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July 16, 2008
Deconstructing Professor Zimbalist's dubious defenses of his radio appearance
Atlantic Yards Report
Apparently Professor Andrew Zimbalist got pretty rattled during an on-air interview with Brian Lehrer, who had done some homework and referenced Norman Oder's Atlantic Yards Report blog — rattled enough to send in a follow-up email trying to explain himself.
Norman Oder posted a rebuttal of Zimbalist's analysis in a running commentary.
AZ: Clearly, a group of people are angry about the economic impact report I wrote for FCRC. I stand by that report. It does not contradict anything in the scholarly literature and it does not contradict anything that I have written. I explain this clearly in my report. While it is true that I was paid for writing this report, it is also true that I voiced support for the project before I talked to anyone at FCRC. (Incidentally, the Mets are also using the same tax exempt/PILOT scheme to finance their new field and the team is also paying for the lion's share of development expenses.)
He stands by the report? That's an empty statement, given that he claimed that "Forest City Ratner was simply taking advantage" of existing tax exemptions rather than the special benefits noted by the Independent Budget Office's September 2005 report on Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: "It does not contradict anything in the scholarly literature?" Yeah, and "mission accomplished" in Iraq, oil prices are at historical highs because of shadowy faceless "speculators" and jackalopes are real if you want them to be.
Posted by lumi at July 16, 2008 4:35 AM