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March 22, 2007
Federal conspiracy probe upsets many in Yonkers
The Journal News
By Jorge Fitz-Gibbon and Michael Gannon
The uncertainty surrounding a federal conspiracy probe into Yonkers City Hall has rattled residents and officials alike.
Yonkers Republican Chairman Zehy Jereis, who is named on one of two subpoenas, said yesterday that his family has been shaken by media coverage, and Mayor Phil Amicone said he knew no more about the investigation than reporters did.
While the U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI refuse to comment, three members of the Yonkers City Council - which was served with a subpoena March 2 - said residents were beginning to raise questions of their own.
"Last night I was at a civic meeting, and the public was in an uproar," Republican City Councilman Liam McLaughlin said yesterday. "They have a lot of unanswered questions."
Democratic Councilwoman Sandy Annabi said the federal investigation had left a "gloomy cloud hanging over the entire City Council."
NoLandGrab: Everyone seems to be pretty upset, except Bruce Ratner. Last week, a Forest City Ratner spokesperson claimed, ""We know that everything we did to advance Ridge Hill Village was done properly and legally and are not worried about what any investigation might turn up." Reading between the lines, the company wouldn't put out a statement unless they were worried.
The cloud of impropriety has hung over Ratner's Ridge Hill project from its early days, when the local development corporation hired a 20-something-year-old family member of the former mayor, who later ended up on the payroll of Bruce Ratner's company. Last year, the courts reversed the first "final approval" of the project because the Yonkers City Council tried to do an end-run around their own by-laws.
It's funny that Yonkers City Councilmembers are just now noticing the "gloomy cloud hanging over the entire City Council."
Perhaps in an attempt to cheer up the public, Forest City Ratner announced the names of the first retail tenants for Ridge Hill earlier this week.
Posted by lumi at March 22, 2007 7:19 AM