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June 25, 2010
Jeffries on Atlantic Yards governance bill: optimistic, but "significant negotiation" still required
Atlantic Yards Report
I caught up today with Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, lead sponsor of the new version of the Atlantic Yards governance bill, to ask what's different this year, with the Empire State Development Corporation apparently on board.
"We have been working closely together over the last several months to convince the agency of the need to create a governance structure to improve transparency and accountability related to the project moving forward," he said. "In order for ESDC to create a subsidiary, we need to legislatively authorize that action, which is why Senator [Velmanette] Montgomery and I have introduced the bill."
Negotiations coming
Why is the ESDC more receptive? "I think agencies are generally more receptive when legislation is less proscriptive, as it relates to the manner in which they are expected to conduct themselves," he said. "The bill, as written, still requires significant negotiation between elected officials, community leaders and ESDC as to the precise nature of the governance structure moving forward."
That may be an interesting discussion; the legislation last year had clear roles for local appointees, while the structure right now is vague.
"The conversations with ESDC are ongoing," Jeffries said. "I have expressed the sentiment that the framework laid out in the governance legislation should be viewed as a working document for an agreement, in the future. Similarly, the subsidiary structure that currently exists with respect to Moynihan Station, Queens West, and Brooklyn Bridge Park provides an extremely useful model."
Related coverage...
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Bill Would Require More Oversight for Atlantic Yards
[Jeffries's] bill has now passed the Assembly’s Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee, according to BrooklynSpeaks, a coalition of civic organizations and advocacy groups in the areas near Atlantic Yards.
State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery has introduced a similar bill (S08193). Both bills direct the ESDC (Empire State Development Corporation) to establish a subsidiary corporation for planning and oversight of Atlantic Yards.
Jim Vogel, a spokesperson for Montgomery, told the Eagle that Atlantic Yards is the only project of that size that the ESDC is sponsoring that does not have an official entity that oversees development, construction and governance. Example of such overseeing bodies Vogel gave include the Battery Park City Authority in Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. in Brooklyn.
...A spokesman for Forest City Ratner told the Eagle that “FCRC does not have a comment on the proposed legislation.”
Posted by eric at June 25, 2010 10:42 AM