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January 11, 2010
"Bilked" or cost of doing business
It's disingenuous to suggest, as the NY Times did in last week's article, that public officials are accused of "bilking" developer Forest City Ratner in exchange for a key vote to approve the Ridge Hill project in Yonkers. "Bilked" would suggest that Forest City was a victim of extortion, which is extremely doubtful, since the company apparently never reported the alleged "crime."
In light of a history of corruption surrounding Ridge Hill, since its inception, watchdogs in Brooklyn and Yonkers are only surprised that anyone seems to care.
Back in 2005, the same NY Times ran an article ("An Agency to Answer a City's Prayers, but Not All Its Questions") about what crawled out from under the rock called the Ridge Hill Development Corporation, as local politicians and the public sought more transparency. Included was this revelation:
Some of the corporation's directors are allies of Mayor Philip A. Amicone and former Mayor John R. Spencer, and sit on the boards of at least two other local development corporations in Yonkers. Tax documents show that in 2003, Mr. Spencer's brother-in-law, Chris Spring, had a $100,000-a-year job with the corporation, but a storm of protest followed and by 2004 he was on the developer's payroll instead.
Would anyone suggest that Forest City Ratner was "bilked" by the then-twenty-something-year-old Chris Spring, or is putting the relative of a political patron on the payroll somehow different than hiring another influential politician's cousin as a contractor? Unless, "bilked" is now a euphemism for cost of doing business.
Posted by lumi at January 11, 2010 4:35 AM