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February 20, 2009
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz wants stimulus cash for Atlantic Yards
NY Daily News
by Pete Donohue and Elizabeth Hays
While Brooklynites struggle with rising unemployment, home foreclosures and a shrinking economy, Marty Markowitz is focused like a laser beam on bailing out Bruce Ratner and building a temple to greed.
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz has been lobbying hard to get public stimulus money to jump-start developer Bruce Ratner's languishing Atlantic Yards project, the Daily News has learned.
Markowitz said yesterday he called Metropolitan Transportation Authority honcho Elliot Sander this week to push transit officials to use the federal aid to pay for a new railyard at the $4 billion complex.
Ratner had originally promised to pay $182 million to build the new railyard as part of his winning 2005 bid to develop an NBA arena, and 16 residential and office towers on the site.
...Meanwhile, Atlantic Yards opponents launched their own campaign to keep the project away from any stimulus aid. Several dozen good government and neighborhood groups yesterday sent a letter to Paterson urging him to turn down aid to Ratner.
"It would be an obscene and perverse use of the stimulus funds available to New York State to use them for this purpose," said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein. "He committed to paying for a brand new railyard, why should he be bailed out on that?"
Markowitz argued yesterday it didn't matter if Ratner originally promised to pay for the new railyard in his bid because court delays and the recession have changed the playing field.
"That was then and this is now," said Markowitz.
NoLandGrab: If Ratner gets one penny of stimulus, you'll know that the status quo is alive and well in Albany.
Posted by eric at February 20, 2009 10:04 AM