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October 29, 2007
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn Twofer
2009: A Delusional PR Mantra
Yeah, yeah... the arena will be ready in time for the 2009-2010 NBA season if you believe in the tooth fairy.
It's a physical impossibility, beginning with the fact that the real estate company does not even own the land they need to build the arena (or the rest of the project, for that matter.)
One wonders why Forest City Enterprises is honest with its analysts and tells them the arena won't open until 2010, while continuing to tell the public it will be 2009.
What's inexplicable is that most reporters have been a little slow on the uptake:
When will the press stop buying this impossibility and just start pointing to facts like the ones Norman Oder has pointed to numerous times on his Atlantic Yards Report—that Forest City Enterprises own schedule called for the entire arena block to be demolished and "cleared" by July...July 2007. (No need to go by Oder, just check out the developer's own construction schedule as presented to the Empire State Development Corporation.)
Pretending on 2009, While Money Questions Remain Unanswered
And speaking about this arena opening soon on private property near you, even though the project is still tied up on the courts and behind schedule, has anyone with the last name of Ratner explained how much this is all going to cost, especially to the taxpayer?
...does anybody know the current estimated cost to construct the facility and pay back the bond debt? Or how much the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) for the triple-tax-free arena bonds and for the rest of the project will be, and who those PILOTs will be paid to? And does anybody know the total amount of "affordable" housing subsidies, bonds, and tax credits for the project?
Posted by lumi at October 29, 2007 8:59 AM