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March 10, 2010
RESISTANCE PEAKS AS ATLANTIC YARDS GROUNDBREAKING NEARS
The Brooklyn Ink
by Sierra Brown
Since the court ruling, opposition groups have begun mobilizing in anticipation of the groundbreaking. The project, they contend, has become the collective bane of a community unhappy with the development plans, which they say have changed dramatically since 2006. The new plans, they say, have largely dropped assurances to protect affordable housing and create jobs.
Forest City Ratner says that’s not the case. According to a fact sheet sent from Dan Klores Communications, a public relations firm representing the developer, the project will generate more than $5.6 billion in new tax revenues over the next 30 years and create a net positive fiscal impact of more than $1.3 billion. The fact sheet also states that the project will uphold the promise to ensure affordable housing units and create 8,000 permanent jobs.
NoLandGrab: It's astounding that, even now, on the eve of their ceremonial groundbreaking, Forest City Ratner and its proxies continue to lie, shamelessly, about the Atlantic Yards project's potential fiscal benefits. The claim of $5.6 billion in new tax revenues, fanciful to begin with, was based on a project configuration that evaporated a long time ago. The claimed net benefit of $1.3 billion has been shot full of holes many times over. And the alleged 8,000 jobs is more than double what the current project configuration could possibly generate.
We suppose that if you tell enough lies for a long enough time, it becomes impossible to remember the truth.
Posted by eric at March 10, 2010 11:42 PM