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July 30, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Brownstoner, Atlantic Yards Hearing 'Less Raucous' Than Expected
According to the Atlantic Yards Report, yesterday's public hearing held by the Empire State Development Corp. was "less raucous and more lightly attended" than many people thought it would be. The central issue, according to AYR and others, was the lack of renderings and information about what the revised (or downsized) project will really look like and what the fiscal and environmental implications of the new plan are. "We are being asked to comment on a phantom project, to review a project without being able to view the project plans. This is beyond ludicrous," said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein.
Bike Rides In Brooklyn ..., Brooklyn Says NO to Ratner and his Atlantic Yards. Again.
On top of this, Ratner demands that taxpayers should give him even more breaks and the MTA should give him an even more lenient and favorable contract on the air rights. Only an arrogant billionaire would have the chutzpah to make such demands. The question is will the politicians, the Mayor and the Governor, who have been so willing to accommodate this scandalous land grab, continue to play ball with Ratner or finally listen to the people and end this sham deal once and for all? Time will tell. Our voices can help them decide.
City Room, Uncovering a Revolver’s Hidden History
State officials are set to vote on the latest version of the developer Bruce C. Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in September, even if they do not know what it looks like. At a raucous hearing Wednesday, critics ripped into the Empire State Development Corporation for allowing Mr. Ratner to move forward without producing renderings of the new Nets arena and the 16 towers he plans to build in Prospect Heights.
Dan Jacoby's blog [The Daily Gotham], What Hath Betsy Wought?
Yesterday, Councilmember Simcha Felder submitted Intro 1046, a bill to abolish the Public Advocate's office. I personally find it a disgusting, pathetic attack on an office that could do so much good for New York City.
...Thanks to Betsy Gotbaum, Mayor Bloomberg and many City Council members have gotten away with all sorts of shenanigans. For instance:
The public money spent on two new baseball stadiums was a complete waste -- no new permanent jobs have been created, and no significant new sources of revenue have been created to pay for the cost.
The rezonings of (among others) Long Island City and Williamsburg, and the proposed Atlantic Yards project, are completely destroying the character of the neighborhoods, while providing no significant sources of affordable housing.
Gatemouth's blog [Room 8], CHOCOLATE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Pseudonymous blogger Gatemouth claims his criticism of Marty Markowitz is more meaningful because he's "not reflexively anti-development," as if opposition to Atlantic Yards is "reflexive" or "anti-development," as he ruefully takes down Markowitz-challenger Eugene Myrick, while blaming AY opponents for not fielding a better challenge themselves. Which is not so meaningful, coming from a pseudonymous blogger.
Nets Daily, Yormark, Politi Debate Nets Future
Steve Politi, the Star-Ledger columnist, and Brett Yormark, CEO of the Nets, both had their say in back-to-back interviews on ESPN 1050. Politi basically repeated his column of a couple of weeks ago, attacking Bruce Ratner’s stewardship of the Nets and the need for a move to Newark. Yormark then defended the move to Brooklyn and said that the state of the Nets “has never been better!”
Posted by eric at July 30, 2009 12:45 PM