Pols Say They Want an Atlantic Yards 'Trust'
The Real Estate and Atlantic Yards Report have pieces about a rally held yesterday at City Hall calling for the formation of an Atlantic Yards trust that would, theoretically, allow for more community input/involvement in Forest City Ratner’s development. The trust would be comprised of 15 members, eight appointed by the governor, two each by…
The Real Estate and Atlantic Yards Report have pieces about a rally held yesterday at City Hall calling for the formation of an Atlantic Yards trust that would, theoretically, allow for more community input/involvement in Forest City Ratner’s development. The trust would be comprised of 15 members, eight appointed by the governor, two each by the Assembly speaker, Senate president, and mayor, and one by the Brooklyn borough president. A non-voting member would represent the community. Councilmembers Tish James and David Yassky, and Assemblymembers Hakim Jeffries and James Brennan are all supporting the trust’s creation. “Atlantic Yards is a public project built on public land using public money overseen by a public entity for a public purpose,” said Jeffries at the rally. “It therefore deserves maximum public participation during the life of this project.” And Yassky said that AY bypassed typical land-use review mechanisms. The fundamental mistake that was made here, really the original of this project, is that it was approved in a way that went around all the usual process for approving a big project,” he said. “We never had a chance to fix all the problems… I believe there is, somewhere buried underneath all the… special treatment, very deep in there, there is a good project, but the process never had a chance to find it. AY Report notes that “while such an organization—common with other large projects and thus a glaring weakness of the AY plan—certainly might channel public input, it would be unlikely to fundamentally change power dynamics.”
Brooklyn Politicos Call for Trust to Oversee Atlantic Yards [The Real Estate]
Push for AY Development Trust Begins [AY Report]
Photo by threecee.
I love it when people respond to criticism with the “can you do better?” line. MM, if you think you can do a better job of providing affordable housing than Bruce Ratner, how about selling your home at a 90% discount to a single mother of two who earns $20K per year?
I don’t admire Tish’s activism because she never seems to accomplish anything. She is forever fighting losing battles like getting developers to provide affordable housing or pressuring arts organizations to allot free space rather than addressing day-to-day issues like crime, trash, low-performing schools, and noise. And, yes, I do live in her district, so I see this firsthand. Her approach of confrontation, marching, and yelling is so outdated. She would do much better to forge relationships with power brokers than trying to battle forces that will always be stronger than she and she hasn’t a prayer of winning.
Just because you don’t like her, 12:08, does not mean she won’t get re-elected, or that she doesn’t do a good job for her district. Yesterday, people were complaining she sides too often with the poor and disadvantaged, and not the wealthier members of her constituency. Who else is going to listen to those who do not have the connections and resources to get the ear of City Hall?
I think she does a good job of balancing the needs of an economically and otherwise diverse bunch of people. I don’t always agree with her (Admiral’s Row, specifically), but I admire her activism. Unlike some members of the City Council, she is not sitting in her office collecting favors, she’s out in the streets representing her district. If you think you can do better, please run against her.
I’m just counting the days until Tish is up for re-election. Fortunately, the changing demographics of the neighborhood will make it easier to vote her outta here…..
More accountability is a plus. If such a “trust’ does get set up, it would be interesting to see exactly who gets appointed and why they got appointed.
Yassky’s point is well taken. More money is not going to help matters if it means more funds are simply funneled into other projects or into projects like AY that keep sucking up more and more money. And getting more money from taxpayers to make up for wasted funds isn’t a common sense solution.
Plenty- how about you first, since you ask?
GABBY…..9:58 deserves the “Quote of the Day”
However, 9:50, recent history would indicate that 9:26 is going to turn out to be correct.. Commenting on others’ pitiful lives aside, got anything to add??
At least I got my job through merit, rather than because the real choice was removed by a tragic event.
A big part of any politician’s job is creating the image of trying to do something when, in reality, you know your efforts will be fruitless. That is exactly what this rally was designed to do.