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September 15, 2008
Yonkers groups deliver wish list to downtown developers
The Journal News
By Ernie Garcia
A group in Yonkers has presented developer Struever Fidelco Cappelli a list of "community benefits" that they would like to work into a formal agreement. Ironically, the article cites Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards Community Benefit Agreement (CBA), which, by ignoring anyone in the community that wasn't a hand-picked supporter, is an entirely different kind of agreement than the prototype Staples Center agreement.
One of the best-known regional examples of a community-benefit agreement is in Brooklyn for the Atlantic Yards project. That agreement commits developer Forest City Ratner to jobs and small-business development, affordable housing, open space and a community health care center.
NoLandGrab: Since the Atlantic Yards CBA isn't legally enforceable, and wasn't signed by any government officials, it is more like Bruce Ratner's pledge, not a commitment. Let's hope that the Yonkers deal follows the Staples Center model instead of the infamously perverted Atlantic Yards model.
Posted by lumi at September 15, 2008 4:07 AM