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March 27, 2008
Let’s Do the Time Warp Again: Atlantic Yards as Interpretive Dance
Runnin' Scared [The Village Voice]
By Julie Bolcer
Bolcer follows up on an Atlantic Yards Report post, in which Norman Oder related some discoveries about the State Funding Agreement for Atlantic Yards, with the news that the Empire State Develoment Corporation only released an important document once the cat was out of the bag:
Yesterday, ESDC spokesperson Warner Johnston confirmed in a telephone call that the funding agreement was signed in September and posted on Friday, in response to numerous inquires from reporters.
...
The existence of the funding agreement, while not discussed in the Times article, seems to provide a rationale for the Teflon-like final words of Forest City Ratner head Bruce Ratner, who told reporter Charles Bagli that, “Good things sometimes take a long time.”However, exactly how long Ratner can take remains unclear because of a curious portion of the funding agreement that discusses an “effective date” of December 19, 2009. According to this detail, all litigation and property condemnation must be completed by that time, otherwise Forest City Ratner will have to take “reasonable steps” to pursue the project in order to prevent it from being considered abandoned and money returned to ESDC.
What might happen if Atlantic Yards opponents, currently in the appeals process of two lawsuits concerning the environmental impact of the project and its use of eminent domain, manage to outlast the December 2009 effective date?
As far as ESDC is concerned, the litigation has already been completed.
“Essentially, that section of the funding agreement was designed for litigation that was on the table at the time,” said ESDC’s Johnston yesterday. “That litigation was dismissed.”
Or is that open to interpretation, too?
Posted by lumi at March 27, 2008 4:58 AM