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January 29, 2009
Atlantic Yards: Time to reconsider
The Daily Gotham
by mole333
Been saying for ages that Bruce Ratner's proposed Atlantic Yards over-development plan was too big, too expensive and would never bring the benefits he promised. Been saying it ever since it was supposed to be a "done deal." Slowly, as indeed promises have been broken by Ratner, costs spiral and, of course, the economy collapsed under the watch of Bush nationally and Bloomberg locally, more and more people are jumping ship.
The shift started, I think, when even one of Bruce Ratner's biggest local fans, Bill de Blasio, started to feel betrayed by Ratner's sudden reversal on his promise regarding affordable housing. By taking the affordable housing off the schedule, Ratner actually removed the one excuse many had for supporting it. When even developer-friendly de Blasio started flirting with Ratner's opposition, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, you knew Ratner was in trouble. Another politician who once was considered a Ratner supporter who became increasingly disillusioned was State Senator Hakeem Jeffries. Ratner has been alienating political allies for some time now. Once the affordable housing was shelved, the political cover many of these politicians had for supporting Ratner was out the window.
Posted by eric at January 29, 2009 3:33 PM