« The spin is in | Main | Atlantic Yards: A new Battle of Brooklyn »
August 11, 2006
HIL BACKS CRITICS OF PARKLAND LUXURY CONDO PLAN
NY Daily News
By Elizabeth Hays
Buried in the coverage of Senator Clinton's visit to Brooklyn, and strong words against the Brooklyn Bridge Park plan, were these minor points on Atlantic Yards:
Clinton was less outspoken about the Atlantic Yards Nets arena complex developer Bruce Ratner is pushing for Prospect Heights.
She has left that debate "to the local community," she said - though she joined a growing chorus calling for giving the public 30 more days to comment on the project's environmental impact. She also acknowledged that "eminent domain can be misused."
[The full article after the jump.]
Also, The Brooklyn Papers, Hillary rips ‘park’ condos
BP covered the same press conference, at which Clinton laid out one half of NoLandGrab's objection to Brooklyn Bridge Park's having to be self-sustaining while Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards is rich with public subsidies:
“If parks had to be self-sustaining, would anyone have ever built a park?” Clinton asked.
She also added that, “Public land should be public land."
Clinton's summer reading list included a relevant title:
The senator’s summer reading may have prompted her to speak out on the thorny issue. She’s just finished the still-unreleased autobiography of Nobel Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, a long-time green crusader in Kenya.
“One of her great accomplishments was stopping luxury housing in Uhuru Park in Nairobi,” said Clinton, who recommended the book.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON yesterday threw her weight behind community critics suing to block 1,200 luxury condos from being built in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Clinton said at a Brooklyn campaign stop she had "concerns" about setting a national precedent by having private homes in a public park, and called it "disingenuous" for state planners to argue the condos are necessary to pay for its upkeep.
"Public land should be public land," said Clinton to reporters at the United Senior Citizens Center of Sunset Park.
"I think it's a little disingenuous to say, 'Oh, we're going to make this self-sustaining by essentially taking parkland which was given to the city for a specific purpose and turning it into yet another luxury condominium project.' "
"I think we can do better than that," added Clinton. "If parks had to be self-sustaining, would anybody have ever started a park?"
Clinton's words come as local groups are battling the ambitious project overseen by Gov. Pataki's Empire State Development Corp.
When completed in 2012, the park will stretch along the downtown waterfront from the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Ave.
Critics say that concessions and other money-making venues were always envisioned for the park. But they argue the condos added by state planners are illegal because they would privatize public land.
The issue is before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Knipel.
Park planners declined to comment on Clinton's remarks because of the ongoing suit, though they have argued the land under the condos won't be parkland, so it isn't illegal.
Clinton said that as a federal official, she has "no authority" to join the suit, but she added, "I've just spoken out about it; maybe that will help. I think it'll matter greatly who the next governor is."
Clinton was less outspoken about the Atlantic Yards Nets arena complex developer Bruce Ratner is pushing for Prospect Heights.
She has left that debate "to the local community," she said - though she joined a growing chorus calling for giving the public 30 more days to comment on the project's environmental impact. She also acknowledged that "eminent domain can be misused."
Posted by lumi at August 11, 2006 8:25 AM