« Straight From The Bleachers: Net Reading | Main | Planner Burden on balanced growth, community consultation, and "esthetic democracy" (in Brooklyn) »
March 20, 2008
It came from the Blogosphere...
Carlinwanda’s Weblog, Gag Me: Why Do Mr. Sitt and Mr. Ratner Like Silence?
As anyone who’s been following the Thor Equities Coney Island saga or the earlier Forest City Ratner buyout of property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint, confidentiality clauses are the latest fashion accessory in development deals. The new issue of the Real Deal offers a nice picture of the trend.
HazZzMat, What Governor Paterson Faces in New York
...many giant projects felt necessary by state and regional authorities have become financial disasters. The transportation center near ground zero is a total flop. While the MTA has rebuilt the basic elements of the network that crisscrossed downtown Manhattan, including the lines that went directly under the World Trade Center, the "center" is an empty lot. The Second Avenue Subway, a project already three years and several billion dollars late, won't open until 2012. The Ratner socialism-for-the-rich Atlantic Yards project, which depends heavily on eminent domain and the destruction of several neighborhoods, can't find private financing.
NoLandGrab: If it's true that Ratner "can't find private financing," then this is the first we've heard about it. What does seem certain is that costs are rising and bond financing is scarce at this time.
VIEWS FROM THE BRIDGE, GREED AS A PUBLIC VIRTUE
Steven Hart notes that Michael White's Huffington Post article "is worth your time to read just for the sake of clarity."
Brownstoner, Ratner Feasts on Public Subsidies
B-stoner read Michael White's article too and passed it along to its readers:
In a HuffPo piece White pillories the practice of making developers like Bruce Ratner even richer on the public dime and further allowing them to realize enormous gains via eminent domain. Part of the op-ed examines the extraordinarily murky finances that are making AY possible.
...
Most disturbing is the notion that support from public officeholders probably means we’re going to continue to see developers dance on the numbers for years to come....
Gowanus Lounge, Fun with Photography: A Vid About Atlantic Yards Police Harassment
GoLo featured the video embed of Freddy's Brooklyn Roundhouse: Harass a photog edition.
Posted by lumi at March 20, 2008 4:47 AM