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August 7, 2006
ATLANTIC YARDS DOESN'T ADD UP
The Ratner plan isn't the only way to redevelop Brooklyn.
City Limits
By Chandru Murthi
A letter to the editor in rebuttal of Bertha Lewis's sales pitch for Atlantic Yards makes some good points and has some suggestions:
Regarding Bertha Lewis's “Supporting Atlantic Yards: Simply Not Enough Housing In Brooklyn” (City Limits, 7/31/06): Yes, developers need to make a profit. However, the scale of the Ratner project is so over the top that it clearly goes way beyond that need. Is it reasonable to believe that only such a gigantic project makes a profit? If the entire project were designed as, say, six-story buildings, would he not make a profit? If that were so, there would be no small- or mid-scale development in this city.
...
Pointing, as Lewis does, to other developments that do not have an affordable component is presenting a false positive. It has nothing to do with the objections to Atlantic Yards. One could equally well point to projects that do have affordable housing to prove Atlantic Yards is not viable.
Posted by lumi at August 7, 2006 5:52 PM