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February 27, 2011
Everyone is getting a break because who can afford to pay retail on taxes?
Daily News
by Adam Lisberg
It's no surprise that developer Bruce Ratner, via his Atlantic Yards project, can be seen feeding heartily from the public trough.
Nobody pays retail in New York, right?
That's true for the city's buildings, too.
Every one of the biggest new private construction projects in New York is helped along by some sort of public subsidy.
The World Trade Center floats on a sea of tax-free subsidized bonds and taxpayer-funded infrastructure. Same with the Barclays Arena under construction at Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards.
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"These days, a publicly subsidized project doesn't necessarily equate to a large public benefit," said Bettina Damiani of the watchdog group Good Jobs New York, which is still smarting from the giveaways for the new Yankee Stadium.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Everyone's getting tax breaks, says Daily News columnist, who neglects the ironies of the free-market Bloomberg administration
Daily News columnist Adam Lisberg, in Everyone is getting a break because who can afford to pay retail on taxes?, points out some ironies:
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But he doesn't go far enough. After all, it's Mayor Mike Bloomberg who regularly invokes the free market when talking about the sports industry or the entrance of Wal-Mart.
Instead, Lisberg lets an apologist speak:
"If it was a more rational level of taxes, we wouldn't need it," said Steven Spinola, head of the Real Estate Board of New York.
Posted by steve at February 27, 2011 6:39 PM