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October 7, 2010
Atlantic Yards not employing number of construction workers originally expected
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
"Expected?" Did you actually expect Ratner's promises to be legit?
The Atlantic Yards project is lagging on its promise to create much-needed construction jobs.
Only 100 people have been put to work at the Prospect Heights site so far, a Forest City Ratner executive conceded last week - compared to 1,476 predicted in state documents by late 2010.
"Right now, job numbers obviously are less than what they will be as construction gets full throttle at the arena," said Forest City Ratner Vice President MaryAnne Gilmartin.
...But even accounting for delays, the current number of jobs is much lower than expected. There were supposed to be 563 construction workers on site in the first quarter of 2010, 742 in the second, and 1,055 in the third.
James Caldwell, president of the nonprofit Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development, said he's disappointed so few jobs have been created so far, though he still supports the project.
"I'm not satisfied because the community's not satisfied. They're coming in asking us for jobs daily," he said.
Careful, Mr. Caldwell, or Bruce might pull your funding.
Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said the number of construction jobs will grow to 450 by late next spring.
NoLandGrab: Here's something of DePlasco's that's growing already.
Posted by eric at October 7, 2010 10:39 AM