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April 27, 2008
Putting the "Community" back into CBA
After Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner took the first steps towards perverting the concept of the "Community Benefits Agreement" (CBA), things have gone from bad to worse in NYC. Now a group from the Bronx is hoping to negotiate a real CBA with Related Companies for the Kingbridge Armory project.
From The Eminent Domain:
Now KARA [Kingbrige Armory Redevelopment Alliance] is doing something extremely gutsy: It is trying to wrest the whole concept of a community benefits agreement back from the jaws of elected officials who have perverted it beyond recognition, so much so that New Yorkers who pay attention to development simply assume that a CBA is one step removed from a shakedown. (Check out the comments on blogs and news sites if you’d like to think that’s not true.) And you can’t exactly fault that perception, given “CBAs” like the Yankee Stadium deal that basically gives Bronx officials a pile of money they can spend in any way they want, plus an ample supply of free sports equipment.
The question now is: how is KARA going to change the script here?
...
But the situation highlights a glaring reality: New York City is suffering from its lack of a citywide framework for how economic development projects like this happen. All over the city we’re seeing citizens wage campaigns to make development more responsive to its host communities — in West Harlem, Willets Point, downtown Brooklyn, Coney Island, and those are only the big ones — but they each fight their own lonely battles, often pitted against their own elected officials.
Posted by lumi at April 27, 2008 6:33 AM