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September 25, 2012
Mayor’s Tale of Recovery Hasn’t Been Reality for Some
The New York Times
The only Times columnist to really take a pointed look at Forest City Ratner's Culture of Cheating does so again.
New York’s leaders and titans are a wonderfully self-congratulatory lot. To listen to them and watch their posturing, you might guess that the recession was a summer thunderhead long ago blown out to sea.
There’s the ubiquitous Bruce C. Ratner, the developer who convinced New Yorkers to deeply subsidize his new luxury arena in Downtown Brooklyn without so far having produced a single apartment of the affordable housing he promised. He draws loud cheers from the artisanal-cheese-munching, Russian-oligarch-digging, Jay-Z-loving, “Please, please boost my property values” set.
There are the college presidents, of Cornell and New York University and Columbia, competitive men about town who find themselves in a gold rush as they attempt to turn the East Village, Roosevelt Island and West Harlem into dormitories with sidewalks.
And there is, of course, our mayor, a billionaire of rapidly appreciating net worth, who felt compelled to travel to Washington to lecture Democrat and Republican alike on why they need to pay closer heed to New York City, where jobs flow like vintage cabernet.
The mayor’s claims would come as a revelation to Stephanie Rosario, 20, and Woodeleine Beaujour, 19, two young women strolling down Newkirk Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on Sunday. They appeared well shielded from the bright light of our economic miracle.
NoLandGrab: Nobody loves artisanal cheese more than we do, but you don't hear us cheering.
Related overage...
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Michael Powell: Bruce Ratner, One of the Self-Congratulatory Plutocracy
At least there is one columnist who gets that the most important stories are not about Daniel Goldstein being harassed by a neighbor. Michael Powell, keep at it.
Posted by eric at September 25, 2012 1:26 PM