« New York: Where “Underutilization” Equals “Blight” | Main | The Yankee’s Hoggish New Stadium Monopoly Taxes The Rest of Us »
November 15, 2009
Kelo outcome shows Atlantic Yards risk
Village Voice By Julia
The exit of Pfizer from New London makes the author of this item question the wisdom of granting public subsidies and seizing property, via the use of eminent domain, for the benefit of developer Bruce Ratner.
Ratner already doesn't feel any particular obligation to the taxpayers providing his windfall (or the current residents being offered below-market value for their condemned properties). Last week, he told business paper Crains NY, not generally a hotbed of anti-development sentiment, that he didn't feel a need to share building plans with the public: "Why should people get to see plans? This isn't a public project."
It's particularly striking that Ratner feels free to show such an intransigent attitude at this point, when he's facing multiple lawsuits challenging the city's actions on his behalf and a looming Dec. 31 deadline to break ground or lose the tax-free status for the project's bonds he's relying on to finish the project. Even if he manages to jump those hurdles, the Independent Budget Office says that revenues on the project won't cover debt service, much less the subsidies.
Complicating matters even more, Ratner is battling with bond rating agencies which don't want to give the project's bonds the investment-grade rating the project is relying on. If he does manage to talk them around, he's got to market the bonds, sell them, complete the legalities with the city and the MTA, and break ground in the next six weeks.
On the other hand, he has been working the refs pretty hard. He spent almost a million dollars on lobbying for the plan last year. He also has a friend in City Hall and an affluent partner, either of whom could cover his nut in an emergency out of petty cash.
All the same, given the outcome of the New London experiment in protecting corporations from the free hand of the market, perhaps the city should think twice about fighting to subsidize someone who feels comfortable telling us to go fuck ourselves before he gets his hands on our money.
NoLandGrab: This blog entry mentions the City of New York as both facing legal challenges and acting to seize property. Actually, the lead agency for this project is the Empire State Development Corporation, the tool of developer Bruce Ratner.
Posted by steve at November 15, 2009 6:46 AM