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December 10, 2010
Jeffries says ESDC "has fallen down on the job" regarding AY oversight; will new governance bill help?; Governor-elect Cuomo wants an AY meeting
Atlantic Yards Report
At the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council's forum Wednesday on Atlantic Yards traffic, it was impossible for Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries to untangle potential solutions from governance issues.
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said his goal was that “if this project comes to fruition we will minimize the detrimental impacts it will have on quality of life.”
He reflected on the “interesting time” in state politics since he took office in January 2007, with turmoil in the governor's office, state Senate, and other Albany entitities.
From December 2006 through January 2011, Jeffries said, “We will have been through four governors in five years, and the consequence of that, I believe, given that this initiative was conceived at least as a public-private partnership with public involvement and oversight at the state level from the Empire State Development Corporation [ESDC], is that there's been chaos and uncertainty and a lack of direction and focus from the state agency that is charged with oversight and accountability and responsibility.”
“And that's been very detrimental,” he said. “Because in essence, what has occurred is that we've had a public-private project without any real public input.”
...Later, Council Member Letitia James reported that, at a recent meeting, Cuomo “whispered in my ear that we need to have a conversation about Atlantic Yards.” Several people in the audience clapped.
“I said, thank you Governor-elect, but said Governor Paterson said the same thing and let me down," James said. "I hope you don't let me down.”
NoLandGrab: We expect that conversation to go something like this:
Status Cuomo: Tish, Bruce Ratner gave my campaign a lot of money, so cool it, ok?
Tish James: [Steam coming from ears.]
Posted by eric at December 10, 2010 11:17 AM