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June 22, 2007
It came from the Blogosphere...
Here's the PM roundup of today's blog coverage of the Ratner exception in the State's 421-a reform bill. We're still looking for someone who has something nice to say about it — you'll be the first to know.
The Real Deal, Economic segregation at Atlantic Yards?
The local real-estate industry blog calls it "economic segregation:"
Forest City will be able to put its 20 percent affordable housing anywhere in the 16-building complex and still receive tax abatements for market-rate condominiums. The exemption, therefore, opens the door for economic segregation at Atlantic Yards, since it will allow Forest City to build most of its buildings with market-rate units while designating some of them specifically for affordable housing.
Brownstoner, Outrage Mounting over Ratner's 421-a Carve-Out
The provision of the bill (which was approved yesterday) is so shocking that both Bertha Lewis of ACORN, which is contractually obligated to say nice things about the project, called it "bad public policy" and The Daily News, whose usual coverage of the project is limited to the shilling of Errol Lewis, ran an editorial this morning calling it "sick." The person to thank for the Ratner provision is Vito Lopez, who is the top dog on the State Assembly's Housing Committee. He slipped the wording in over the weekend, according to The Daily News. Hakeem Jeffries, who voted for the bill anyway, says he found out about the Ratner provision only the night before the vote. The Daily News editorial cites one estimate of the hand-out being worth as much as $270 million.
NoLandGrab: The Daily News piece was written by a columnist and wasn't, technically, an editorial.
Gotham Gazette, Doing Ratner’s Bidding
Gail Robinson sums up the Atlantic Yards exception in the State's 421-a reform bill:
People in government cannot seem to help themselves when it comes to doing favors for Bruce Ratner, developer of Atlantic Yards — whether it’s ousting members of community boards who don’t endorse the megaproject or upping the government subsidy for it.
Gumby Fresh, Tax And Rend
Have we now reached the tipping point where we see the entire ugly Atlantic Yards mess not as an intricately poised balance of various economic, social and political interests and more as a lumpy grab-bag of foul-smelling pork?
Posted by lumi at June 22, 2007 9:41 PM