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September 18, 2007
CBN asks: where's ESDC's promised ombudsperson?
Atlantic Yards Report
In July, nearly two months after the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) announced it would hire an ombudsperson—a new position—serve as a liaison between ESDC, elected officials, “community representatives” and the general public regarding the Atlantic Yards project, an ESDC spokesman said, “We are in the final stages of the process and expect to have the ombudsperson hired soon.”
But it’s been more than two more months, work on the Ward Bakery—where the fall of a 200-foot section of parapet alarmed neighbors and led to violations—has resumed, and still no ombud. Community critics have lost patience.
(Above, Robert Puca of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods and the unknown ombuddy.)
So the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN), taking advantage of some symmetry—the wait has been 132 days, twice the amount of time the public was given to respond to the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)—yesterday held a press conference and protest pointing out the long wait.
Norman Oder's article is not only the most comprehensive, he also tries to get some answers to the community's growing list of complaints of early construction activity (sort of what an ombudsman would do — if we had one).
Posted by lumi at September 18, 2007 9:23 AM