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February 29, 2004
Stadia Mania: The View from Prospect Heights
The Brooklyn Rail By Brian Carreira
An important and yet seemingly overlooked fact is that Forest City Ratner has not yet secured any rights to develop the area. For three of the six blocks included in the development scheme, Ratner would need to secure air rights from the MTA as they would be built over existing railroad track. A much bandied and seemingly unquestioned assertion is that these rights will be "donated" to Forest City upon purchase of the team. But a recent discussion with MTA spokesperson Tom Kelley told a slightly different story: "All this is media crap," he noted. Ratner, Kelley said, "would be given preference" for development since he has already built the Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal in the immediate vicinity. As for the idea that the rights will ultimately be donated by a public authority that is projecting to run a budget deficit as soon as 2005, Kelley said, "hope runs eternal."
Posted by lumi at February 29, 2004 7:46 AM