August 31, 2010
Why does Ratner not contribute to local races? Maybe because contributions keep the line open to Cuomo, the next governor
Atlantic Yards Report
A couple of people have asked me: if Bruce Ratner is no longer a campaign contribution refusenik, why isn't he giving money to Mark Pollard, who's challenging Atlantic Yards opponent Velmanette Montgomery in the 18th Senatorial District and has gained the support of some Atlantic Yards backers?
Well, maybe it's purely pragmatic; Montgomery has endorsements galore and a record of achievement.
Even a strong candidate--and I don't think Pollard qualifies, having started his campaign only in May, rather than building momentum over time, and relying disproportionately on charter school backers outside the district--would have trouble beating a veteran like Montgomery, even in this anti-incumbent political climate (and her failure to fully embrace reforms in Albany).
(When the 11-day pre-primary reports are made available on Friday, we'll see if Ratner's changed his tactics.)
Influence at the top
Ratner is not averse to contributions in local races, but maybe it's purely pragmatic on another level.
Ratner, I suspect, doesn't worry much about local elected officials; his concern is the governor, who controls the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the unelected agency that's shepherding Atlantic Yards and not looking too hard.
So that's why Ratner gave $5000 to the campaign of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo in February 2009, plus another $7500 this past May.
From Ratner's perspective, Montgomery may be a pest. But as long as the man at the top takes his calls, he'll be fine.
Or, to paraphrase Leona Helmsley, only the little people need to buy state Senators.
Even better, how's this for a laugh?
Ratner also gave $10,000 to New York Uprising, the clean-up-Albany project spearheaded by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, Citizens Union Director Dick Dadey, and former New York City Parks Commissioner and New York Civic Director Henry Stern.
I suspect that Ratner's contribution was generated less by desire to support candidates signing New York Uprising's worthy three-part pledge (Non-Partisan, Independent Redistricting; Responsible Budgeting; and Ethics Reform), than by his relationship with his old mentor Stern, an often-useful civic watchdog whose critical scrutiny has reliably bypassed Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: Ratner giving money to an effort to clean up Albany is like Bonnie and Clyde making a deposit five minutes before robbing the bank. And the fact that they would take Ratner's money tells you all you need to know about New York Uprising.
Posted by eric at 1:04 PM
August 30, 2010
In 18th District, Citizens Union prefers Pollard over Montgomery, who's reticent about addressing some reforms; challenger tries to thread AY needle
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder takes another look — two looks, actually — at the race for the state Senate's 18th district.
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery can point to some real achievements, as noted in a campaign mailer (right; click to enlarge), such as reforming the juvenile justice system and the Rockefeller drug laws.
But her reluctance to sign onto a full suite of Albany reforms means the 26-year incumbent, who has the support of veteran Brooklyn pols like Council Member Al Vann, may be sweating just a bit.
The Citizens Union last week announced it supported the reelection of only six incumbents, issued a "no preference" in several races, and endorsed several challengers, including Montgomery rival Mark Pollard.
(Pollard hasn't yet noted this on his web site. Montgomery doesn't have a current campaign web site--the one from the previous election has not been updated. Neither are particularly nimble in cyberspace; are they convinced that getting out the vote for the September 14 primary represents retail politics?)
While the CU did not elaborate on the Montgomery race (and some others), Executive Director Dick Dadey said the CU's preference "provide a clear signal to voters which incumbents have made an effort to bring change to Albany and which ones have stood in the way of reform and need to be replaced."
The CU doesn't hold the power it once had--its endorsement, for example, of Evan Thies in the 33rd Council District last year meant little--but it does aim to set benchmarks for good government practices.
NoLandGrab: Neither does the CU have the reputation for integrity it once had, since it refused to take a strong stance against Atlantic Yards, despite the project's lengthy list of vices.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Ziggy for Pollard: a not-quite-Atlantic Yards connection in the 18th District Senate race
State campaign finance filings (32-day report, July periodic report) show that Mark Pollard, the pro-Atlantic Yards challenger to state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, has paid $8000 in consulting fees to Brooklyn Sports MMM, which just happens to share the same address as Brooklyn USA Basketball.
Both Brooklyn Sports Management, Marketing, and Memorabilia and Brooklyn USA Basketball are the work of Thomas (Ziggy) Sicignano, coach of a traveling basketball team that's gotten $10,000 in funding from Forest City Ratner and whose players have bolstered some Atlantic Yards rallies.
(He's also notorious for cooperating in a federal investigation of prostitution he organized at an Atlanta strip club he managed. Correction August 31: Sicignano points out that he did not receive probation, as reported in the Brooklyn Paper.)
...Sicignano said he's not working for Pollard at the behest of FCR, though he does think it would be "good for Brooklyn that we have a Senator who can deal with the developer."
NLG: By "a senator who can deal with the developer," Sicignano means "a senator who can provide unqualified support for the developer's deals."
Posted by eric at 9:52 AM
August 28, 2010
From City Pragmatist: behind the Charter Revision Commission, an effort to shift power to the mayor
Atlantic Yards Report
Please click through to this blog entry and learn about two important proposals you're going to be voting on this November.
So, it turns out that the Charter Revision Commission did nothing--beyond a hearing--to grapple with issues like land use reform. And while a complicated term limits vote is one of the two proposals on the November ballot, the real import of the Commission's work is the second proposal, which--despite a fig leaf of reform--would essentially strengthen an already strong mayor.
Credit CityPragmatist blogger Alvin Berk, who's been following the Commission closely, concluding, NYC Charter Revision Proposals: A Hobson’s Choice.
He writes:
Here are the proposals being placed on November’s ballot by the New York City Charter Revision Commission. The commission has restricted voters’ options by lumping the changes into just two ballot questions, putatively because this year’s new paper voting forms are too small to show the proposals individually.
He's skeptical--and any serious reader of these long and thus confusing ballot questions would have reason to agree. (The Daily News also slammed the decision.)
Posted by steve at 9:16 AM
August 26, 2010
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee shuns Montgomery (among few incumbents); could Sampson's Atlantic Yards support be the reason?
Atlantic Yards Report
Sleazeball NY Senate Democrats brook no dissent against the Party's unofficial chairman, Bruce C. Ratner (who also happens to be unofficial chairman of the state's Republican Party, too).
There was a unexplored angle to a City Hall News article yesterday headlined DSCC Spends On Consultants, WFP, But Not Espada.
The main news was that the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee was not helping scandal-tinged Majority Leader Pedro Espada but helping incumbents with safe seats as well as incumbents faced with primaries but in districts that will remain in Democratic hands. (Shouldn't the DSCC be stressing seats that could be lost to the Republicans? Not in New York.)
However, if Senate Democrats are spending on "nearly every incumbent facing a primary," it was notable that Espada was joined on a very short list of the "outs" by his Bronx ally Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. and 18th District Senator Velmanette Montgomery, who represents Central Brooklyn.
The AY connection
I haven't been able to learn why Montgomery got the short end of the stick--there could be internal political dynamics at work--but it's worth noting that Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, some major contributors, and the Senate Democratic Conference's prime strategist are supporters of Atlantic Yards or have ties to Forest City Ratner.
Sampson, notably, was the beneficiary of a fundraiser held at Forest City Ratner offices and signed a letter to Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov calling Atlantic Yards "a major economic development venture that is vital to the economy and the future of Brooklyn."
He didn't attend the arena groundbreaking in March but sent his regrets.
NoLandGrab: We sent our regrets, too, after being held back by some 200 police officers, including the counter-terrorism squad.
Posted by eric at 9:52 AM
August 14, 2010
A push poll in the state Senate race, perhaps from the Pollard camp
Atlantic Yards Report
If you wanted to know anything about any kind of a poll was being conducted around the primary race for the State Senate between incumbent Velmanette Montgomery and challenger Mark Pollard, the best person to receive the call would be Norman Oder.
The call was probably linked to the Pollard camp, since a Montgomery representative said it wasn't them. (Update: Maybe that was too conclusory. It could've come from a group supporting Montgomery.)
The caller said she was a representative of a public opinion research firm called M.E.M. "We're conducting a brief survey about important issues in your area," I was told.
I asked for the location of the firm and a web site. There's no web site, I was told, and "I'm just in a call center." (She couldn't pronounce "Gowanus," so she was clearly from way out of town.) So I took a few notes.
Atlantic Yards makes an appearance in a poll question.
The next two questions concerned what is apparently the principal issue--or at least the principal campaign issue, given Pollard's funding by charter school supporters:
- What do I think of the United Federation of Teachers
- What do I think of charter schools?
The next question concerned what is apparently a significant secondary issue:
- What are my feelings about Atlantic Yards?
Posted by steve at 2:23 PM
August 4, 2010
Deputy Mayor Wolfson owns $5000 of Forest City Enterprises shares; does it matter? Nah
Atlantic Yards Report
Does it make a difference that Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson, who joined the Bloomberg administration in March, bought about $5000 worth of Forest City Enterprises (FCE) stock in 2007?
No, because 1) the administration was already behind the Atlantic Yards project promoted by FCE subsidiary Forest City Ratner and 2) the amount is too low to trigger action by the Conflicts of Interests Board (COIB).
Wolfson reported stock in the company, parent of Forest City Ratner, worth $5,000 to $39,999, but officials told the Post it was close to the minimum.
Unmentioned in the Post or AP reports is that $40,000 is the threshold for an "ownership interest" that, for someone in Wolfson's position, would require either divestment of that interest or disclosure to the COIB of that interest, subjecting him to the board's ruling.
NoLandGrab: $39,999 of Forest City stock purchased on April 16th, 2007 would be worth less than $7,300 today.
Posted by eric at 1:20 PM
Bloomberg staffer owns stock in company building B'klyn arena
NY Post
by Rich Calder
One of Mayor Bloomberg’s top staffers owns stock in a company whose subsidiary is getting city funding and tax breaks to build a Brooklyn arena for the NBA’s Nets — a revelation that’s raising eyebrows among opponents of the controversial project.
Former Hillary Clinton political strategist Howard Wolfson, who joined the Bloomberg administration in March as deputy mayor for governmental affairs, listed investments totaling $250,000 to $935,000 — including stock in Forest City Enterprises worth $5,000 to $39,999 – in a city financial disclosure report made public today.
