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March 1, 2007
Critics Deem Atlantic Yards Documents Insufficient
The NY Sun
By Eliot Brown
The Sun boldly goes where no paper of record has gone before and, come to think of it, so does NY Assemblymember Jim Brennan.
This article is a must-read for anyone who is trying to understand what Forest City Ratner was and wasn't revealing in the whopping three pages of documents released yesterday.
A state agency has failed to appease its critics by releasing financial details of the Atlantic Yards project.
The Empire State Development Corporation yesterday released three pages of documents from the project developer concerning financial aspects of the project, a move that was dubbed highly inadequate by lawmakers and community groups.
"We will deal with our attorneys, and not silly superfluous dribs and drabs that come through fax machines after press inquiries," Assemblyman James Brennan, who filed a lawsuit Monday seeking the full disclosure of development company Forest City Ratner's financial plan, said.
Mr. Brennan vowed to push ahead with a lawsuit to force the disclosure, and said that given the large level of subsidy involved, he believes the ESDC should have a complete business plan in its possession to allow the public to properly evaluate the Brooklyn development.
The three pages that were released with no explanation appear to offer details on the amount the developer stands to gain on the $4.2 billion project, though there does not seem to be enough information to make an accurate estimate of Forest City Ratner's return.
Oh, and this from the end of the article:
Forest City Ratner did not offer specific comment on the numbers in the documents.
Posted by lumi at March 1, 2007 9:07 AM