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February 14, 2007
Development Dons
The Village Voice, The Magician's Nephew
The goods on Gargano: A seamy tale of nepotism on the Brooklyn waterfront
By Tom Robbins
How Pataki's economic development boss kept it all in the family when he paid a visit to a Brooklyn port operator.
The NY Observer, Modern-Day Robert Moses
Reporter Matthew Schuerman has a sit-down chat with our Local Development Don for the weekly paper's "Location" column:
Location: Well, what do you think about that? Atlantic Yards, in particular?
Doctoroff: I think in that case there was an enormous level of community input. There were hundreds of meetings and enormous outreach to community leaders. The difference was that it was not submitted to a vote of the City Council. In that case, you had a local Council member who was not in favor. On the other hand, you had the majority of the Council—I can’t say this with 100 percent certainty—that wants it.
The Council shows deference to the local Council member, but it has also demonstrated an ability to see needs of citywide import and to respond accordingly. I don’t think the response would’ve been any different.
Doctoroff also stresses the City's interest in redeveloping the Brooklyn waterfront, which doesn't bode well for the port operator who told his story to the Voice.
Posted by lumi at February 14, 2007 8:46 AM