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June 12, 2011
Lawmakers Demand Public Oversight For Atlantic Yards Project
NY 1
Brooklyn lawmakers want the public to have more of a say in the Atlantic Yards project.
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery are asking community advocates to round up support for the Atlantic Yards Governance Act.
The bill would allow a corporation to be set up to oversee the project and give the public a forum for feedback.
"This is a multi-billion-dollar development that is going to impact the Prospect Heights and Fort Greene and Park Slope and Boerum Hill communities," said Jeffries. "It's important to create a structure, legislatively, where we can have public involvement, transparency, and participation."
"It's the exact opposite of what was promised, and we want to ensure that the local community and local elected have a say," said Fifth Avenue Committee Executive Director Michelle de la Uz.
Leaders are trying to get Albany lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo to support the bill, which is currently in a legislative committee.
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The bill to create an oversight panel for the Atlantic Yards construction site is currently in the Assembly's powerful Rules Committee, which is chaired by Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Speaking in an empty space, the steel girders of the rising Barclays Center visible through a window in the background, Jeffries seemed optimistic about the bill's chances of getting a full Assembly vote before the Legislature convened for its summer recess on June 20.
However, Montgomery — who saw a similar effort fail to pass through a Democrat-controlled state Senate last year — left on a more pragmatic note.
"We are dealing with an environment where money trumps almost everything," she said. "It's been our problem since the beginning."
Posted by steve at June 12, 2011 5:36 PM