« TONIGHT: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY EMINENT DOMAIN HEARING | Main | Where Does Thompson Stand, Now, On Atlantic Yards? »
September 2, 2008
City finally responds to FOIL request, but doesn't answer "how and why" extra $105 million was provided
Atlantic Yards Report
Did it really take the Mayor's office three months to release numbers that they point out have already been made public, or was that how long it took to figure out how to NOT give Norman Oder the documents he was really looking for?
I finally got a response to the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request that the mayor's office seemed inclined to ignore, but the answer wasn't exactly informative. So we still don't know exactly how Forest City Ratner managed to get the city to more than double its direct subsidy of $100 million for Atlantic Yards.
...
I got a response August 5 to my request for "documents, including but not limited communication between and among government agencies, developer Forest City Ratner, and lobbyists, that explain how and why the $105 million request was made and how and why the City agreed to it."
...
In its belated response to me, the city provided an itemized list of capital and infrastructure projects released by the Office and Management and Budget (OMB). That was it--no further explanation.The city stated that the additional $105 "represents capital projects to support infrastructure and other capital needs in the are, some of which are independent of, but in the area of the planned Atlantic Yards project."
As far as I can tell, most of those capital project are not independent of the Atlantic Yards project. For example, the two bridge overpasses are clearly not independent. The MTA infrastructure almost certainly isn't independent, and the "transportation infrastructure" likely is not independent. The "water main improvements" most likely are related to the size of the AY project. As for "Atlantic Ave. Corridor," that's vague.
The fact remains that the city didn't answer "how and why" the request was made, and that Chuck Ratner thinks that entire $105 million goes to the Atlantic Yards project.
Posted by lumi at September 2, 2008 5:15 AM