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August 27, 2005
'Times' to Commoners: Go Elsewhere
The Village Voice points out a textbook case of eminent domain abuse - of COURSE it involves Ratner.
In the Times deal, the city and state made a no-bid pact despite prior plans to seek competitive bids for the choice midtown site the newspaper company wanted. The Times also got tens of millions of dollars in city subsidies based on what it said were the high costs of keeping 750 workers based in the city instead of New Jersey—costs that, it was clear at the time, were vastly overestimated by Times executives, as the Voice has reported ("The Paper of Wreckage," June 17, 2002). The Times got these subsidies even though, as previously reported, another developer, Gary Barnett, said he would build a 50-story office tower without heavy tax breaks. Barnett—who made headlines recently by competing with Forest City Ratner Companies to build in downtown Brooklyn—even owned part of the site.
Posted by amy at August 27, 2005 10:14 AM