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April 14, 2011
Brooklyn BID takeover moves forward
Crain's NY Business
Look who's meddling in a downtown Brooklyn power struggle.
Allies of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership have managed, for now, to beat back a proposal aimed at blocking its ability to usurp funding from the MetroTech BID, which it oversees.
The BID held an emergency meeting yesterday that was attended by board members, Bloomberg administration staff, and lawyers for some of downtown's largest developers. The sole item on the agenda: revising the BID's conflict-of-interest policy.
The proposed revision, many agree, would make it next to impossible for BID board members who also sit on the partnership's board to vote to divert money from the BID to the partnership.
“This is not just about MetroTech,” said BID President Victoria Aviles. “This is about all the BIDs in New York City and how umbrella organizations can take them over.”
Despite her efforts, opponents managed to stall the vote after lawyers for Forest City Ratner and Muss Development criticized the proposed conflict-of-interest proposal for being vague. Following an onslaught of hoots and hollers, members voted to form a committee that will review the policy.
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The delay tactic rankled board members who believe that the partnership and its deep-pocketed friends are gunning for a power play. “It's about money,” said Vincent Battista, a downtown Brooklyn business owner. “It's not about serving the community.”
BIDs enjoy a reliable revenue stream from property tax assessments. Some have argued that because the partnership's funding from the city is drying up, its survival depends, in part, on money it can pull from the MetroTech BID and two others in downtown Brooklyn. “They're looking for bailouts on the backs of the BIDs,” said one insider.
Not so, the partnership says: It's simply trying to fulfill one of its original missions, which is to consolidate the services of various organizations in downtown Brooklyn. There is no takeover, supporters claim.
“Those arguments and other ploys are an attempt by a deeply embedded BID bureaucrat to maintain his position,” said an insider, referring to Mike Weiss, executive director of the MetroTech BID. A wily veteran of city politics, Weiss has maneuvered for a year to stymie the partnership's plans. The MetroTech BID board meets again May 5.
Posted by eric at April 14, 2011 12:02 PM