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August 13, 2006
Hillary: Dems Can’t Afford to Lose Any Ground
Courier-Life's Stephen Witt covers Hillary Clinton's press conference in Sunset Park. Bonus points if you can guess which question is his...
Q:Developer Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards project in Downtown Brooklyn is one of the current controversies in the borough. Have you taken a stance on the project?A:No, I have left that to the local community because I don’t have any direct role as a senator, but my only concern is that people be listened to. That the voices of the people that are going to be directly affected by the development be heard, and I agree with what Eliot Spitzer said the other day to let the comment period go on for another 30 days, because I just want whatever decision is eventually made [to be] based on the best environmental assessments, the best opportunity for people to be heard and that’s what I’ve been advocating for.
Q:What about this issue of eminent domain?
A:Well I think eminent domain can be misused and I thought that many of the concerns people raised after the Supreme Court decision were totally legitimate.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court basically threw the door open, so that’s the law of the land. Now we’ve got to figure out how to use the political process so that people are not taken advantage of .
Q:What about the high unemployment of among African-Americans and the need for affordable housing as opposed to the more moneyed people who are against it? Do you think they need a voice too?
A:Absolutely. I think from what I have learned following the public debate, this is not a one-sided debate by any means. People are on all sides of it. Maybe there are more than two sides.
There’s legitimate concerns with respect to employment and affordable housing just as there is in maintaining the character of the neighborhood, and the misuse of eminent domain.
That’s what the political process has to do at the local level, is try to sort this out in a fair, above-board, transparent way and that’s what I think. Therefore its important that the point of view of everybody be taken into account.
NoLandGrab: You forgot to ask her if the shrill bloodsucking leeches who oppose the project should have any say in the ESDC's benevolent, well-planned, offer of hope to the downtrodden?
Posted by amy at August 13, 2006 10:48 PM