Recapping the State Senate Hearing on Atlantic Yards
After more than five years since Atlantic Yards came onto the public radar screen, the State Senate finally got around to holding a hearing on Friday, and from all reports it was the standard spectacle-over-substance event that has come to define the process. The auditorium at Pratt was filled with BUILD employees dressed up as…
After more than five years since Atlantic Yards came onto the public radar screen, the State Senate finally got around to holding a hearing on Friday, and from all reports it was the standard spectacle-over-substance event that has come to define the process. The auditorium at Pratt was filled with BUILD employees dressed up as construction workers who persisted to disrupt the proceedings with only a few reprimands from State Senator Bill Perkins, who was running the show. Amidst all the political theater, though, there were, as far as we can surmise, three matters of substance that came up during the course of the day: 1) George Sweeting of the State’s Independent Budget Office said that the combination of a scaling back of the commercial component along with additional subsidies to the developer would “eclipse” his previously projected net public benefit to the project of $25 million; 2) The MTA revealed that it had allowed Forest City Ratner to recently renegotiate both a lower upfront payment and a reduced construction scope for the rail yards it is committed to build; 3) After it had been revealed earlier in the day that only 300 units of subsidized housing are included in Phase 1 of the project (which could last as long as 12 years), HDC’s Matthew Wambua testified that the city was renegotiating the affordable housing component with FCR.
Senate Hearing: No Tough Questions for ESDC [AY Report]
Job Hungry Hardhats Jeer Opponents [NY Daily News]
As Plans for Atlantic Yards Evolve, Government Benefits Don’t [NY Observer]
Ratner a Rail Loser [NY Post]
AY Combatants Finally Forced To Sit Through State Senate Hearing [Village Voice]
Today’s State Senate Hearings on Atlantic Yards [Noticing New York]
Photo by Adrian Kinloch
Isn’t Barclays using TARP funds to pay the $400 million for naming rights? Isn’t the MTA having major budget problems?
This whole thing is a complete crock of shit served up on a platter for Brooklyn.
petunia:
as i recall from the hearing, no one knows about the changes in ratner payments because they are part of “sensitive negotiations.”
wanna bet norman oder will get body-slammed when he files FOILs for the documents relating to the negotiations?
i almost think that the FOIL shenanigans are as big a news as this smelly project.
Whoa whoa whoa. The MTA’s budget woes have been in the news like, what, constantly over the past couple months?? And where is the news coverage on the MTA allowing Ratner to reduce his bid even further, when they’re supposed to be in such a hole and FCR’s wasn’t even the highest bid to begin with?? I don’t care who built who’s shiny new headquarters – I’d expect to see some coverage somewhere besides a blog.
the fourth major piece of news was that Mr. Sweeting of the IBO also pointed out that despite the fact that the area is “blighted” land valuations have tripled in the last couple of years- pointing to the same kind of shenannigans used to make PILOTS work for Yankee Stadium.
NYDN: “‘It’s called frustration,’ [Senator Martin] Golden said later of the laborers’ reaction. ‘These guys want the jobs that were promised, and they let that be heard today.'”
Wait until those guys find that there will be very few construction jobs, or even apprenticeships, available to them and then we will see some real frustration.