« The Illinois governor pressured the Chicago Tribune; in New York, the mayor & Ratner have had much less trouble | Main | CBN Press Release: Request for Audit of Public Funding for Atlantic Yards »
December 10, 2008
MTA asks for shared sacrifice - but squanders its assets
NY Daily News Op-Ed
by Julia Vitullo-Martin
This opinion piece by a notable Atlantic Yards critic doesn't specifically mention the MTA's more-than-50%-off agreement to sell the Vanderbilt Yard to Bruce Ratner, but then again, it doesn't have to.
Before the state raises everyone's taxes to support the bloated Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shouldn't we first insist that the MTA take advantage of any and all underused real estate that it already owns or controls under long-term leases?
One of Mayor Bloomberg's most important initiatives in his first term was to direct city agencies to identify and analyze all real estate holdings in order to sell off underdeveloped properties. The idea was to protect neighborhoods from the blight that inevitably accompanies vacant land while letting the city reap real estate's financial rewards.
NoLandGrab: The MTA's deal with Ratner has, conversely, contributed to a big increase in blight in Prospect Heights, and a squandering of potential financial gain.
Posted by eric at December 10, 2008 12:34 PM