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February 28, 2007

After Brennan's lawsuit, ESDC poised to release Ratner’s profit projections

Atlantic Yards Report

Brooklyn Assemblyman Jim Brennan, joined by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, has gone to court in an attempt to force the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to answer his Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to see the projected costs, revenues, and profits for Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards plan--a prelude to arguing for a reduction in the project’s size.

While Brennan's effort had been rejected by the ESDC under the administration of Gov. George Pataki, the New York Sun reports today that new Gov. Eliot Spitzer's administration has indicated that it's willing to comply--and the documents should be released shortly.
...
[Brennan] said last October, “So that is a critical public question: how much money do they think they’re going to make on their market-rate housing, and how much money do they think the arena is going to make? How much money does the affordable housing need and where are they going to get it? Without that information, the public is shortchanged.”

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NoLandGrab: Brennan makes good points on two fronts:

1. It is important to know how much taxpayer money will be committed to Atlantic Yards and what the taxpayers will get in return. For example, the public has a right to know if Atlantic Yards affordable housing might end up costing more than other affordable housing solutions.

2. It is important to understand how much Bruce Ratner stands to make. Ratner is not only asking for the public to sacrifice taxpayer money for Atlantic Yards, but also to put up with the densest residential housing community in the nation. If the density issue is driven by the need for the developer to make a profit, then the public has a right to know what Ratner will earn in exchange for the public's acquiescence to an urban planning experiment of historical proportions.

Posted by lumi at February 28, 2007 7:51 AM