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February 18, 2009
When it came to D'Amato's lobbying, Bloomberg once was scathing about buying "political connections"
Atlantic Yards Report
[I]n his personal politics, Ratner may lean left, but when it comes to business, the developer is an equal-opportunity rent-seeker.
Hence Forest City Ratner's willingness, in the pursuit of federal stimulus funds, to enlist lobbyist and former Republican Senator D'Amato, who gained election as a conservative and maintained three terms as "Senator Pothole," emphasizing constituent service and pork.
Now D'Amato's an influence-peddler to the highest bidder, who previously was hired by the developer to make sure federal eminent domain laws didn't get tougher.
When the owners of Madison Square Garden and Cablevision deployed D'Amato and his ilk against Mayor Bloomberg's Westside Stadium plan, Bloomberg scornfully blasted the tactic.
In the case of Atlantic Yards, D'Amato is lobbying for a project the mayor supports, so there's no reason to expect criticism from Bloomberg.
But the principle is the same. Decision-making by lobbyists detracts from democracy.
NoLandGrab: Norman Oder could have gone further and said, "the LACK OF principle is the same."
Oh well, in lieu of spending $40K on lobbyists, we get to hurl stink-bombs on the Internet.
Posted by lumi at February 18, 2009 5:31 AM