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November 16, 2005
Historical Hindsight
The Real Estate Observer
by Matthew Schuerman
Schuerman catches up with historian John P. Manbeck, the author of this weekend's NY Times City Section Op-Ed piece on the Atlantic Yards fight, to find out why Manbeck wrote pieces for Ratner's puff press, The Brooklyn Standard. Manbeck's Brooklyn Standard bylines were noted by "TimesRatnerReporter," Norman Oder.
Manbeck, tracked down in Pennsylvania, said that he had agreed to write for the Standard early this year knowing full well who was behind it and even while he had reservations about the project. “I was not unaware that it might have been a conflict of interest, but I had my standards and I upheld them,” he said. “I said I wanted to write about history, not politics, and they said okay.”
He charged Forest City the same modest fee he receives for his weekly column in the Brooklyn Eagle. He would not divulge the sum, but said that the Times, which commissioned the op-ed a couple of months ago, paid better.
Posted by lumi at November 16, 2005 7:19 AM