« Infrastructure First, Development Second | Main | 2,000 Brooklyn Kids Getting New Backpacks, School Supplies »
August 21, 2009
Advocate hopefuls talk turkey in debate
Yournabe.com
by Stephen Witt
The four Democratic candidates for Public Advocate, Norman Siegel, Eric Gioia, Mark Green and Bill de Blasio debated this week.
Among the most spirited discussions centered around the issue of the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project at the Atlantic/Flatbush avenues intersection.
Gioia claimed Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner sold a “bill of goods” to the people to move ahead with the project and he was against it receiving more subsidies. He also suggested the NBA’s Nets move to Sunnyside, Queens.
Siegel said he thought the arena was a ruse to gain control of the site and suggested a venue be built in Coney Island. Additionally, he said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the use of eminent domain for a private developer.
De Blasio said in the past he has supported the project for the jobs and affordable housing it would create, and that while he still supports it, he is against the way the process is moving forward.
De Blasio added he is against the project receiving more subsidies, and said there should be a new EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and a full disclosure of the current project plan.
Upon being pressed on the issue, de Blasio said the neighborhood around Atlantic Yards is rapidly gentrifying and without affordable housing it would be further gentrified.
Green said he is against additional subsidies for the project, but noted that there is a substantial public benefit. He also pointed out that the Supreme Court ruled that the use of eminent domain is legal, even through private developers, if it is in good faith for economic development.
NoLandGrab: Someone needs to explain to us what being for the project but "against the way the process is moving forward" actually means. And we challenge Mark Green to outline Atlantic Yards' "substantial public benefit" (and the right of citizens to pay a lot of money for a ticket to a basketball game or even more money for a luxury apartment doesn't count).
Posted by eric at August 21, 2009 10:53 AM