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January 21, 2009
Atlantic Yards Report Flasher
While many people are looking forward, AYR today offers a couple of flashbacks.
Flashback: the lack of a schedule for Phase 2 was evident when the CPC considered Atlantic Yards
On 9/25/06, some two years and four months ago, the City Planning Commission considered a proposed minor scaleback in the size of the Atlantic Yards project. That was orchestrated.
So was a cut in the flagship tower Miss Brooklyn. “We really do believe the height it’s proposed at is really appropriate,” the Department of City Planning's Regina Myer said at the time. I wondered if that set the stage for a negotiated trim at a later date, and that turned out to be true.
But what's striking is how officials and critics pointed to the likelihood that the 11 towers of Phase 2 might not be constructed on schedule.
Flashback: four years ago, ACORN's Lewis scoffed at getting paid by Forest City Ratner
Since the beginning, we've wondered why NYC ACORN signed a deal with Bruce Ratner that wasn't in the best interest of most of the group's membership. Revelations last year that Forest City Ratner bailed out the national organization restores our faith that everything happens for a reason.
A little more than four years ago, Bertha Lewis, executive director of New York ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), scoffed when a questioner wondered if the organization was being paid by Forest City Ratner for its support of the developer's Atlantic Yards project.
Today, Lewis is the chief organizer of national ACORN, as it recovers from an embezzlement scandal, and Forest City Ratner has bailed out the organization with a grant and loan worth $1.5 million.
The situation is not exactly analogous: national ACORN is the beneficiary, not New York ACORN, and the Atlantic Yards project is no longer pending approval but has gained state approval.
But Lewis's outrage at the question is belied by the organization's current dependency on the developer.
Posted by lumi at January 21, 2009 5:18 AM