"This project has never had any real oversight or accountability or full public transparency, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that a member of the Bloomberg administration has money invested in it," said Councilwoman Letitia James, whose district includes the 22-acre project footprint within Prospect Heights.
A city spokesman said Wolfson bought the stock in 2007 – three years before he took the post – and that the investment amount was "close to $5,000" and, therefore, "far below the threshold that raises potential conflict of interest issues" for city employees.
James, however, said Wolfson should sell the stock or put it in trust until he leaves City Hall.
The project is getting more than $200 million in city money for land acquisition and infrastructure repairs, plus tax exemptions and city-owned property at no cost.
Related coverage...
NY Daily News, Bloomberg administration disclosures: Ethics issues for Howard Wolfson, Raymond Kelly and others
A deputy mayor owns stock in the company building the controversial Atlantic Yards stadium - and the police commissioner takes rides on the mayor's plane.
Those are two of the eyebrow-raising disclosures in the annual ethics forms released Tuesday for top officials in Mayor Bloomberg's administration.
Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson reported owning $5,000 to $40,000 worth of stock in Forest City Enterprises, the parent company of the firm developing a stadium and apartments over former railyards in Brooklyn with up to $205 million in city subsidies.
"He doesn't have any responsibilities that affect Forest City," Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said. "He's not an economic development person."
NoLandGrab: Let's hope Wolfson is a better Deputy Mayor than he is an investor. The low for Forest City stock in 2007, when Wolfson bought it, was about $44 per share; today it trades below $13.
Posted by eric at 12:45 PM
August 2, 2010
Brooklyn Focus: August 3rd: MEET AND SUPPORT STATE SENATOR VELMANETTE MONTGOMERY
Mole's Progressive Democrat
I urge anyone who can to go to this event and support one of the best Democrats in New York:
MEET AND SUPPORT STATE SENATOR VELMANETTE MONTGOMERY
At the home of Joan Reutershan and Meg Harper
70 South Portland Avenue (near Lafayette) 6:00 – 8:00PM
Join Council Member Letitia James along with hosts Joan Reutershan, Meg Harper, Naomi Dickerson, Charles Jarden, Lucy Koteen, Patricia Johnson, Paul Palazzo, and Steve Soblick.
Senator Montgomery, currently the Chairperson of the Children and Families Committee, has stood up for all the right issues:
- Community Supported Development
- Reforming the Juvenile Justice system
- Affordable Housing for all
- Marriage Equality
- Democratic Education
- Opposition to Atlantic Yards
...Velmanette is my state senator and she is one of the very few in Albany who is worth anything. She has led the fight against Atlantic Yards overdevelopment, led the fight to clean up the Gowanus Canal, led the fight for better and more effective sex education in our schools, and I have to say, led pretty much every fight I support in Albany.
Posted by eric at 9:40 AM
July 31, 2010
At heart of Pollard's challenge to Senator Montgomery, charter schools (and big bucks from charter school proponents)
Atlantic Yards Report
Senator Velmanette Montgomery, foe of the Atlantic Yards project, is facing an opponent in the September primary.
I got a mailing the other day from Mark Pollard, who's challenging 13-term incumbent state Senator Velmanette Montgomery in the 18th District, which includes Atlantic Yards.
What it doesn't say is that the contest is significantly about charter schools, given that charter school proponents from outside Brooklyn have contributed a large majority of his $87,385 war chest.
(The candidates allso differ on Atlantic Yards, but I didn't see any AY backers contributing to Pollard yet, other than $25 contributions from Delia Hunley-Adossa, chair of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement Coalition and head of the potemkin Brooklyn Endeavor Experience, and her daughter Saadia. Hunley-Adossa last year challenged incumbent 35th District City Council Member Letitia James, a Montgomery ally.)
Click through to see how individual Pollard supporters, mostly from Manhattan, are contributing as much as $6,000 to his campaign.
Posted by steve at 8:42 AM
July 29, 2010
Phone calls from Utah firm about Atlantic Yards: is Pacific Crest Research back? and is this about the Senate race or just AY p.r.?
Atlantic Yards Report
It looks like the shadowy, Utah-based polling firm Pacific Crest Research (PCR) may be back and involved in tapping/shaping public opinion about Atlantic Yards.
From Brooklynian, selected comments:
- just got off the phone with someone, based in utah, who peppered me with a lot of questions about the yards project, and whether i agree that forest city ratner's doing a great thing for the slope and the community as a whole. i assume ratner's paying for the survey since many of the questions seemed tilted in his favor.. but i had some free time, and it was a very cathartic experience....still, to be doing a survey like this, the developers must be really worried about something.
- I took the survey and it was obviously sponsored by Ratner. I told the guy that I really shouldn't be taking the survey as my husband used to work for FCR and says the affordable housing phase of the project ain't never gonna happen.
- I took the survey too and also think it was sponsored by Ratner. Whenever they asked whether finding out something positive e.g., about job creation changed my mind, I just responded that I didn't believe any of it (the good stuff) would happen.
The background
None of the commenters on Brooklynian mentioned the name of the firm, but the Utah connection offers a significant hint. Remember, in 2006, I got two calls from the company, the second “a very brief public opinion survey on some very interesting issues in Brooklyn.”
...Why now?
It could be that FCR is simply trying to gauge public opinion in anticipation, for example, of the its next phase of p.r. statements regarding the project.
It could be that FCR is trying to help candidates such as Mark Pollard, who's challenging incumbent state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, an Atlantic Yards opponent (though the big backing for Pollard in that race comes from charter school proponents).
After all, in one 2006 call, I was asked some general questions, but most focused on the race between last-minute challenger Tracy Boyland and Montgomery.
Or maybe it's another client with another motive.
NoLandGrab:
Related coverage...
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, More Annoying Atlantic Yards Phone Polling
One would think that 30 years of construction and massive parking lots would be enough of an imposition on Brooklynites. But no!
Someone (Ratner, Barclays, an unknown) is polling Brooklynites on Ratner's Atlantic Yards to tap and shape public opinion.
Posted by eric at 10:31 AM
July 23, 2010
Carl Paladino: I'd Use Eminent Domain To Block Ground Zero Mosque
NY Daily News
by Celeste Katz
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino has dreamed up a novel new use for eminent domain: religious bigotry!
If elected governor, WNY's Carl Paladino vows in a new radio ad that he'd use the eminent domain laws to stop the construction of a controversial Islamic center/mosque near Ground Zero.
(I'm not sure he could actually do that, by the way, but I'm looking into it.)
It's New York State. You can use eminent domain for anything, as long as you're rich and powerful enough to get away with it. Just ask Bruce Ratner.
Paladino says sure he can, and instead of a mosque, the site should be a war memorial.
...It's notable from a political standpoint that Paladino is going after Cuomo here, leaving out that other Republican guy who wants to be governor, Rick Lazio.
Cuomo and Lazio have tangled on the topic, with Lazio doing most of the tangling.
Lazio spokesman Barney Keller replied to my inquiry about Paladino: “Since Rick Lazio called on Andrew Cuomo to do his job several weeks ago and look into the funding stream of the Cordoba Mosque voices of opposition have emerged from coast to coast.”
Also weighing in on this one: Libertarian gubernatorial hopeful Warren Redlich, who's dumping on the "knee-jerk" Paladino idea as a "plan to waste money and abuse property rights through eminent domain."
NoLandGrab: We had to look it up, too — "WNY" stands for "Western New York," not "Wing Nut Yokel."
Posted by eric at 11:20 AM
July 22, 2010
DSCC consultant Lowe, connected to Sampson and Ratner (and Boyland's challenge to Montgomery), racks up the bucks
Atlantic Yards Report
State Senate leader John Sampson involved in sleazy dealings? Who knew?
From an article in City Hall News headlined Largely Unknown DSCC Consultant Cleared $300k In Last Year:
The Democratic State Senate Committee and Conference Leader John Sampson have spent over $300,000 with two companies run by the same consultant, a shadowy operative named Melvin Lowe who had worked on only a few campaigns prior to being brought on in the wake of the Senate coup last year.
...Several people familiar with the DSCC and Lowe have expressed mystification at what his position entails to justify being paid this sum, and the DSCC itself declined to provide details.
Lowe, who was brought on to provide oversight for the DSCC, is the principal of both Prestige Strategic Communications and G&L Consulting, which, as reported on Wednesday by Liz Benjamin on the State of Politics blog, share an address at 350 West 110th Street...
Before the massive influx of money to the campaigns in the last 12 months, Lowe had retained only a handful of clients... $16,000 paid to him by former Council Member Tracy Boyland in her 2006 race against State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery that was paid to Prestige...
Immediately before starting with Sampson and the DSCC, Lowe was a lobbyist for Forest City Ratner Companies, helping lobby on behalf of the Atlantic Yards. While at that job, Lowe got involved in the Ridge Hill development in Yonkers and is among the people mentioned in subpoenas that came out of the local U.S. Attorney’s office related to the passage of that project.
Here's brief coverage from 8/31/09 about Lowe's DSCC hiring, his role in Ridge Hill, and reports of consulting work regarding Atlantic Yards.
...The Boyland connection
News to me from the City Hall News story: Lowe was paid by Boyland's campaign. That reinforces suspicions that Boyland's shadowy run was connected to Ratner.
Remember, Boyland used the same consulting firm--Knickerbocker SKD--that FCR uses for its deceptive Atlantic Yards mailers and Boyland told the Brooklyn Papers that she's friends with FCR's Bruce Bender, a former top City Council aide.
Posted by eric at 11:05 AM
July 14, 2010
Virtually ignored by the Charter Commission report: a strong mayor, weak Borough Presidents, and the fact that there's "no real local government"
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder files another report on the review of New York City's Charter.
The news from the city's Charter Revision Commission is that a vote on term limits (and maybe Instant Runoff Voting) are apparently on the agenda, but more substantive change, regarding issues like more public input into land use and expanded power of Borough Presidents, is not.
That's plausible, given the tight schedule to get measures on the November ballot, but the commission's staff report was dismissively brief, ignoring many legitimate criticisms posed by the Borough Presidents and others.
