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October 31, 2006
'PUBLIC' BOARD SHAPES CITY
Big development decisions have local pols and citizens sitting up and taking notice of a powerful yet obscure state board.
City Limits Weekly
By Rachel Nielsen
The Public Authorities Control Board is a little-known government body that's been giving its yes or no to the financing behind giant public projects across the state for years. But just recently it’s gotten a lot more attention in New York City because it's the PACB – widely considered lacking in transparency and accountability – that will in essence make the final decision about the controversial Atlantic Yards development that could transform downtown Brooklyn. [Note: Um... the Atlantic Yards project was still in Prospect Heights when we checked this morning.]
Mayor Bloomberg is making a big stink that the Public Authorities Control Board (proxies of the proverbial "Three Men in a Room") get the final say on large city development projects. This is a big change of pace for the Mayor, since he welcomed the usurpation of local authority over the Atlantic Yards plan by the Empire State Development Corporation. However, during the past two years, the Public Authorities Control Board has doled out defeats to two of the Mayor's coveted projects, the Westside Stadium and Moynihan Station.
Who are these proxies of the Three Men in a Room [and who are these three men, for that matter]? How does the Public Authorities Control Board get to vote on projects sponsored by the Empire State Development Corporation? How do they come to a decision? What happens when they don't? Who knows? Who cares?
Answers to these burning questions and more in this article at CityLimits.org.
Posted by lumi at October 31, 2006 6:58 AM