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February 11, 2010
Did you say "slush fund"?
Community Benefits Agreements
Amy Lavine follows up on Norman Oder's coverage of the indictment of Larry Seabrook and its implications for the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).
One of the CBA signatories, ACORN, got a $1.5 million loan/bailout from the developer. Another, the "dubious nonprofit" Brooklyn Endeavor Experience, has spent most of its funding on pest management at its building, First Atlantic Terminal, even though "such tasks are not really part of BEE's mandate". Meanwhile, Darryl Greene, the subject of an intense controversy regarding a deal for a video casino, also has ties to the CBA.
...New York City has had trouble with development amenities for a long time, so the problems with the Atlantic Yards, Yankee Stadium, and Columbia CBAs are in some ways unsurprising. A 1988 report from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York recommended doing away with CBA-type deals....
Posted by eric at February 11, 2010 3:48 PM