As the Staten Island Advance reported yesterday, that ticked off one Commission member:
"The fact the conversation on borough presidents and community boards warrants maybe two paragraphs, to me is utterly disrespectful to the communities," said Carlo A. Scissura, who is chief of staff to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Almost as disrespectful as the sham Atlantic Yards "process" that his boss so heartily embraced.
The fundamental problem
The failure to address the BPs' concerns reflects a larger issue, one that doesn't get traction in the Commission report, and one that explains the hundred successful rezonings under Mayor Mike Bloomberg and his ability to get agencies to march in lockstep to support projects like Atlantic Yards.
"The fundamental principle in this city is that there’s no real local government," suggested Gerald Benjamin, a professor at SUNY New Paltz, speaking at a June 10 hearing of the Commission.
Posted by eric at 9:57 AM
July 13, 2010
Charter Panel's Narrow Scope Stirs Concerns
When the Charter Revision Commission meets Monday night, it will weigh its staff's recommendations against advocates' calls for a wider vision.
City Limits
by Jarrett Murphy
The site of the Atlantic Yards development, the biggest land use battle in recent memory. Advocates and developers both want changes to the city's land use process, but the staff of the Charter Revision Commission has recommended that those questions be put off to a later day.
Photo: Marc Fader/City Limits
Posted by eric at 11:03 AM
July 10, 2010
Charter Revision Commission: term limits, instant runoff voting on agenda, but not land use or the power of Borough Presidents and Community Boards
Atlantic Yards Report
The City's Charter Revision Commission has held some interesting (and undercovered) hearings on issues like land use and the power of Borough Presidents and Community Boards, but it doesn't look like those complex topics are going to make it to the ballot this November.
Far more likely are term limits and instant runoff voting (IRV); the latter would be especially welcome to allow voters to rank their preferences in multi-candidate races.
It makes sense that issues like land use deserve more time and discussion; I'll have reports this coming week on some of the testimony.
Posted by steve at 8:50 AM
July 5, 2010
Carl Kruger, already under investigation, now has Post looking at his questionable campaign spending
Atlantic Yards Report
After news surfaced of a federal corruption investigation involving Brooklyn state Senator Carl Kruger--an aggressively unabashed supporter of Atlantic Yards, and recipient of Forest City Ratner-related campaign contributions--now the New York Post is following up with a close look at his campaign spending.
In Senate's biggest 'waste' Probed pol a lavish campaign spender, the Post reported yesterday:
The state Senate's top fat cat lives like a king off his campaign cash, tapping donations to pay for his meals, car, hotel rooms, phone, computers -- even flowers, candy and iTunes, records show.
While Dick Dadey, executive director of the government watchdog Citizens Union, called for a criminal investigation, he acknowledged that lax state laws provide a lot of leeway: "He's abusing the law, even if he's not necessarily violating it."
(The article came with a requisite ambush photo of Kruger.)
...Today, in Probed pol's bizarre money trail, the Post followed up:
Embattled Brooklyn state Sen. Carl Kruger last year tapped his campaign fund for $10,500 in payments to an obscure New Jersey company that operates out of a private home and communicates via post-office box, The Post has learned.
The payments went to Reliable Repair Inc., a Fair Lawn, NJ, firm the Democratic lawmaker said was hired to install air conditioning and heating systems at his district office.
...Reached by phone to answer questions about work done for Kruger, Mark Yanishevsky, named as Reliable Repair's vice president, asked: "Why are you trying to blackmail me? How did you find me?"
What if the Post looked into the equally suspicious Pacific Crest Research?
NoLandGrab: Does Kruger look guilty? You decide.
Posted by eric at 10:17 AM
July 4, 2010
Hakeem Jeffries returns for summer "office hours" at subway stops; ask him about AY and the vague governance bill
Atlantic Yards Report
Beginning Wednesday, July 7, for the fourth straight year, central Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries will host his “Summer at the Subway” evening office hours (schedule below) at subway stops in his 57th District.
Jeffries and staff members will visit stops in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods.
...
Jeffries' web site highlights the following issues, all surely less controversial in his district than Atlantic Yards:
- employment of housing authority residents, as per federal law
- counting prisoners in their home counties rather than the location of the prison
- keeping personal information out of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk
database- the conversion of vacant luxury apartments into affordable housing
...
Note that Atlantic Yards is not a priority, perhaps because Jeffries--who's long taken a cautious position on the project--doesn't think he can do that much about it and perhaps because it's an issue on which his constituents are divided, and resigned.
...
He has pushed to ensure that 200 of the planned 1930 condos on site are subsidized, but we haven't heard much about that lately.
And he has sponsored a new version of a bill to establish a governance entity for Atlantic Yards, a bill that the Empire State Development Corporation happens to support.
Given the ESDC's resistance to oversight, that's a bit of a red flag.
Jeffries acknowledged that, "The bill, as written, still requires significant negotiation between elected officials, community leaders and ESDC as to the precise nature of the governance structure moving forward."
Which means that, unless it's written into the legislation, the governance entity could be toothless. It's worth some questions for Jeffries.
Click on the link to see where and when Assemblyman Jeffries will be holding his evening office hours.
Posted by steve at 9:16 AM
June 28, 2010
THE GATEWAY (WARNING: INCLUDES ACTUAL BREAKING POLITICAL NEWS)
Gatemouth's Blog [Room Eight]
WOW! You Heard It Here First Department:
Supposedly Purer Than Thou anti-development, anti-establishment, Doug Biviano is circulating joint nominating petitions with Mark Pollard, the pro-development shill Bruce Ratner is running against State Senator Velmanette Montgomery.
Does this make Biviano Ratner's means of punishing Joan Millman?
Posted by eric at 10:22 AM
June 27, 2010
Federal corruption investigation reportedly involves Senator Carl Kruger, whose attorney says he's "not a target"
Atlantic Yards Report
Southern Brooklyn State Senator Carl Kruger, he of the big political war chest and questionable allegiances (e.g., the "Three Amigos" insurrection in Albany), has long carried Forest City Ratner's water on Atlantic Yards.
And while a reported federal corruption investigation of Kruger does not apparently touch on Atlantic Yards, it suggests some more dubious behavior on the part of the Senator--though parties involved say that's not so.
...
Who can forget how, at a 5/29/09 oversight hearing, he criticized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for "foot-dragging in developing a dialogue” that could advance the project and also cited the MTA's “apparent refusal to move forward on a project that is critical to New York City’s economic future.”
Kruger represents another district tied to the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, , part of the southern Brooklyn zone from which Forest City Ratner executive Bruce Bender sprung (as noted by Matthew Schuerman in the Observer).
Kruger endorsed the $6 billion lie; he received $4000 from Bruce Ratner's brother and sister-in-law; and, though a Democrat, he campaigned for Republican Martin Golden in return for new district boundaries that protected his seat, as recounted by Seymour Lachman in Three Men in a Room.
Posted by steve at 8:00 AM
June 26, 2010
Catching up on AY-related campaign contributions to Andrew Cuomo, and reasons to expect little reform when it comes to developers
Atlantic Yards Report
As with Attorney General-turned-Governor Eliot Spitzer, it's unwise to expect Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the gubernatorial front-runner, to enact fundamental reforms when it comes to developers.
The campaign finance system is just too entrenched.
And while Cuomo has said nothing about Atlantic Yards, and taken campaign contributions from those associated with the project, he--assuming he's elected--would have a significant role in overseeing the project via the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) and the proposed (and yet undesigned) governance entity.
His lengthy campaign platform does not discuss reform of the ESDC when it comes to projects like Atlantic Yards. Nor does it address reforms regarding eminent domain, even though New York is an outlier among states that have tightened their laws in the last five years.
Even without following the advice of libertarians like the Institute for Justice, Cuomo might conclude that cases like that regarding the expansion of Columbia University show that the eminent domain system needs a second look.
Attorney General Cuomo sat on his hands for Atlantic Yards.
As Attorney General, Cuomo has remained singularly uninterested in Atlantic Yards. State Senator Bill Perkins last December asked Cuomo for a written opinion regarding the Atlantic Yards bond deal, focusing on the absence of a PACB review.
As far as I know, no formal response was issued.
Posted by steve at 8:13 AM
Brooklyn Senator a Focus of Federal Corruption Inquiry
The New York Times
By Danny Hakim and A.G. Sulzberger
Atlantic Yards booster, Carl Kruger, is the object a corruption investigation. Kruger comes out of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, which also produced Bruce Bender, aide to developer Bruce Ratner.
Federal investigators are examining whether Senator Carl Kruger, one of the State Legislature’s most powerful members, sought campaign contributions in exchange for political favors, according to court filings and people briefed on the case.
Mr. Kruger, a Democrat from Brooklyn who has amassed the Senate’s largest campaign account, declined to comment on the investigation.
But a Senate Democratic spokesman confirmed Friday that the F.B.I. and the United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn were reviewing allegations that Mr. Kruger helped businessmen with bureaucratic hurdles, with the expectation that they would hold fund-raisers for him.
Posted by steve at 7:49 AM
June 24, 2010
Cuomo Accepts Millions From Interests He Assails
The New York Times
by Serge F. Kovaleski and Griffin Palmer
The more things change, the more Albany remains a nest of dysfunctional sleazeballs.
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, declaring his candidacy for governor of New York, could not have been clearer.
“The influence of lobbyists and their special interests must be drastically reduced with new contribution limits,” Mr. Cuomo said last month. “We will be taking on very powerful special interests which have much to lose. We must change systems and cultures long in the making.”
But as he delivered his announcement, Mr. Cuomo was sitting on millions in campaign cash from the very special interests whose influence he said he wanted to limit.
One of those "special" interests was none other than Bruce C. Ratner, who gave Mr. Cuomo a nice $5,000 "gift."
An analysis by The New York Times shows that of the estimated $7.1 million that the Cuomo campaign has received from political action committees, associations, limited liability corporations and other entities, more than half has come from the biggest players in Albany: organized labor, the real estate and related industries like construction, the health care sector and lobbying firms.
