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August 8, 2009
The case against Mayor Mike.
Pinko Magazine
A section of this criticism of Michael Bloomberg includes mention of the proposed Atlantic Yards project. But the the author only seems dissatisfied that the project as originally proposed will never be built.
(3) He can’t get the big things done. When I look at my bulleted list above (and I LOVE a bulleted list) I can almost convince myself to vote for the Mayor. But the reality is that the visionary, big-picture projects haven’t been accomplished. Congestion pricing failed, not just because Albany wouldn’t allow it but also because the Mayor wasn’t able to win over key allies in the outer boroughs, or make a persuasive public case. The Penn Station overhaul? Didn’t happen. West Side Redevelopment, Atlantic Yards, downtown/ground zero? No, no no. They’re worse than failures actually – in the case of Atlantic Yards, the entire project has been stripped down to the bare essentials needed for the developer to make back his investment – a cookie-cutter arena and some over-priced condos. The features that could remake a city, or that showed some innovation have been stripped away.
NoLandGrab: The question is whether we should believe that any of the features used to gain public support for this land grab (i.e. affordable housing, open public space, starchitect) were ever anything more than empty promises.
Posted by steve at August 8, 2009 7:40 AM