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January 19, 2008
Atlantic Yards: Ethics vs. Legalities
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
When the Appellate Division refused to hear an appeal on a case brought by rent-stabilized tenants being forced from their homes by Bruce Ratner's land grab, Ratner's mouthpieces sent out a celebratory press release. No doubt they are pleased to be stomping on tenants' rights -- they need to in order to build their project. But in their ecstatic press release, they did not even have the moral sense to express concern for the tenants rejected by the court and bounced out by Ratner.The appeal was on a lawsuit (a suit in which DDDB is not involved) that charges that under the Urban Development Corporation Act (UDC Act), the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and Forest City Ratner are required to provide a relocation plan for tenants they force out by eminent domain that will provide replacement housing for those tenants. But neither ESDC nor Ratner are doing this. So first they terminate rent protections by using the state to invoke eminent domain, and then when using eminent domain they don't have the decency--the ethics--to provide new housing for these tenants. Their “relocation” plan actually offers little more than a real estate agent and some cash to move. That does not really meet the requirements of the UDC Act.
Posted by amy at January 19, 2008 11:54 AM