...The donations underscore the awkwardness of Mr. Cuomo’s effort to run against Albany and its insiders at the same time he is benefiting from their largess and, in some cases, his long relationships with them. He drew a similar proportion of his campaign money from special interests in his failed 2002 campaign for governor and his 2006 bid for attorney general.
Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this article.
...Kenneth L. Shapiro, managing partner of the Albany office of the law firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker L.L.P., is also not put off by Mr. Cuomo’s remarks.
...A political action committee of Mr. Shapiro’s firm and the partnership itself — whose clients have included the Atlantic Yards Development Company, Consolidated Edison, the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association and numerous hospitals — has contributed about $59,200 to the Cuomo campaign.
NoLandGrab: Of course, The New York Times is one to talk.
Posted by eric at 9:41 AM
June 20, 2010
The Aqueduct racino deal: AEG deal seen as unethical but not illegal; Sampson-Andrews leak provokes more controversy; bonus: AY/AEG parallels
Atlantic Yards Report
The scandals keep coming from the state's attempt to award the contract for a Racino video casino at Aqueduct Raceway. Those following the Atlantic Yards fight might wonder why this particular story is getting so much play in New York papers, while the MTA's decision to award rights to the Vanderbilt Yard to developer Bruce Ratner 18 months before issuing an RFP in 2005 was largely ignored.
Is it really surprising that some of the cast of characters for the Racino scandal also show up in Atlantic Yards dealings? Amongst those making an appearance are Senate Democratic leader John Sampson and Carl Andrews, a lobbyist for Aqueduct Entertainment Group (one of the parties vying for the contract).
Andrews famously asked a Forest City Ratner representative, "What are you going to do for my support?" a question a former staffer apparently interpreted as a request without civic betterment at its heart.
A fundraiser for Sampson was held last October at Forest City Ratner's MetroTech offices.
Rap entrepreneur Jay-Z, who has a small piece of the Nets, had a small piece of the AEG deal before he dropped out.
Shady minority contracting consultant Darryl Greene, source of much controversy in the AEG deal, exited that deal but has received little flak for his role in the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement.
Posted by steve at 7:17 AM
June 19, 2010
Should the Public Advocate be in charge of overseeing CBAs? Or is some more general oversight needed?
Atlantic Yards Report
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has issued several proposals for reforms of the City Charter, and a couple involve oversight of Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs).
(He believes that the Charter Revision Commission should only place questions regarding term limits on the 2010 ballot, and to reserve action on all other issues until 2012.)
His proposals include:
• Increasing disclosure by making more government operations and decision-making available online including capital and discretionary funding requests, Requests For Proposals, Community Benefits Agreements, the responsiveness of City agencies to Freedom of Information Law requests, lobbyists visits, and other aspects of City government;
• Granting subpoena power to the Public Advocate’s office to strengthen its oversight role and empowering the office to track compliance with Community Benefits Agreements;
It certainly makes sense to put all CBAs--at least those in which the government is involved--online.
But empowering the Public Advocate to track CBA compliance is hardly a reform to inspire confidence, considering de Blasio's failure to do due diligence on Atlantic Yards and its CBA.
Posted by steve at 8:27 AM
June 5, 2010
That new office to monitor public authorities? Hamstrung by funding shortfall
Atlantic Yards Report
Remember the big battle last year to get the state legislature to reform the state's myriad public authorities?
In Manhattan Media's The Capitol newspaper, a 5/10/10 article headlined New Authorities Budget Office Could Be Swept Away By Lack Of Funding explains:
When Gov. David Paterson signed a bill last December to regulate the state’s 700-plus public authorities, the legislation was hailed as one of Albany’s most significant reforms in decades—the beginning of the end for the state’s “Soviet-style bureaucracies” that have amassed $45 billion in public debt.
The centerpiece of the dense 25-page bill was the creation of the Independent Authorities Budget Office, which replaced a similarly named office that had existed with limited scope and responsibility since 2006. The new office was given a host of new powers—such as the ability to issue subpoenas and remove authorities’ board member. It also was given a number of responsibilities, including the ability to audit authorities for potential financial abuses, oversight of new lobbying regulations for authority board members and regulation of the sale of authority land, among others.
But the office appears to have so far fallen victim to the same budget woes that it was supposed to help alleviate.
The office had seven employees before the law took effect March 1, and is supposed to go to 11 under Gov. David Paterson's budget, even though, when the bill was "first being seriously considered," it was supposed to have at least 25.
So here's where they're at:
With its resources limited, the office had not launched a new review of any public authority’s operations since the law was passed in March, said the office’s director, David Kidera.
NoLandGrab: The mostly unaccountable public authorities (including the tool of developer Bruce Ratner, the ESDC) are responsible for running up most of the state's debt, yet an agency designed to reign them in is endangered due to cost-cutting.
Posted by steve at 8:41 AM
May 29, 2010
Noticing New York's White puts the AG candidates on the spot re Atlantic Yards; Brodsky's in high dudgeon over suggestion he went easy on AY
Atlantic Yards Report
In Touchstone For Whether There Will Be Change In Albany: Attorney General Candidates on Atlantic Yards and Eminent Domain, Michael D.D. White offers a long but important-to-read post. The summary:
The good news with respect to the possibility of change is that at least two of the candidates for state Attorney General (the Erics) think that the job of Attorney General should entail actions designed to stop Atlantic Yards dead in its tracks. That includes, in the case of state senator Eric T. Schneiderman, investigation of likely violations of law and, in the case of former state insurance superintendent Eric R. Dinallo, use of the Attorney General’s power to issue opinions and rulings to make clear that the law is not being properly interpreted when eminent domain is abused by state officials. (We will be quoting both at length further on.)
The bad news is that if the Erics are correct and that addressing these Atlantic Yards abuses should be part of the Attorney General’s job (or at least within the AG’s discretion), none of the current AG candidates are willing to say that it is improper for gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo, the current holder of the AG position, to be taking campaign money from Forest City Ratner, the mega-project’s developer. That this is not improper notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Cuomo has been asked to investigate Atlantic Yards and issue rulings on the conduct by the public authorities facilitating it. That it is not improper notwithstanding the questions that lurk: Is Mr. Cuomo taking action on Atlantic Yards and is Mr. Cuomo taking appropriate action?
Atlantic Yards as "Superlative Touchstone"
White calls Atlantic Yards "the superlative touchstone to detect for true reform-mindedness," comparing it to Yankee Stadium, the Aqueduct "racino," the destruction of the Coney Island amusement area, Willets Point, Columbia University's expansion, and putting it in the context of public authority reform and campaign finance, state ethics and lobbying reform.
He notes that, while Cuomo has given back some campaign contributions, he's failed to return a contribution from Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, nor has he issued some publicly requested opinions on AY.
Posted by eric at 11:02 AM
Touchstone For Whether There Will Be Change In Albany: Attorney General Candidates on Atlantic Yards and Eminent Domain
Noticing New York
Might we get actual, honest-to-God change in Albany this November? Who needs tea leaves when we have Atlantic Yards.
Are things in Albany about to change? We are in the middle of an election cycle where we will see turnover in all the important offices. Notwithstanding that all the candidates will be talking about reform, is change and reform what we will get in the end or will we just get be more of the same, a continuing lack of transparency, pay-to-play political contributions, and the same old mire of tangled political relationships that separate us form proceeding directly to the reforms that need to implemented?
Do we really need to remind our readers that in the last election cycle, just four years ago, the candidates Eliot Spitzer, Alan Hevesi, David Paterson, also all ran on the platform of reform? Because of scandal one of those candidates, Alan Hevesi, never took office as state Comptroller, Eliot Spitzer soon resigned from the governorship in scandal and David Paterson who succeeded Spitzer is now enmeshed in is own crippling scandals that would likely remove him from office were he not so close to the end of his term and were the public not already so utterly exhausted by the scandal-driven midterm turnovers to date.
Touchstones and Stepping Stones
Are things in Albany about to change? We think we can furnish some insight. We arrive at the perceptions we can offer by use of the singular touchstone reference which we think cuts through obfuscation and the political posture and pretense like a hot knife through butter: Atlantic Yards. We apply our test to a race for a state office which itself can serve as a touchstone, the race for New York State Attorney General. That race is a touchstone not only because of how key the office is itself, but also because it is now being vacated by Andrew Cuomo, the perceived front runner in the race for Governor, the highest office in the state, who like his predecessor, the disgraced Eliot Spitzer, has been able to use the AG’s office as the penultimate stepping stone to the highest state office.
...Think of anything going on the state that is objectionable to reformers and Atlantic Yards trumps it by several shades of darkness.
Posted by eric at 10:44 AM
May 27, 2010
Green Party Nominates Clark and Lawrence for US Senate
Via NewsChannel34.com (Binghamton, NY)
New York's Green Party has nominated its candidates for statewide office, and among them is local activist Gloria Mattera, a stalwart of the fight to stop Atlantic Yards, who's running for Lieutenant Governor.
From Green Party of New York State:
The Green Party state convention in Albany last weekend nominated a full slate of candidates for statewide office in New York this November.
Gloria Mattera, a long time peace activist from Brooklyn was nominated to run for Lt. Governor on a ticket with Syracuse labor activist Howie Hawkins (www.howiehawkins.org).
...In 2005, Mattera challenged incumbent Marty Markowitz for Brooklyn Borough President, after he enraged local communities by championing the use of eminent domain to seize homes for the benefit of private developer Bruce Ratner’s professional basketball arena and a multiple high-rise tower project. Mattera advocated human scale development driven by community specific needs that promoted sustainability and offered truly affordable housing.
...Mattera is a long time Executive Board member of Physicians for A National Health Program NY Metro Chapter and on the steering committee of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
Posted by eric at 10:40 PM
May 25, 2010
How about that under-the-radar Charter Revision Commission? Hearing Tuesday in Brooklyn takes on term limits
Atlantic Yards Report
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who spends an inordinate amount of time sending out press releases commenting on every possible matter of public interest (except one), is doing something useful: casting light on the shadowy efforts by the New York City Charter Revision Commission to amend the charter regarding issues like term limits, land use, and public integrity.
