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February 24, 2009
Lawsuit asks Ratner: So, how much profit WILL you make on Atlantic Yards?
The Brooklyn Paper
By Gersh Kuntzman
A lawsuit against the Atlantic Yards mega-project now hinges on whether the state agency that approved the project can back up its claim that the development is a benefit to the public even if the agency never actually determined the profit that private developer Bruce Ratner is expected to reap.
In oral arguments in a case brought by nine residential and commercial owners and tenants who are facing forced eviction to make room for Ratner’s 22-acre project, plaintiff’s lawyer Matthew Brinckerhoff repeatedly argued that the state never examined whether Ratner’s profit was so large that the supposed public benefit of the basketball, office and residential development is merely “incidental.”
...
The plaintiffs’ case also hinges on Brinckerhoff’s reading of the state Constitution. In Monday’s arguments, he reiterated his contention that Article 18, section 6 of the state’s Constitution bars the use of public money from being allocated to an urban renewal project unless “the occupancy of any such project shall be restricted to persons of low income.”
The State's attorney argued that the State isn't required to review Ratner's profit and that blight clearance for low-income housing refered to in Article 18, section 6 doesn't apply, since "An arena and new infrastructure for the Long Island Rail Road are perfectly reasonable [uses] of state funding."
NoLandGrab: Without the actual transcript, it's hard to know if the State attorney actually managed to sidestep the last point.
Posted by lumi at February 24, 2009 5:23 AM