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March 31, 2010

Lots of letters about Atlantic Yards

Courier-Life Publications

Here are some excerpts from this week's Atlantic Yards-centric mailbag. Click the link for the full text.

Your recent coverage of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Atlantic Yards project was disappointing — to put it mildly (“Ground broken on Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project,” March 19). Why would you quote several speakers on “job creation” without noting that there is simply no argument that this project will bring a significant number of jobs, especially in relation to the perhaps as much as $2 billion in direct and indirect public subsidies?

Certainly, given all these years to explore the question, you can do more than simply repeat boosterish claims that have no basis in fact. In a more general sense, you must also be aware that the Independent Budget Office has determined the arena itself would be a money-loser for the city.

Lee Zimmerman, Prospect Heights


We have learned as a result of the entire Atlantic Yards fiasco, is that:

  1. Governments, and particularly the Bloomberg government, actively work against the interests of its citizens and for the best interests of the billionaire elite.

  2. Elected officials can be bought and bought cheaply. After all, your paper once reported that Markowitz received in excess of $40,000 from Ratner. I wonder how much Council Speaker Quinn received for her endorsement and how much was offered to the other members of the Council. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is supposed to investigate corruption, has been awfully quiet.

  3. The citywide media is essentially worthless in uncovering corruption. It often benefits from it in advertising revenue.

  4. Billionaires take care of their own kind first; dishonest billionaires help each other more quickly.

Bob Ohlerking, Park Slope


The Rev. Herbert Daughtry gave a prayer at Ratner’s Barclays Arena “groundtaking” ceremony — and claimed that the project area was “rodent-infested” and “garbage-strewn” before Ratner showed up.

Actually, before Ratner came along in 2003, wielding the threat of the state’s power of eminent domain to steal private property, the project site was a rapidly developing, mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood. There was nothing noteworthy as far as rats or garbage.

But over the past six-and-a-half years, under that threat of eminent domain, Ratner has indeed blighted a neighborhood that wasn’t.

Daniel Goldstein, Prospect Heights

link

Posted by eric at March 31, 2010 9:51 AM