There's no small self-interest, as well; Mayor Mike Bloomberg wants the commission to examine whether the Public Advocate's office should be abolished.
Hearing on term limits
On Tuesday at 6 pm, the commission will hold a hearing on term limits at Brooklyn Borough Hall. It will be webcast live. Three nationally recognized experts will testify and those wishing to testify can begin signing up one half-hour prior to the start of the forum.
The hearing on land use will be Thursday, June 24, in Flushing, Queens.
Posted by eric at 9:50 AM
On the Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday: Marty Markowitz and "Your Anecdotal Census"
Atlantic Yards Report
As part of the program’s ongoing Census coverage, WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show presents YOUR ANECDOTAL CENSUS–a county-by-county look at the stories emerging from each neighborhood in 2010. The series debuted earlier this month, and continues each Tuesday at 11 am through September.
Tomorrowtoday the subject is Brooklyn. Among the guests: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.Anecdotes welcomed
Listeners have been asked how the world around them has changed in the past decade. One of the more interesting comments already posted:
Jacqueline Woodson from Park Slope, Brooklyn
I think I am one of a shrinking number of African American recent homebuyers in Park Slope. We bought our house in 2002 when my daughter was 10 months old. I had lived as a renter in the neighborhood for many years before that and have watched the neighborhood go from being racially and economically diverse (as well as having a large number of queer people living here) to being a predominantly white, wealthy, straight neighborhood. It saddens me to see this change. Saddens me that my daughter (and now young son) aren't growing up in a neighborhood where they see their worlds constantly reflected back at them. I find myself thinking about organization IJack & Jill -- started so that African American children could meet other children of color. Who ever thought there would be a need in Brooklyn? But the children of color on our own block can be counted on one hand. Our mixed race gay family is a rarity in the neighborhood and when my partner and I walk through the neighborhood holding hands now, we get stares we wouldn't have imagined ten years ago.
Posted by eric at 9:14 AM
May 24, 2010
Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth? An Examination of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Terms of the Politics of Development
Noticing New York
Michael D.D. White publishes an epic three-part look at the politics of development in New York City, viewed through the prism of Brooklyn Bridge Park. It touches only tangentially on Atlantic Yards, but the delays in construction of the park conjure scary visions of a 50-year buildout in Prospect Heights.
This three-part article, which is principally about the new Brooklyn Bridge Park currently under development, wends a long, more serpentine path through the politics of New York City development than perhaps any other we have written. As you would expect, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's appearance is much more than a cameo. We don’t offer him praise.
Inevitably the metaphor of looking a gift horse in the mouth comes to mind when we contemplate the spectacular change to the city’s waterfront that will one day be Brooklyn Bridge Park. Whatever our government agencies ultimately do, the park will provide desirable benefits that will be extremely hard to complain about. But not conscientiously examining “gifts” that government officials deliver just doesn’t work in the political environment of New York. Besides Brooklyn Bridge Park is not truly a gift; it is something that community activists worked for years to obtain. Our elected representatives are, after all, supposed to be working for us. It is their job to properly administer our available public resources. Whether they are doing so requires a conscientious examination. We hope you will find that conscientious examination takes us on an interesting and worthwhile trip.
Posted by eric at 10:59 AM
May 23, 2010
How Lieber fills Doctoroff's shoes
Crain's (requires subscription)
By Greg David
This article on current Deputy Mayor Bob Lieber discusses predecessor Dan Doctoroff's legacy including Doctroff's participation in the Atlantic Yards project.
Mr. Doctoroff was the passion behind the effort to first build a stadium on the far West Side and then rezone the area for a new commercial and residential neighborhood. He led the rezoning of Greenpoint-Williamsburg, made the deals for the new baseball stadiums, and behind the scenes pushed through approval of Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.
The article concludes with this assessment of Lieber:
In the end, he will be known for completing the agenda. It will always be called the Doctoroff era, and the final grade will depend on whether those projects survive the recession and live up to their promise.
NoLandGrab: With promises of jobs, affordable housing and tax revenues greatly diminished or evaporating and a completion date some 25 years hence, Atlantic Yards is well on target towards failure.
Posted by steve at 9:05 AM
May 21, 2010
Vote On Charter Schools Questioned, Sen. Montgomery Gets A Challenger
City Hall
by Andre Tartar
Trial attorney and law professor Mark Pollard is preparing to mount a campaign to unseat 13-term State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, whose 18th senatorial district covers much of central Brooklyn.
Pollard is positioning himself as an upstart outsider, though that hardly seems the case. What kind of grassroots candidate takes his cues from "party bosses."
This is not Pollard’s first foray into politics. In 1997, he considered running for City Council, but dropped out because he says party bosses told him to wait his turn. Last year, he was angling to take a run for the seat held by his former boss Al Vann, until the term limits extension allowed for Vann’s re-election.
“Velmanette Montgomery is no Al Vann,” Pollard said, explaining why he finally pulled the trigger.
...Pollard also hopes to win the support of Assembly member Bill Boynard and trade unions alienated by Montgomery’s opposition to the Atlantic Yards development.
But so far, most of the political establishment is backing Montgomery. Although Pollard used to work for Al Vann, the Council member is backing Montgomery, saying in a statement to City Hall that, “I think it is unwise for someone with no track record to run against her.”
Council Member Letitia James, whose district overlaps Montgomery’s and is also an Atlantic Yards opponent, is likewise backing Montgomery.
“She’s been my mentor and is arguably one of the most progressive voices in the State Senate,” James said. “I’m confident she will win re-election.”
NoLandGrab: Pollard is right about one thing — Velmanette Montgomery is no Al Vann, and thank goodness for that. She's been a staunch opponent of Atlantic Yards, and, as Tish James points out, a progressive voice in the ass-backwards NY State Senate.
Posted by eric at 11:54 AM
May 20, 2010
Run, Dennis, run? ESDC Chairman Mullen, a Republican, said to be tapped to run for governor (but ESDC says no)
Atlantic Yard Report
Capitol Tonight's Liz Benjamin wrote today, in a piece headlined Source: Cox Approached ESDC Chair To Run For Gov:
State GOP Chairman Ed Cox is so worried about party-flipping Suffolk County Steve Levy’s chances of getting on the ballot at the party’s upcoming convention that he has been actively recruiting a fourth gubernatorial candidate, multiple sources confirm.
Less than one month ago, Cox approached Dennis Mullen, a Rochester businessman who was confirmed by the Senate last week as ESDC chairman, to sound him out about potentially running, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation.
State GOP spokesman Alex Carey told Benjamin the two spoke but didn't discuss a gubernatorial run, and ESDC spokesman Warner Johnston said "Mullen’s number one priority is his work as the leader of New York State’s economic development agency" and "has no plans to seek elected office."
What if? Mullen would move AY
Well, that sounds definitive. But a Mullen governorship--he'd have to get the nomination and then beat Andrew Cuomo, which is a tall order--might prove interesting for the Atlantic Yards project.
After all, at an ESDC meeting March 26, Mullen joked that Atlantic Yards is "a project that I would like to move off our portfolio."
NoLandGrab: Uh, desperate much, NYS Republican Party? With the fine fettle in which Democratic rule has placed us, this is the best you can do?
Posted by eric at 10:46 PM
May 11, 2010
De Blasio: Eminent Domain Is Needed
GlobeSt.com
by Ian Ritter
NYC Public Advobdicate Bill de Blasio has apparently forgotten that the only need for eminent domain in the Atlantic Yards footprint is to clear the way for a basketball arena.
Certain projects that provide affordable housing to residents here are in the best interest of the city and require the need for eminent domain, said Bill de Blasio, New York City’s public advocate, speaking at a breakfast put on by non-profit association ABNY. He specifically pointed to the controversial mixed-use Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn being built by developer Bruce Ratner, which bought out a number of residences and building in the area and was the center of a contentious legal battle.
“I do think there’s a place for eminent domain,” de Blasio said, explaining that he is a “pro development progressive.” “When appropriate you do maximize height and density to maximize affordable housing.”
NoLandGrab: The "non-profit" ABNY is run by a real estate magnate, with assistance from a former senior advisor to the chairman and CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation and ex-flack for stellar governors Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson. De Blasio, no doubt, is starting to line up donors for his 2013 run for mayor.
Related coverage...
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Developers' Advocate Bill de Blasio: Eminent Domain Was Needed for Atlantic Yards Housing
A "pro-development progressive" would realize that Atlantic Yards and the use of eminent domain for it, is all about the developer's profit.
...Worse is this: affordable housing could be accomplished over the Vanderbilt Rail Yards in a high density and highrise community without the use of eminent domain at all. And when eminent domain is continuously used for private benefit, the eventual backlash will be such that it will be difficult to use it when it is actually crucial for a public purpose.
Atlantic Yards Report, Public Advocate de Blasio defends eminent domain for Atlantic Yards; he's apparently forgotten his "no more subsidies" position
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who issues daily press releases but did not see fit to attend or comment on the Atlantic Yards groundbreaking in March, now concludes he's happy with the project, at least according to a speech before the business-friendly Association for a Better New York (ABNY).
...No more subsidies?
During the campaign last August, de Blasio said in a debate, "But no more subsidies. That project has gotten all the subsidy it deserves. And they either have to figure out a way to make it work or we should pull the plug."
As I wrote, de Blasio came a little late to "no more subsidies," given his silence when the developer gained more than $100 million by renegotiating the Vanderbilt Yard deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Beyond that, when the Empire State Development Corporation a few weeks later announced new concessions to developer Forest City Ratner, de Blasio was silent.
Posted by eric at 8:40 PM
May 10, 2010
Harlem group's chaos endangers $76M gift
'The appearance of impropriety, favoritism or conflict . . . could harm [West Harlem] as a whole.'
NY Post
by Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein
You'll never believe this, but another "Community Benefits Agreement" appears to be failing to benefit the community.
A $76 million windfall intended to help Harlem residents is in limbo -- and may never be paid -- because the politician-backed nonprofit in charge of distributing the money is in disarray, The Post has learned.
Although it formed four years ago, the West Harlem Local Development Corp. lacks a mission statement, has yet to get tax-exempt status from the IRS and doesn't even have a phone number.
