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October 28, 2009
FOILed: waiting for responses from ESDC (and comparing their practices with other agencies)
Atlantic Yards Report
Not all Freedom of Information Law requests are equal — Norman Oder explains why he spends way too much time at the post office.
I suspect some staffers at the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) think I'm a bit of a pest, though they're professional and don't say so explicitly. After all, I file regular Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests, sometimes a couple each month.
And it usually takes a long time to get responses from the ESDC, especially compared to more responsive agencies such as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
(The ESDC's public affairs office, by contrast, generally responds promptly to my queries, though the level of detail, um, varies.)
Last December, I filed a FOIL request for records explaining whether the ESDC considered the availability of tax-exempt financing for affordable housing when it was approving Atlantic Yards.
For months, I got a certified letter each month explaining that they were still looking, given that my request was broad. That's hard to judge, but it sure seemed like a long time.
In a brief public comment during the last desultory moments of the July 30 public hearing on Atlantic Yards, I mentioned the lingering request and asked for it to be resolved. I finally got a response in August. Coincidence or result? I can't be sure.
Posted by lumi at October 28, 2009 4:10 AM