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May 30, 2007
Exclusive: Bloomy is uninformed about Atlantic Yards
The Brooklyn Paper
Back in February we cited NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg for "ignoranting" about Atlantic Yards at a press conference. Bloomie explained to reporters that Bruce Ratner's arena would be built on land, "which was going to be a new Ebbets Field" and called the eminent domain plaintiffs, "one little person, one person that owns one little piece of property" (for the record, there are over a dozen plaintiffs on the Federal eminent domain lawsuit).
This week, Bloomie was at it again. This time, he was busted by Brooklyn Papers (complete with audio soundbite):
During a press conference on Tuesday, The Brooklyn Paper asked Mayor Bloomberg why the city’s plan for redeveloping the state-owned Hudson Rail Yards on the far west side of Manhattan is going through a distinctly different process than Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development at and near the state-owned Vanderbilt Rail Yards in Prospect Heights.
The mayor’s answer was filled with inaccuracies.
The sound bite begins with Editor Gersh Kuntzman asking Hizzoner about the “different process” that the Hudson Yards redevelopment will undergo.
The mayor first says that “the Atlantic Yards was done by a private group and this [Hudson Yards] is a public entity, a public piece of land.” That’s not true. In both cases, the Metropolitan Transportation Administration — a public agency — owns the rail yards. That makes it “public land.”
In the case of Atlantic Yards, Bruce Ratner was awarded the development rights, but the state, not the city, oversaw the public review process. The Hudson Yards project is slated to go through the more-rigorous city land-use review process. Bloomberg described them “different pieces of land” as having “different owners — one is state, one is city.” That is not true.
Posted by lumi at May 30, 2007 9:57 AM