The group already has received $500,000 from Columbia University -- part of a 16-year payout designed to assuage community fears over the school's expansion -- yet hasn't spent a cent on the neighborhood.
At least five people have quit the nonprofit, alleging that it was becoming a "slush fund" for Manhattan politicians.
The delay "threatens to undermine" the agreement and leave Harlem with nothing, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer charged in a scathing letter to the group.
NoLandGrab: Pot, meet kettle. Stringer was instrumental in setting up the LDC, which undermined community opposition to Columbia's landgrab.
Posted by eric at 11:44 AM
May 4, 2010
Brodsky gains Assembly Speaker Silver's endorsement in Attorney General race; was quiet about Atlantic Yards a factor?
Atlantic Yards Report
Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, known for pursuit of public authorities reform and criticism of the Yankee Stadium deal (but not the similar Atlantic Yards deal), has won a key endorsement in the hard-fought race for the Democratic nomination for Attorney General.
Today Brodsky announced support from four Manhattan Assembly Members and, notably, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who said, "I'm proud of the way Richard has taken on difficult and controversial matters, and changed the outcomes. We can elect statewide leaders who know how to build coalitions and fix problems. He'll be a great Attorney General."
As I've written, it's widely believed that Brodsky didn't push on Atlantic Yards (despite occasional swipes at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's failure to fulfill its fiduciary duty) so as to not offend Silver.
Also in the race
Those also in the race include state Senator Eric Schneiderman (endorsed by the state’s largest labor union, 1199/SEIU, not to mention Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz), former New York insurance superintendent Eric Dinallo; former U.S. Representative Liz Holtzman; Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice; and attorney Sean Coffey.
The incumbent, Andrew Cuomo, is widely expected to run for governor.
NoLandGrab: How does one choose between candidates endorsed by Shelly Silver and Marty Markowitz? By opting for "none of the above." Meanwhile, Cuomo has already accepted a nice fat contribution from Bruce C. Ratner.
Posted by eric at 7:39 PM
April 30, 2010
Schumer Says Atlantic Yards Area Is Not Blighted. Doesn’t See AY As A Ratner Mega-Monopoly, But Could His Support Wane?
Noticing New York
Michael D.D. White recounts a conversation with Chuck Schumer, and wonders if the Senator's support for Atlantic Yards isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Among other things, we discussed whether the no-bid Atlantic Yards effectively leverages the housing subsidies it is getting. Supplying the Senator with documentation that Atlantic Yards is not leveraging its housing subsides effectively could conceivably get the Senator to withdraw his support for the project if it is provided in a manner so as to be sufficiently incontrovertible. Such documentation, however, is already available and we are not overly sanguine about politicians, Schumer included, paying attention to facts over politics and campaign contributions when it comes to Atlantic Yards.
...So might Senator Schumer further reconsider his support of the mega-project? (In fact, is there maybe even an indication of the possibility of ebbing support when he uses the phrase “not as much” saying: "The reason I supported it, and it’s still part of it, not as much but still, is affordable housing.") If there is no “blight” as he assures us he knows there isn’t, then it’s illegal. And as for the inappropriate use of housing subsidy, surely our calculations that there is approximately $638.67 million in housing subsidies involved should convince him that the amount is substantial. Our review of what Ms. Bertha Lewis of ACORN “negotiated” should convince him that the community is really getting virtually nothing in terms of true affordable housing. And the testimony of urban planner Ron Shiffman and Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, ought to convince that the subsidies can be far better used and leveraged elsewhere.
NoLandGrab: Schumer's recent Harry Reid fundraiser, hosted by none other than the Devil himself, would indicate otherwise. Plus, at this point, does Schumer's support — or lack of it — really matter?
Posted by eric at 12:50 PM
April 27, 2010
In City Hall News article, Markowitz credits Chief of Staff Scissura for lowering the heat on AY; remember testimony to MTA?
Atlantic Yards Report
From a City Hall News article headlined The 20 Most Influential Unelecteds: That most New Yorkers Have Never Heard Of:
CARLO SCISSURA
Chief of Staff, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
...“He said, ‘Here is how budgeting works, here is how to appoint community boards,’” said Brad Lander, the new Council member from Park Slope and one of Scissura’s luncheon companions. “He has a sense of how things work and he is willing to be helpful and share that knowledge.”
Scissura calls himself the “consigliere” to the colorful borough president, and says his job description is simply “everything.”
Markowitz credits him with helping reach out to communities affected by the Atlantic Yards and Domino developments.
“If we aren’t able to get everyone to agree all the time, Carlo is at least able to lower the heat,” Markowitz said. “Plus, I value his judgment. He has a great ability to present all sides of an issue.”
What's missing
Hold on. Scissura's surely an able aide and amiable fellow, but lowering the heat?
Remember his testimony last June before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, channeling Markowitz?
NoLandGrab: We always find it charming when unelected pubic officials describe themselves as mobsters. Don't you?
Posted by eric at 10:06 AM
April 17, 2010
Watchdog Role Essential in Tough Times, Says Liu
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Raanan Geberer
This coverage of a briefing held by City Comptroller John Liu mentions a question of oversight of Atlantic Yards. Liu seems to have some idea of what could be done but is not articulating what that would be.
As far as Brooklyn specifically is concerned, one reporter asked Liu about oversight of the Atlantic Yards Project. Atlantic Yards, said Liu, “goes far beyond land use. … For me the problem is not what benefits [such as the controversial Community Benefits Agreement] have been negotiated, but to ensure that agreements are realized to ensure actual delivery” of jobs and affordable housing.
Posted by steve at 8:04 AM
April 7, 2010
Suit: Marty ran the Beep’s office like a frat-house
The Brooklyn Paper
by Stephen Brown
We weren't going to touch this story, thanks to our great willpower, but then former Marty Markowitz Chief of Staff Greg Atkins raised Atlantic Yards in his deposition.
Borough President Markowitz turned his office into a macho frat house featuring sexist jokes, double standards and possible violation of campaign regulations, bombshell court documents revealed this week.
New details about the inner workings of Markowitz’s top staff have emerged from the sex discrimination suit brought by Markowitz’s former communications director, Regina Weiss, which portray a work environment filled with dim-witted chauvinist wisecracks and even “volunteer” work for Markowitz’s re-election campaign.
The descriptions of the goings-on come straight from Markowitz himself, along with former chief of staff, Greg Atkins, in depositions the two took under oath.
...But one final detail hints at the rampant machismo at Borough Hall. Markowitz’s testosterone-fueled staff was so full of bluster that it even had lengthy internal discussions on how best to pick a fight with The Brooklyn Paper because the Beep had become irked with the paper’s hard-hitting, award-winning coverage of the Atlantic Yards project.
“At a staff level [there were] numerous discussion about how they [The Brooklyn Paper] were going about their … unfair and unbalanced coverage of Atlantic Yards,” Atkins said, adding that the staff discussed cutting off The Paper from the borough president’s regular press releases.
“I was not sure if it was ever agreed upon,” he said. “I certainly wished it.”
Brooklyn Paper Editor Gersh Kuntzman declined to comment.
NoLandGrab: Wonder what kind of fight they were contemplating picking with NoLandGrab? Go ahead, we dare you to cut us off from your regular press releases. Ouch.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Deposition in lawsuit says Markowitz was upset about Brooklyn Paper's (former) Atlantic Yards coverage
Posted by eric at 9:44 AM
March 25, 2010
NYC Comptroller Liu's CBA task force & more to come from the DuBois Bunche Center
Community Benefits Agreements
by Amy Lavine
Last week, New York City Comptroller John Liu announced the formation of his task force on Public Benefit Agreements. (Why he chose the "PBA" nomenclature is unclear.) According to Liu's website, "The Task Force will develop recommendations on best practices and draft a framework for a more effective and equitable process to guide public subsidized economic development projects in the City of New York, including accountability and enforcement mechanisms that would apply when tax dollars, rezonings, and other public resources are used to facilitate private development."
...One of those three [pro-Atlantic Yards] task force members is Roger Green, the executive director of the DuBois-Bunche Urban Policy Center (and former New York Assembly member). The DBC announced that it will be undertaking its own study of CBAs, which will "review the origins of the various Community Benefits Agreements to determine their effectiveness in enhancing minority business and equal employment opportunities."
Posted by eric at 10:13 PM
March 16, 2010
Pols Didn't Want to Be Seen at Ratner's Arena Groundtaking Ceremony
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
DDDB follows up on Norman Oder's report this morning on who showed (and who didn't) at last week's Bruce Ratner tent show.
Granted, Ratner had an unelected Governor, a Mayor who bought a third term through a multi-million dollar power grab, and a borough president who rode that power grab's coattails all present and pronouncing science fiction-worthy numbers at his March 11th ground
breakingtaking ceremony.But who else was there, willing to show their faces under the boondoggle tent?
Six elected officials, all but one representing districts far away from the project site, and all with deep financial and/or political ties to Ratner, his partners (BUILD), and his South Brooklyn political fixer Bruce Bender.
Atlantic Yards, they all claim, is the most important project in Brooklyn, and one of the two most important in all of NYC. So where was Speaker Quinn, Public Advocate de Blasio, Comptroller Liu or any one else from Brooklyn or beyond? (Where was Chuck Schumer, or a single member of the Brooklyn Congressional delegation?)
The poor showing gives the lie to the claimed popularity and importance of the bait and switch project. It also seems to be perhaps the biggest missed story of the day. Until now...
Posted by eric at 7:08 PM
Deep bench at the groundbreaking? There were only enough Brooklyn elected officials to play three-on-three
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder continues his examination of last week's official groundbreaking.
Yes, Bruce Ratner had the top elected officials from the state, city, and borough behind the Atlantic Yards project, and they happily wielded shovels for the inevitable photo opportunities.
But a deep bench of supporters (to quote the Brooklyn Paper)?
Not if you consider that there were only enough Brooklyn elected officials to play three-on-three, and none of them came from close to the Atlantic Yards site. That has to indicate dismay toward the process, if not the project, a process that bypassed any local elected official.
Among the missing were Assemblyman (and Brooklyn Democratic Chair) Vito Lopez, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Public Advocate (and former Council Member) Bill de Blasio.
