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January 31, 2007
Hidden Costs For Atlantic Yards
Gotham Gazette
Advocates reading the fine print in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s budget have unearthed at least one item the mayor probably would have preferred remain unnoticed: a doubling of the city subsidy for the Atlantic Yards megaproject in Brooklyn. The added funding – allegedly for infrastructure improvements (i.e. not the luxury high rises themselves) — “brings the city’s direct contribution to $205 million,” the Sun reports.
Details have been hard to come by, but Doug Turetsky of the Independent Budget Office told the Voice that the money will probably go for items “some of which might have been on the books prior to Atlantic Yards, but some substantial amount of which is likely related to the scale of the project—such as the need for expanding sewer and water capacity.” And, of course, no one knows how much the city will eventually have to ante up because of increased automobile traffic, demands for classroom space, strain on city facilities and so on that could arise from the project.
Posted by lumi at January 31, 2007 8:44 AM