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March 9, 2009

Will we ever find out how much AY and arena now cost? More FOIL responses from NYC EDC and ESDC

Atlantic Yards Report

Norman Oder's FOIL request was... foiled again.

So I appealed the decision by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC), that the current cost of the Atlantic Yards project is exempt from disclosure because it is either a trade secret or its disclosure "would cause substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject enterprise."

And the answer from the appeals officer, Judy Fensterman: no way.

The Financial Materials, NYC EDC said in a letter, "contain proprietary assumptions, analyses and projections regarding the feasibility and performance of the Project and provide insight into FCRC's proprietary financial models and other business practices, which would be detrimental to FCRC's competitive position if disclosed."

And disclosure would frustrate ongoing negotiations "relating to all aspects of the Project." Those negotiations include "private parties."
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But the cost of the project and the arena was a public matter when the project was approved in December 2006. If the cost is now a secret, that suggests that developers and public agencies can announce one set of numbers to the public, then turn around and keep the actual numbers secret.

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NoLandGrab: You think that the total cost of the arena ought to be public knowledge, especially since the project is to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in City and State funding, and that, officially, the arena is to be owned by the public, though Nets owner and developer Bruce Ratner would lease it for A DOLLAR.

NOPE! This is a "trade secret" and would be "detrimental to FCRC's competitive position." Huh? Competitive with whom?

This doesn't pass the smell test and smacks of the fear of public outrage and political retribution if we knew what they really were up to.

Posted by lumi at March 9, 2009 6:01 AM