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February 18, 2009
RATNER BIDS FOR FED $$
NYPost.com
by Rich Calder and Tom Namako
The Post is reporting that one possible source of stimulus funds for Atlantic Yards has reached the end of the line.
Brooklyn's flagging Atlantic Yards project took another hit yesterday when Metropolitan Transportation Authority honchos confirmed the agency won't dish out any of its allocated federal stimulus funds to aid developer Bruce Ratner.
"It's not on any of our lists [of projects]," one MTA official said.
But while Ratner won't be getting any MTA aid to bail out his reeling $4 billion plan to bring an NBA arena and 16 residential and office towers to Prospect Heights, he still has a shot at getting some of the federal pork directly through Gov. Paterson.
The state's $24.6 billion pool of the stimulus bill contains $3.9 billion for infrastructure and energy assistance and Ratner is lobbying hard for some of it.
A Paterson spokeswoman said the governor is still examining whether the project warrants stimulus funds, adding there's a lot of competition.
Ratner declined to comment for this article.
Atlantic Yards Report, Post: MTA isn't seeking stimulus funds for Atlantic Yards
However, the Post reported, developer Bruce Ratner "still has a shot at getting some of the federal pork directly through Gov. [David] Paterson."
As far as I can tell, that's a generic reference to the fact that Paterson will control discretionary funding, not an assurance that Atlantic Yards is on a specific Paterson list.
Posted by eric at February 18, 2009 8:24 AM