« Cut Ratner off | Main | Forest City Ratner eighth in state lobbying, but has second-largest contract »
April 11, 2008
Ratner seeks … more tax dollars!
The Brooklyn Paper
By Gersh Kuntzman
Forest City Ratner's admission to investors that the development company needs more subsidies for Atlantic Yards is the lead story of this week's Brooklyn Paper. Two City Councilmembers, who have been conditional supporters of the plan in the past, are not buying it.
After the president and CEO of Ratner’s parent company, Forest City Enterprises, told industry analysts that “we still need more” subsidies to build Atlantic Yards, Councilmen David Yassky (D–Brooklyn Heights) and Bill DeBlasio (D–Park Slope) said that the already-committed $1 billion in public underwriting is enough.
“My head spins in astonishment that they would want more,” said Yassky.
...
“I cannot approve of more subsidies when the only thing that’s certain is a stadium,” said DeBlasio, who called for “a timeline for the full project, especially with respect to the affordable housing.”He also demanded to know “exactly why the additional subsidies are needed and what they would be used for.”
A Ratner spokesman declined to comment for this story.
Posted by lumi at April 11, 2008 5:25 AM