« Coalition Rejects Idea Of Stimulus for Ratner | Main | Will the Times comment on Ratner's blatant bailout bid? Based on past performance, no »
February 18, 2009
BrooklynSpeaks, Straphangers say there should be no stimulus for AY
Atlantic Yards Report
Last Wednesday, District Leader JoAnne Simon asked a fundamental question of Atlantic Yards Ombudsman Forrest Taylor: "When is this project no longer this project and is so fundamentally altered that we need to look at it again and start over?"
Taylor said he'd take the question back, but BrooklynSpeaks, the "mend-it-don't-end-it" coalition of which Simon is member, yesterday issued a statement drawing on that issue to ask Governor David Paterson to reject any request by Forest City Ratner for federal stimulus funds.
...
“The original Atlantic Yards plan was conceived for the economy of 2004. In 2009, that plan is no longer feasible, and the current design, program and schedule for the project is unknown,” said Prospect Height Neighborhood Development Council (PHNDC) representative Gib Veconi. “Providing stimulus for Atlantic Yards now would amount to the Governor approving a new project before it’s been disclosed to the public.”It also would seem to bail out a developer for obligations previously committed.
...
BrooklynSpeaks, for reasons of pragmatism as much as principle, has been unwilling to join lawsuits challenging the fundamentals of the project, the approval of Forest City Ratner's role.Still, BrooklynSpeaks, which has proffered proposals for reform that haven't gotten much traction, at least has been praised by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the project's biggest cheerleader and a proponent of stimulus funds.
NoLandGrab: In the past, Marty Markowitz has attempted to highlight the differences between the coalition groups Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and BrooklynSpeaks, but even his own stumping for more public subsidy of Bruce Ratner's ill-fated Atlantic Yards plan hasn't managed to soften the consensus that it would be a shameful waste of precious taxpayer money.
Posted by lumi at February 18, 2009 5:06 AM