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February 17, 2009
Priming the Pump at Atlantic Yards?
Gotham Gazette
by Gail Robinson
The Wonkster kicks around the Atlantic Yards hot potato, so to speak.
Does the economic stimulus package President Barack Obama is signing today include a great big bailout for Atlantic Yards? The idea of federal stimulation for the problem plagued arena and condo project surfaced in the Observer last week, prompted by former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato’s lobbying for the help on behalf of developer Forest City Ratner.
...“Under the banner of ‘doing nothing is not an option,’ how many ill-conceived and economically unjustified “infrastructure” projects, whose consequences will persists for decades to come, will be rushed into construction?” Think Markets wondered. “The Atlantic Yards public-private-mega-project in Brooklyn, even in earlier good economic times, not only raised questions of fairness in the use of eminent domain, but also of the impact it will have on the texture and vitality of a local community. … The current developer is now angling for stimulus money.”
Posted by eric at February 17, 2009 3:28 PM