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March 23, 2008
Dum-n-Dee
Word is that Forest City Ratner has been running damage control ever since the NY Times ran the page-one story about delays and setbacks for Atlantic Yards, by trying to convince reporters that the blame lies with project critics and foes.
Predictably, two of the most consistent cheerleaders for the project, Errol Louis of the Daily News and Brooklyn Daily Eagle elder statesman Dennis Holt, have bought into the narrative.
Putting aside the difficulty of any mega-developer securing financing for its projects in the current market, the lack of affordable housing bonds, a saturated condo market, Ratner's inablity to find an anchor tenant for Miss Brooklyn (not even Barclays!), and the overpromise of community benefits, the two columnists declaim that a bunch of NIMBY activists have gotten in the way of Ratner's quest to deliver important benefits to the community.
Today, Errol Louis depicts critics celebrating at the expense of needy Brooklynites:
The project's foes are taking a victory lap, but they should be ashamed of themselves. The casualties will be felt, especially in the lives of struggling Brooklynites.
Dennis Holt goes further and implies that the project opponents are at fault:
The one thing that has to give some concern to the hard-line opponents of the project is the scorn that will descend on them if some of the affordable housing elements are compromised because of all of the frivolous lawsuits that have been filed.
Most of the politicians who have publicly supported Atlantic Yards have received financial support from the Ratner family, and the signatories of the Community Benefits Agreement are funded by FCRC or stand to gain from the project. What are Errol Louis's and Dennis Holt's excuses?
Posted by lumi at March 23, 2008 3:17 PM