And, of course, the representatives of the neighborhoods closest to the site: Council Members Letitia James, Brad Lander, and Steve Levin; Assemblymembers Hakeem Jeffries, Jim Brennan, and Joan Millman, and state Senators Velmanette Montgomery and Eric Adams.
Introductions from Markowitz
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz tummled up a storm introducing these officials, but they were a motley crew, distinguished by no particular ideology but rather connections to Forest City Ratner executive Bruce Bender, receipt of campaign funds, and ties to Ratner-funded groups.
Click through for a rundown on the Atlantic Yards hall of shame.
Posted by eric at 9:56 AM
March 11, 2010
Paterson still rues Dr. J trade at groundbreaking for new Nets arena
NY Post
By Rich Calder & Bill Sanderson
The Governor who tried to rewrite history in a recent statement placing the final blame for Atlantic Yards on the Court of Appeals cracked wise at today's groundbreaking held at the temporary tent city in Ratnerville:
Dr. J’s departure was "one of the worst days of my life — before I became governor," Paterson cracked at the groundbreaking for the Nets’ new arena in Brooklyn.
The line got a big roar of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd — no doubt a lift for a governor whose approval rating hit 21 percent in a recent Quinnipiac poll.
NoLandGrab-bed: A 21-percent approval rating isn't bad for a spineless hypocrite — this was the same Paterson who called for a moratorium on the use of eminent domain, before he incidentally became governor.
Posted by lumi at 7:17 PM
Passing the buck: when it comes to Atlantic Yards, elected officials and judges say the other's responsible
Atlantic Yards Report
From state Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman's decision yesterday in the case challenging the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) 2009 approval of the Atlantic Yards Modified General Project Plan:
At this late juncture, petitioners’ redress is a matter for the political will, and not for this court which is constrained, under the limited standard for SEQRA review, to reject petitioners’ challenge.
From Governor David Paterson's statement in response to a question on Tuesday:
"Since the project was already in implementation when I came into office, I waited for the Court of Appeals to make a decision, and they ruled the way they did."
That makes it look like, once Atlantic Yards got started, it had inevitable momentum.
But that's not so. After all, as I noted, it was a pretty "late juncture" when, last year, Forest City Ratner renegotiated deals with the ESDC and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
NoLandGrab: It's comforting to know that New York State's appointed judges and elected unelected officials are equally cowardly.
Posted by eric at 10:30 AM
March 9, 2010
Campaigning for Governor
WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show
Another Republican candidate for Governor, former Congressman Rick Lazio, hems and haws about Atlantic Yards and eminent domain on yesterday's Brian Lehrer Show.
The brief "yes or no" question begins around the 16:20 mark.
Lehrer: "Do you support eminent domain for Atlantic Yards?"
Lazio: "Uh, hffff, uh, I, I, I, I say yes, but a qualified yes, and I need to look at that plan more carefully to make sure that this is being done in a way that is..., that doesn't undermine the historic neighborhood...."
NoLandGrab: We would hope that after "careful" review, Mr. Lazio's "qualified yes" might become an unqualified no.
Posted by eric at 12:47 PM
Redlich Condemns Atlantic Yards Decision
Redlich for Governor
Libertarian (and Republican) gubernatorial candidate Warren Redlich draws a stark contrast with equivocating sitting Governor David Paterson when it comes to Atlantic Yards.
Governor candidate Warren Redlich condemned the latest Atlantic Yards court decision. Justice Abraham Gerges upheld the seizure of homes and businesses so that developer Bruce Ratner can build apartments, office space and a sports arena in Brooklyn.
In Redlich’s view, Atlantic Yards is a symptom of the state’s problems: “Politicians reward and protect insiders, like we keep seeing in the Capitol. Eminent domain can be used, sparingly, when government takes private property for public purposes such as a road. But the Kelo decision and projects like Atlantic Yards grossly abuse eminent domain to benefit private developers connected with political leaders.”
While other states have acted to curb eminent domain abuse, New York’s legislators and governors have done nothing. New York taxpayers fund the violation of property rights in such cases as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn and West Harlem in Manhattan, for the benefit of developers. Redlich would amend eminent domain laws to protect property owners.
Redlich also calls for abolishing the involved state agencies, including the Empire State Development Corporation and others. Eliminating “economic development” spending would save approximately $3 billion in the state budget.
Posted by eric at 12:40 PM
At Borough Hall, Paterson asserts he's making tough decisions, but when it comes to Atlantic Yards, he punts (with video)
Atlantic Yards Report
Speaking at a budget Town Hall meeting yesterday before a friendly audience at Brooklyn, Gov. David Paterson portrayed his administration as making tough decisions, speaking the truth, and maintaining accountability.
However, when he faced a tough question about the Atlantic Yards project, he deferred to the courts, somehow ignoring the fact that, under his watch, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) both approved the project and defended it to the hilt in court.
The video below contains segments edited from Paterson's opening address; an Atlantic Yards question from Council Member Letitia James; an AY question from Noticing New York blogger Michael D.D. White; Paterson's closing remarks; and comments from Dean Street resident Peter Krashes on Paterson's unfulfilled opportunity to create a governance structure for the project.
Norman Oder has much more on the Town Hall meeting via the link.
Additional coverage...
Courier-Life Publications, Paterson comes to Brooklyn Borough Hall
Embattled Governor David Paterson came to Borough Hall Monday to talk budget, amid continued questions of his alleged misconduct.
Along the way, Paterson appeared to sidestep Atlantic Yards while addressing such issues as a tax on sugary drinks and allowing the sale of wine in grocery stores.
When asked about his support of the $4-plus billion Atlantic Yards including the Barclays Center arena, Paterson noted the project was already in place when he took office.
There has been plenty of debate on both sides of this issue, he said, noting the Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of condemning property for the 22-acre project at the Flatbush/Atlantic Avenue intersection.
“Ten years from now they [proponents of the project] will be right or you’ll be right, but I didn’t want to impose on the court’s decision,” said Paterson.
Runnin' Scared, Paterson's Town Hall -- Some Other Moments of Truth, Or As Close As We Can Get
He took some small flak from council member Tish James about both Atlantic Yards and his proposed soda "fat tax" proposal which she said was "regressive." The governor, seated cross-legged in a wooden chair on a platform, said that the decision on the Yards happened on someone else's watch and that he is now just going along with an appeals court decision on it, one that "surprised him."
So nice they covered it twice?
Runnin' Scared, David Paterson Budget Town Hall: As Pointless As You'd Imagine It To Be
[Councilwoman Letitia James] asked him to fill the budget gap by closing prisons upstate, and by diverting public money from the Atlantic Yards project, which is in her district and which she considers "a waste of taxpayer dollars."
...When a follow up questioner also asked him why he wasn't fighting to keep the state from paying $2.9 billion towards the Atlantic Yards "boondoggle," Paterson punted to the Court of Appeals, and tried to side-step the issue as something that was in place before he arrived and decided by the courts during his tenure beyond his control.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Paterson, at Borough Hall, Takes Break From Scandal
Several people in the audience criticized the state’s sponsorship of Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project, calling it a boondoggle that costs the state $7.3 billion [sic: the state's contribution, while still substantial, would be a fraction of that amount]. They called attention to the fact that Paterson, while a state senator, had made statements critical of the plan.
Paterson replied that, while he realizes that the plan is contentious on both sides, he waited to make any public pronouncement until state Supreme Court Justice Abraham G. Gerges made his ruling. Justice Gerges recently ruled that the state could take the title of land in the Atlantic Yards “footprint” from private landowners.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Paterson, Shirking Responsibility, Tries to Rewrite Atlantic Yards History
Paterson is trying to re-write history. While Atlantic Yards was unveiled and approved under Pataki, a new sweeter-heart deal with the MTA was struck with Ratner under Governor Paterson, and a Modified General Project Plan was introduced and approved under the Paterson Administration. Both of those Paterson actions took place in September 2009.
Posted by eric at 12:05 PM
March 4, 2010
Despite eerie parallels, more outrage over Queens video casino deal than Vanderbilt Yard bids; however, FCR, not AEG, had an 18-month head start
Atlantic Yards Report
In the Battle of the Boroughs, Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn's Boondoggle is still the heavyweight champ.
What's the difference between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) questionable procedure for disposing of the Vanderbilt Yard--the key public property inthe Atlantic Yards project--and the state's recent selection of Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) to run a video casino at Aqueduct Raceway?
Well, there are several similar red flags, and the Vanderbilt Yard deal is clearly more of an outlier regarding one fundamental issue.
But the press and politicians are far more exercised about AEG.
Norman Oder brings us the tale of the tape:
Posted by lumi at 5:15 AM
March 1, 2010
Daily News: Markowitz raises $122K from campaign donors for State of the Borough
Atlantic Yards Report
During Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's State of the Borough address last month came this acknowledgment:
AND FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE TONIGHT, MY DEAR FRIEND AND CAMPAIGN TREASURER FOR MANY YEARS, MIKE WEISS, TREASURER OF “BRAVO BROOKLYN” 2009
The Daily News, which noted that Markowitz's speech lasted an hour and 15 minutes (vs. the 20-minute speech by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall), asked about the cost; a Markowitz spokesman said no numbers were available, but "his campaign inaugural committee, Bravo Brooklyn, would pick up the tab."
(Weiss is Executive Director of the MetroTech Business Improvement District, an organization with ties to MetroTech developer Forest City Ratner here's the only official mention I could find of Bravo Brooklyn.)
Following up
Credit the Daily News for following up and finding some notable numbers:
Most pols went for modest ceremonies in the poor economy, but Markowitz raised $122,000 for a State of the Borough address featuring singing, dancing and a multimedia production - plus food and beer for 1,600.
"Marty's famous for finding every opportunity to host big events on behalf of Brooklyn and not incidentally on behalf of Marty," said David Birdsell, dean of Baruch College's School of Public Affairs. "The question is whether it's politically useful. It would seem perhaps the least prudent time in recent memory to launch a big celebration of someone's ascension to office."
...Many Markowitz contributors - mostly Brooklyn developers and business owners - gave him the maximum contribution of $3,850 for his campaign and then ponied up another maximum $3,500 for his inauguration.
