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September 23, 2009
Transit Riders Council: outrage that Ratner "will receive substantial concessions at the expense of... the public at large"
Atlantic Yards Report
According to Norman Oder, there are some things that a Russian billionaire's money doesn't change — like the anger of transit advocates.
It doesn't change the plan to decrease, rather than increase the size of the new Vanderbilt Yard. Nor does it change the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's agreement to accept $20 million, rather than the initially pledged $100 million, from Forest City Ratner, and to give the developer 22 years to pay the rest, at a generous 6.5% interest rate.
And when public comments were submitted to the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) that were critical of the deal, the ESDC ignored them, stating, in its Response to Comments document:
This document has been prepared to address comments directed to ESDC and, therefore, does not address comments related to the MTA approval process.Except the New York City Transit Riders’ Council (NYCTRC), the legislatively-mandated representative of transit riders, submitted a letter (below) expressing outrage at the concessions to the developer, and argued that the ESDC was acquiescing in providing those concessions.
Click thru for the full text of the letter — here's a snippet:
In the discussion of the project, several members of the Council expressed outrage that the project developer, the Forest City Ratner Companies, will receive substantial concessions at the expense of the interests of the public at large and that the Empire State Development Corporation, as well as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is acquiescing in providing these concessions.
NoLandGrab: Of course, the chair of the NYCTRC holds a non-voting position on the MTA board, but it may not have mattered, anyway, since the chair, Andrew Albert, stated that he was "torn" about the revised proposal during discussion at the meeting at which the MTA approved the revised giveaway. His fellow council members don't seem so conflicted.
Posted by eric at September 23, 2009 10:07 AM