Spitzer. From the beginning, the project has been a public-private partnership in which the public has not been represented, said Kent Barwick, president of the Municipal Art Society. The vote today reflected a process that simply did not allow New Yorkers to shape the project, and the result is a plan that will not work for Brooklyn.
State Approves Major Complex for Brooklyn [NY Times]
NY Board Approves Atlantic Yards Plan [Bloomberg]
The Nets Win! [NY Post]
Photo by f.trainer
The only GUARANTEED profit from this project is to forest city and that profit is being GUARANTEED by the state in the form of subsidies.
anon 2:34 said :I don’t get the argument that this is a huge taxpayer ripoff. Isn’t NYC, NYS and ESDC supplying only $200 million of the $4 billion funding?
Umm, no the funding is in the billions the state is issuing low interst loans via bonds to finance the project plus the infrastructure that Ratner’s not paying for….at the end of the day this project could be a net loss for the state and city – and thus it will be one of the biggest taxpayer /land swindles in New York City history.
The ‘profit’ right now is from taxes to the state is projected at 994 million….that’s with questionable best case accounting the ESDC won’t release the financials – what does that tell you? this deal is nothing but a corrupt boondoggle, period.
Anon at 2:34 — Please go read Norm Oder’s reporting at his Atlantic Yards Report website. Short answer — there are MANY subsidies aside from the $200 million you mentioned.
As for tax revenues, yeah sure, any tax revenue is better than none. But that doesn’t answer the question of whether the amount of subsidy that will be involved in AY is a good deal. IE, could we get a better return of subsidy to tax revenue with a different plan or a different developer. Perhaps you are not aware that another developer offered the MTA 50% more than Ratner but was not selected… Part of the whole problem with AY is that the development of an enormous piece of real estate is being driven ENTIRELY based on the needs of a single developer.
What are the residential property values in the immediate vicinity of Madison Square Gardens?
I don’t get the argument that this is a huge taxpayer ripoff. Isn’t NYC, NYS and ESDC supplying only $200 million of the $4 billion funding? And as for tax revenues, won’t there be a positive gain from the current revenues at the very least? And with respect to eminent domain, wasn’t the vast majority of the land acquired from willing sellers? I’m not saying that this is totally fair, but isn’t calling the project “one of the biggest taxpayer and land swindles in New York history” overstating the reality a bit.
Anon at 2:29 — who are you? What organizations do you support? What non-profits do you contribute to?
Or are you just a FCR employees?
Occam’s razor…
Man, are there a lot of assholes who post on this blog!
AY:
1. No guarantee of affordable housing. None. Ratner can back out entirely from the affordable housing component and there will be no penalty to him.
2. No new open space created. No park created. Ratner is being granted 22 acres of real estate, but there will be no net increase in public amenities. The so-called “open space” that is being promised consists of courtyards surrounded by high-rises. In fact, after AY is completed, the entire area will have less open space per resident than it does now, and it will be far, far below the city’s stated goal.
3. Significant and undisclosed public subsidies: AY will benefit from a wide range of public subsidies, the full cost of which has been kept obscure. There has been no transparency as to public costs/public benefits. We, the public, have no idea exactly how much we will be paying for each affordable apartment, for example. Believe me, we will be paying, but Ratner and his political allies have successfully prevented us from knowing exactly how much. Meanwhile, the projected public revenues to be realized from the project have suddenly been slashed by a third, without explanation.
4. Extreme density: AY opponents support a higher level of density on the site, but are against extreme density. What’s extreme? Well, AY will be the densest housing tract in the United States by a factor of two. Twice as dense as the densest blocks in the country.
5. Traffic: AY is expected to draw an additional 20,000 daily automobile trips to the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic. There is simply no plan in place to deal with this. This level of increase in traffic will have a huge ripple effect throughout Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Park Slope and beyond. Look for gridlock along Atlantic, Flatbush, 4th and 5th Avenues.
6. Putting 22 acres of prime real estate into the hands of a developer with a terrible track record in Brooklyn: Ratner is responsible for two of the ugliest, most poorly designed large developments in Brooklyn — Metrotech and Atlantic Center malls. These buildings have done absolutely nothing to enhance the urban environment — indeed they seriously detract from it. And yet now we’re giving Ratner 22 acres to build on! The mind boggles.
I could go on…
I’ve seen 4-5 solicitations from DDDB on various blogs today. It’s nice to see DDDB folks trolling to help pay the salary of Dan Goldstein’s girlfriend. Do as I say and not…
This is one of the biggest taxpayer and land swindles in New York history. Even those who want a stadium should shudder at the way in which it was done.