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June 23, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Restless, Thank You Mayor Bloomberg!
This morning I noticed a personal note from Mayor "Mike" Bloomberg in the City Room comment section, on complaints about developer Bruce Ratner getting yet another break on Atlantic Yards, this time from the MTA:
Bruce Ratner is rich.
He deserves special treatment. The rest of you should be thankful we even let you live in NYC. It’s very difficult being around all you poor people.
— Bloomie
To me, Bloomberg's greatest sin is his relentless effort to turn NYC into a whitewashed suburban simulation of a city, where his buddies -- the developers and their Masters of the Universe clientele (now getting back to business as usual, rebuilding the house of cards) -- can feel comfortable in their self-centered skin, and party-on undisturbed by the notion that other people, unfathomably unlike them, exist.
Field of Schemes, Revised Nets deal includes reduced payments, subway naming rights
A bigger break for the developer — and one not mentioned by many news outlets, including the New York Times — is that Ratner would also spend $100 million less on replacing the MTA's train yard than he'd previously promised.
Brownstoner, MTA Finance Committee Approves New Ratner Deal
In... what may end up being the quote of the year, MTA finance chief Gary Dellaverson said of the deal, "It's not quite as good as we had hoped." Priceless.
Nets Daily, ESDC Approves New Plan for Atlantic Yards Tuesday
Just as the MTA moved Monday to expedite Bruce Ratner’s request to stretch out payments for the railyards beneath Barclays Center, the state’s main development arm–Ratner’s partner in Atlantic Yards, did the same Tuesday in permitting changes in his plans for the project.
Posted by eric at June 23, 2009 10:51 PM