« Starting TONIGHT: Brooklyn at Eye Level | Main | Talking about AY work stall, DePlasco goes Pinocchio »
December 4, 2008
Atlantic Yards project location sees work halted abruptly
Daily News
by Jotham Sederstrom
One of New York's daily newspapers picks up on the story first broken yesterday by Norman Oder of the Atlantic Yards Report.
Work has abruptly halted at a key location of the controversial Atlantic Yards project, raising the possibility of additional delays on the $4.2 billion plan.
Forest City Ratner insists that work stoppage is due to lawsuits, which is strange since no lawsuits have prevented work from being done on the Vanderbilt Yards in the past and, of course, none of the property owners live on the train yard.
A spokesman for developer Forest City Ratner said Wednesday construction at the Vanderbilt Rail Yards - where an NBA basketball arena and 16 towers are planned - would not resume until a lawsuit against the developer is settled.
...
The developer's decision to suspend work last week marks a reversal of an earlier commitment to continue construction despite a barrage of lawsuits that has slowed work on the project.
..
Every delay is potentially damaging to the megaproject in a global credit crunch where cash is getting more scarce.
...
Though the developer claimed preliminary work was completed, an update from the Empire State Development Corp., said additional work - such as plans to remove debris, assemble train trestles and other construction - was slated for last week.
Those plans never materialized as workers were told two weeks ago to finish up what work they could before a deadline last week, said an employee who was laid off, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
...
"They're stopping the work because they're having financial problems," said Daniel Goldstein, a member of the anti-Yards group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.
Posted by steve at December 4, 2008 8:00 AM