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July 13, 2007
Pols speak out (and about) 421-a reform gift for Atlantic Yards
There's general backlash in the political establishment in response to the special "Ratner clause" in the State legislature's 421-a reform bill.
THE REAL ESTATE OBSERVER, Mayor Seeks to Reform 421a Reform
Mayor Bloomberg
The city wants the Legislature to make three changes: extend the abatement to government-supported middle-income housing, such as that planned for Queens West; shrink the so-called exclusion zone; and retract the $300 million additional tax break that Atlantic Yards, alone among new developments in Brownstone Brooklyn, would qualify for.
This article, by Matthew Schuerman, explains the technicalities of how the bill could be changed before the Governor has to decide whether to sign or veto.
NY State Assemblywoman Joan Millman explains that she would have signed on to State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries's letter if she wasn't on vacation:
“This is a developer who has gotten many, many tax benefits from the city and state,” she told The Observer. “This is just another piece.”
State Assemblyman Jim Brennan has an interesting take on the special exception that amounts to an estimated $300M gift to developer Bruce Ratner:
“It’s not a carve-out,” Mr. Brennan told The Observer last week. “The only thing that happened was that Atlantic Yards got grandfathered in.”
NoLandGrab: Hmm... selectively grandfathered in maybe.
THE BROOKLYN PAPER, Yassky: Stop Ratner gravy train
NYC Councilman David Yassky has spent years charting the narrow channel between supporting and criticizing Atlantic Yards. This week, Yassky finds political cover in the financial documents recently obtained and released by Assemblyman Brennan.
Also this on Bloomberg*:
Yassky’s call for an end to Ratner subsidies comes just two weeks after Mayor Bloomberg — himself a strong supporter of Atlantic Yards — finally broke with Ratner, declaring that the developer “doesn’t need” an additional special tax break handed to him by the state Assembly.
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D–Prospect Heights) and Sen. Velmanette Montgomery (D–Park Slope) sent a letter to Ratner asking him to “abandon … the special treatment set forth in the Atlantic Yards carve-out provision.”
BROWNSTONER, Pols Call for Ratner to Abandon 421-a Carve-Out
Local real estate blog, Brownstoner, delivers news of the Jeffries-Montgomery letter to its readers:
the two are teaming up to call out Forest City Ratner in a public letter that states:
"FCRC should publicly comply with the 421-a law, as applicable to everyone else, and build at least 20% of the condominium units in each luxury condominium building in a manner that is affordable to low and moderate income families. Anything short of publicly abandoning the special treatment set forth in the Atlantic Yards carve-out provision would justify a complete re-examination of the project by all appropriate government entities."
Posted by lumi at July 13, 2007 9:29 AM