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July 2, 2005
It’s all about money
Brooklyn Papers
Ed Weintrob
Paper founder
The issue is that taxpayers are being asked to pay for Ratner’s game. An honest discussion will put the public price tag at $1 billion or more, not $100 million (a token down payment referenced by the Manhattan news media). Tax breaks associated with the New Jersey Nets component of the project — a very small part of the overall plan — alone amount to $300 million; the gifting of the MTA’s rail yards (yes, they will be “sold” — but in an essentially non-competitive 11th-hour bidding process); hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs (some will be masked as railroad improvements if the MTA moves its tracks to make way for an arena) — incredibly lavish subsidies to pay Ratner for the so-called “affordable” housing component of his project (no, Ratner is not paying for the “affordable” housing — you are), and more, lots more — all amount to virtually a blank check.
Posted by amy at July 2, 2005 9:23 AM