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November 15, 2006
AY myth 2: the cutbacks weren't in the cards
Atlantic Yards Report
What the hell kind of reporter has to constantly rely upon the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) to get to the bottom of the story? Why not just get a quote from both sides and call it a day? That's how it's done these days, right?
Today, Norman Oder reveals a document acquired by... you guessed it, a FOIL request, which irons out the timeline about when the mythical "scaleback" was decided.
Indeed, a document acquired in a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request from the Department of City Planning (DCP) shows that the current proposed scale--about 8 million square feet--nearly matches a chart presented to DCP on 1/12/06, as do the heights of most of the buildings.
In other words, we got played. The project, announced at about 8 million square feet in December 2003, was increased to 9.132 million square feet in July 2005, and was cut by the developer on 3/31/06 to 8.659 million square feet.
Oder consoles the public by further explaining that the NY Times "got played" too.
In fact, the New York Times got played as well, offering its prestige to front-page article 9/5/06 that leaked news of an emerging scaleback of six to eight percent. The Times didn't point out that the rumored cut--the biggest news on the planet that day, apparently--would only bring the project back to square one.
It suggested the cuts were a "response to criticism" rather than a tactic. Nor had it or any news outlet found the document that explained how it was all in the cards.
Posted by lumi at November 15, 2006 7:18 PM