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September 19, 2012
Atlantic Yards protesters list demands: new plan, reformed oversight, more developers, environmental review, new regulations
Atlantic Yards Report
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Organizers of the Atlantic Yards Crime Scene web site and upcoming protest events centered around at the Barclays Center opening weekend have fleshed out the website that debuted earlier this month, with, among other things, a list of demands:
When it put the economic interests of a single private developer before critical promised public benefits, the State of New York failed its obligation to the people of Brooklyn and the taxpayers of New York.
We demand that the State now:
- Conduct a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS), as ordered by the State Supreme Court, that is a timely, transparent, truly impartial study of alternatives to the current Atlantic Yards plan, and which includes meaningful measures to mitigate the project’s negative impacts.
- Adopt a new plan that prioritizes the creation of housing affordable to working families in Brooklyn.
- Bring in other developers to reduce project risk, create more living wage jobs, and accelerate delivery of public benefits.
- Reform project oversight to represent the people of Brooklyn in decision-making on a continuing basis so that Atlantic Yards' promises to the public are kept.
- Change State regulations under which development projects are approved to ensure local communities are guaranteed input—and local elected officials are guaranteed a vote—before public subsidies are granted.
However understandable these demands, they depend on a political configuration that doesn't yet exist. Still, I'd expect at least some more attention to public input as the project goes forward.
Posted by eric at September 19, 2012 12:28 PM