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June 30, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Joshing Politics, M.T.A. And Ratner's Deal Breaks The Law
The M.T.A. has no problem raising the fare for straphangers in their attempt to make ends meet. Yet when it comes to the rich and powerful, they have no problem making deals with people like Bruce Ratner in his attempt to build part of his Atlantic Yards site. The only problem though with saving Ratner some money is that the M.T.A. violated the law in doing so.
Brennan said the likelihood that the arena project was a boondoggle was substantial, since the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) has already testified at a hearing of the State Senate Corporations Committee on May 29^th that a preliminary updated review of the costs and benefits of the arena showed that city and state outlays for the project would exceed positive tax revenues from the project even over a 30-year period.
I would say there is more than a substantial likelihood that this is a boondoggle, because it is definitely a boondoggle. Assemblyman Brennan knows that and so does everyone else in Brooklyn, including the principals who are orchestrating this deal. Forest City Ratner may think their legal troubles are over, but they've got another thing coming.
Gideon's Trumpet, Too Many Sports Arenas
From time to time, we have blogged about the problems of municipal waste of taxpayers’ money which cities have been squandering in their efforts to attract and support sports arenas. It appears that now the predictable is happening. Charles V. Bagli, As Arenas Sprout, a Scramble to Keep Them Filled, N.Y. Times, June 29, 2009, reports that there are just plumb too many arenas, even for a big market like New York...
...And in Brooklyn, Forest City Ratner is rushing the start of construction of yet another sports facility, an arena for the Nets, which, if successful, will add another sports arena to the glut.
...Moreover, this problem is not confined to New York. Bagli reports that similar difficulties are unfolding in New Jersey, Arizona, Minnesota, and Ohio. And given that the current recession is not disappearing, it looks like these folks are in for — shall we say? — interesting days. And so are the taxpayers who, lest you forget, are subsidizing this whole shebang with your tax dollars.
inversecondemnation.com, Tuesday Round-Up
The New York Court of Appeals (that state's highest court) will be hearing arguments in the Atlantic Yards cases.
structureHUB, Hotlanta: tons of towers, most of them ugly and with little prospect for a makeover
As desperate as Atlanta is for some architectural eye-candy, it is simple unnecessary to go to the most extravagant lengths to build some. Then again, my point is made harder to make in light of the ridiculous situation of the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn. There, Forest City Ratner also assumed that architectural beauty is an all-or-nothing game. No Frank Gehry? Okay, lets put up a beastly warehouse “arena” that will suck away the potential for neighborhood redevelopment faster than you can say Metrodome.
Posted by eric at June 30, 2009 10:59 PM