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December 5, 2006
DDDB PRESS RELEASE
Thousands of Letters Delivered to: Silver, Bruno, Pataki, Spitzer, Quinn
Letters Call for Postponing Atlantic Yards Vote Until Federal Eminent Domain Suit is Resolved
NEW YORK, NY— Over 3,600 letters, signed by Brooklynites and other New Yorkers, were hand delivered today to Governor George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the three men who control the votes on the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB). The letters were also delivered to Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
The letters, collected over a four week period, urge the postponement of any PACB vote on the “Atlantic Yards” project until after the federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the project’s use of eminent domain is resolved in court. That lawsuit was filed on October 26th in the Eastern District.
The letters state:
If the PACB were to approve the project prior to judicial resolution, substantial numbers of buildings at the site could be demolished. If at a later date, however, the courts were to disallow the use of eminent domain, many aspects of the project, including the arena, could not be built, and the community would be left with a demolition site amid acres of vacant land. This uncertainty regarding the project’s viability, prior to a court decision, requires a postponement of any decision by the PACB.
A copy of the letter can be found here http://www.dddb.net/pacb/letter.pdf>www.dddb.net/pacb/letter.pdf.
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein said, “The thousands of people who signed this letter expect the members of the PACB to do the responsible and wise thing by postponing their vote until there is legal resolution of the eminent domain lawsuit. A project whose entire legality is in question should not be approved unless that matter is resolved and the project is shown to be constitutional.”
Just last week the Assemblymembers representing districts surrounding the proposed project site–Jim Brennan, Joan Millman, and Annette Robinson–also requested postponement of the PACB vote. Their letter can be found here: www.nolandgrab.org/docs/pols/MillBrennanRobinson.pdf.
Approval of the $4.2 billion, 8 million square foot “Atlantic Yards” proposal requires a unanimous vote by the PACB.
Posted by lumi at December 5, 2006 11:49 AM