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May 29, 2007
Atlantic Yards Critic Lands Spot on Community Board
The Real Estate Observer
By Matthew Schuerman
One of the odder bits of fallout to come out of the, um, change of membership at Community Board 6 is that a critic of Atlantic Yards is replacing one of the opponents who got axed this week.
Brad Lander, the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, was nominated for a spot on the 50-member advisory board by City Council Member Bill de Blasio and appointed by Borough President Marty Markowitz, according to the board's new list (PDF).
Pratt published an independent analysis of the project in March 2005 that complained that “the process through which this development has been advanced has not been sufficiently fair or accountable” (PDF). Mr. Lander says, however, that he does not consider himself “a die-hard opponent” of Atlantic Yards.
“In its current form, I consider myself in a very highly ambivalent position,” he told The Observer Friday. “I believe that the project could’ve been, and maybe still could be, modified to a place where I could support it, yet still be recognizable.”
NoLandGrab: Lander's position is aligned with the middle-of-the-road coalition, Brooklyn Speaks. He has been careful to distance himself from staunch "critics" of the project.
As an affordable housing advocate, Lander has been careful not to ruffle too many feathers in City Hall over this project, even though many housing advocates are concerned that the massive Atlantic Yards project could suck up a considerable portion of finite affordable housing resources. The question of how much housing subsidy Atlantic Yards would require has never been answered, so there's no way to understand if Bruce Ratner's plan is the best way to spend the government's money to build affordable housing.
Posted by lumi at May 29, 2007 7:12 AM