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May 12, 2005
Miller calling for transparency?
WNYC
Is Gifford Miller following Fernando Ferrer's lead in calling for more transparency for Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal?
Earlier this week, Brian Lehrer asked a listener's question about Miller's position on Atlantic Yards compared to the West Side Stadium.
Brian Lehrer:
I have a message from one of the Nets stadium in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The message reads, "If Miller supports hearings on the West Side Stadium, why not on this Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn?" Or do you?Gifford Miller:
I do. We've had at least one already and I support having more and we will have more. And I think that the same principle ought to apply. Ultimately the reason that the West Side Stadium is such a bad deal for the City is that there was never a competitive process for choosing it. We auctioned off thirteen of the most valuable acres in the world and the only people we got to bid on it were a football team and a basketball team and there's no community opportunities. We ought to have the same principle, there ought to be serious competitiveness.Is affordable housing a very important goal? Absolutely, and I understand that there is going to be some amount of affordable housing associated with the Atlantic Yards development. But I don't know how much yet because we haven't had that kind of open and competitive process. And what we have to do is have that same kind of application for the West Side as for Atlantic Yards, and if we have that competitiveness in the end taxpayers in New York will be better off.
Brian Lehrer Show Archives, Tues., May 10, 2005
Listen online to Miller interview (Nets Arena question at 17:00 min)
NoLandGrab: Miller's language is stronger than in the past, however, as City Council Speaker, he has been putting off hearings on the City-funded portion of the Ratner proposal.
Posted by lumi at May 12, 2005 7:37 AM