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April 6, 2010
Who wins? Atlantic Yards isn't "a loser for everyone," but Barclays, Prokhorov, Nets fans, and arena-goers aren't the public at large
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder contends that there are a number of Atlantic Yards winners — most all of them in on the fix.
Just before the groundbreaking, on March 10, Chris Smith of New York Magazine wrote an online article headlined Why the Atlantic Yards Is Currently a Loser for Everyone, Even Ratner.
With all due respect--Smith generously cited me--I think he looked at the issue too narrowly. There are a bunch of winners, but they're just not the public at large, for whose ultimate benefit subsidies, tax breaks, and the extraordinary power of eminent domain were presumably justified.
There was never a legitimate cost-benefit analysis for the project as a whole, so all assessments will remain forever murky. But they give much room for pause.
The New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO), which did the most careful (partial) study, called the arena a loser for the city but not the state. I think the IBO was too generous, because it didn't factor in the state's giveaway of naming rights, worth more than $200 million.
And the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) economic impact analysis of the project as a whole is far from credible.
Posted by eric at April 6, 2010 11:20 AM