NoLandGrab: Like Marty says, "if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all." So mum's the word.
Posted by eric at 11:07 AM
February 27, 2010
Governor Paterson Had Strong Ties to Brooklyn
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By David Caruso, Associated Press and Raanan Geberer, Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Governor David Paterson announced yesterday that he will not run for a full term. This article takes the opportunity to review Paterson's appearances in Brooklyn and his involvement with Brooklyn issues, including his broken promise to take a much-needed hard look at Atlantic Yards.
Paterson, however, was criticized by opponents of the Atlantic Yards/Barclays Arena project, who had hoped that he would come out strongly against the plan.
“We met with the governor and he had promised an independent review of Atlantic Yards in December, but he never followed through,” said Dan Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Goldstein concurred with Village Voice writer Wayne Barrett’s depiction of Paterson as a “pathological liar.”
NoLandGrab: Paterson's failure to execute a review of the proposed Atlantic Yards project allows the ESDC, the tool of developer Bruce Ratner, to run roughshod over Prospect Heights.
Posted by steve at 8:58 AM
February 24, 2010
Liu Outlines Powers Being Exercised, Powers He Would Like And State Of Campaign Plans
At City Hall Event, comptroller talks budget, charter commission, CBAs and slush fund
City Hall
by Selena Ross
Liu said he believes encouraging private development is important but crucial to keep tabs on developers who receive public help. In major projects like Yankee Stadium and Atlantic Yards, he said he would consider looking back over Community Benefits Agreements signed before he came into office to see if they had been upheld.
With this week’s news that ACORN, a signatory to the Atlantic Yards agreement, has folded its New York operation and relaunched as New York Communities for Change, Liu said there were many questions surrounding the enforcement of CBAs and that he wanted to create a clear framework for similar agreements in the future.
“That probably would not be the only example of a community organization that was part of putting together and signing onto a Community Benefits Agreement that is no longer in existence,” Liu said. “That just highlights the problem even more so. It's very difficult to hold developers accountable to the CBAs that they’ve signed onto in years past.”
Posted by eric at 10:47 PM
February 17, 2010
Atlantic Yards YES! New York's parks and historic sites, NO!!
While Atlantic Yards, which the Paterson administration is supporting with hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies, promises a paltry eight acres of "publicly accessible" (private) open space (most of it planned for the highly tenuous second phase of the project), the cash-strapped state may close nearly half of our parks and historic sites this year due to — wait for it — a lack of cash. Really, you can't make this stuff up.
AP via Crain's NY Business, Closings loom for NY parks, historic sites
About 100 state parks and historic sites will likely close this year as budget woes plague the state, and high-profile attractions such as Niagra Falls and Jones Beach could make the list.
No nuptials at Niagara Falls? Jones Beach off limits on a 90-degree day? The "Grand Canyon of the East" devoid of campers?
New York's state parks system, the nation's oldest, is facing another round of funding cuts that is likely to result in the first budget-related closures in the system's 125-year history. State officials say even popular parks at Niagara Falls and Jones Beach, with attendance figures in the millions, could be closed, along with such destinations as Letchworth, a popular hiking and camping spot ringing the rugged Genesee Gorge south of Rochester.
"It's going to be pretty bad. As bad as I've ever seen it," said Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York, a 25-year-old nonprofit advocacy group.
Peter Humphrey, a member of the State Council of Parks, predicts as many as 100 of New York's 213 state parks and historic sites could be shut down because of the state's fiscal problems.
...Carol Ash, the commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, has said park closures are unavoidable in 2010 as the state deals with a multibillion-dollar budget deficit.
...Gov. David Paterson's amended budget proposal calls for cutting $20 million from state parks. When added to budget cuts made in the two previous fiscal years, the agency stands to see its funding reduced by some 40% over the span of three years, Ms. Ash said.
$20 million? Bruce Ratner's basketball arena is slated for some $700 million in public assistance from the state and New York City. But what about the jobs and economic development, you ask?
The parks system will operate with 1,100 fewer people — including lifeguards, cleaners and security guards — than it had just a few years ago, is canceling its park police training academy for the third consecutive year, and will cut park police staffing this summer to 266 full and part-time uniformed officers, about half the number that were on the job in 2003.
...Closing the Niagara Falls park would be a "disaster" for local businesses, said the owner of one of a handful of companies that provide wedding services on the American side of the falls.
...Messers. Dropkin and Humphrey pointed out that parks' $155 million budget isn't all that much in a state that plans to spend more than $130 billion. Meanwhile, the parks system contributes $1.9 billion a year in economic activity statewide, according to one recent study.
Closing parks, Mr. Humphrey said, would cut off a revenue source while shutting out visitors looking to spend money in local communities.
"This is clearly, purely from an economic standpoint, a lose-lose," he said.
Posted by eric at 10:24 PM
February 15, 2010
If Cuomo has "the strictest" campaign finance policy in the state, shouldn't he give back Bruce Ratner's $5000 contribution?
Atlantic Yards Report
The New York Daily News reported today, in an article about the real estate industry taking advantage of campaign finance loopholes, that Andrew Cuomo's campaign spokesman, Phil Singer, said, "The AG has the strictest self-imposed campaign finance policy in the state, prohibiting donors from contributing if any matter is pending before his office and for 90 days thereafter."
(Cuomo is widely believed to be running for governor.)
Cuomo's gift from Bruce Ratner
Well, why hasn't Cuomo returned the $5000 he received on 2/4/09 from developer Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner?
While Ratner did not have a matter pending directly before Cuomo's office, Ratner's company was a defendant in a pending case challenging the Final Environmental Impact Statement for Atlantic Yards.
...But if the Attorney General, who has a vast lead over Governor David Paterson in fundraising--$16 million to $3 million, as of last month--wants to avoid the widespread perception that the real estate industry has an inside track, shouldn't he give the money back?
NoLandGrab: "Strictest self-imposed campaign finance policy in the state" of New York isn't exactly setting the bar very high, is it?
Posted by eric at 11:17 AM
February 7, 2010
NY State Governor Under Fire for Bidding Wars
The Watering Hole
by Clinton Miller
New York State Governor David Patterson has been criticized by New York State Republicans, The Daily News and The New York Post for his handling of the bidding process for the upcoming “Racino” featured at Aqueduct Race Track.
Is this the first time that municipal bidding processes have been controversial and questionable? How about Forest City Ratner (Bruce Ratner) getting the bid for the Atlantic Yards project when his company bid $100,000,000 less than the other bidder in the midst of financial insolvency for the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority? How about all of the conflicting deals that Joe Bruno engineered when he was the leader of the New York State Senate? Isn’t this how Albany has always worked?
Perhaps there is such an outcry over this selection because the usual beneficiaries of the winning entities did not come out on top this time around.
Posted by eric at 11:24 PM
February 4, 2010
Atlantic Yards gets a cameo in Markowitz's State of the Borough address; response is light (and nonexistent to mention of "Brooklyn Islanders")
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder had the, um, pleasure, of attending Marty Markowitz's swearing-in and State-of-the-Borough address last night.
Well, Atlantic Yards is still not quite ready for prime time, judging from the underwhelming response to the AY segment last night in Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's typically overstuffed State of the Borough Address.
The speech, held at the handsomely renovated Park Slope Armory, now a recreation center, was preceded by the usual parade of official speakers and diverse entertainers. It also included the swearing-in conducted by a jovial Mayor Mike Bloomberg, whose effort to overturn and extend term limits gave Markowitz his third term.
How did talk of Atlantic Yards go over?
The applause was light and Markowitz rushed rather than paused on the term "Atlantic Yards." (There was far more applause a few minutes later when Markowitz proposed opening up a call center in East New York rather than halfway across the world.)
The crowd made no response to the mention of the "Brooklyn Islanders," which is where the NY1 segment ended. (There's no evidence the arena could accommodate major league hockey.)
Posted by eric at 10:19 AM
Markowitz Sworn In For Third Term; Touts Borough's Progress
NY1
After being sworn in for a third term Wednesday night by Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz outlined his commitment to several high profile projects.
..."In 2009, confident investors also rushed to buy bonds for Atlantic Yards, meaning they believe Brooklyn is the future. Soon we will have affordable housing, union jobs and the downtown cultural center that the fourth largest city in America deserves with a state-of-the-art arena hosting everything from music and theater to pro basketball and maybe a hockey team called the Brooklyn Islanders," Markowitz said.
NoLandGrab: By "soon," Markowitz means "perhaps never," at least where affordable housing is concerned.
Posted by eric at 10:02 AM
January 29, 2010
Real Estate Interests Help Cuomo Gain a Big Edge
New York Times
By Christine Haughney
The real estate industry seems to prefer Andrew Cuomo as governor over incumbent David Paterson.
As Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo readies his candidacy for governor, one industry is helping him amass a huge fund-raising advantage: real estate.
The real estate industry, which Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo helps oversee, has been his top giver, even as it has hit hard times.
New records show that even as the industry has confronted its worst crisis in decades, developers, construction executives and real estate lobbyists have given millions of dollars to Mr. Cuomo, providing one in every five dollars over the past six months
It will come as little surprise that Bruce Ratner is on the list of donors to Cuomo.
Other prominent givers included Lloyd Goldman, an owner of the World Trade Center site; Bruce C. Ratner, the Atlantic Yards developer; Steven Roth, the chief of Vornado Realty Trust; Stephen M. Ross, the chief of the Related Companies; and Richard Lefrak, whose family developed Lefrak City in Queens and owns tens of thousands of apartments.
NoLandGrab: Since he doesn't seem to have Ratner's backing, maybe Governor Paterson can finally give Atlantic Yards a promised "objective and fair hearing."
Posted by steve at 4:49 AM
January 28, 2010
Jeffries: "less than cautiously optimistic" on AY, waiting for Paterson response, says ESDC hasn't explained why governance structure isn't needed
Atlantic Yards Report
At his third annual State of the District address, held last night in the Pratt Institute's Higgins Hall, 57th District Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries spoke to a supportive crowd about three main issues, none of them Atlantic Yards, though he did answer questions about the project afterward.
His bottom line on AY: after initiating dialogue with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), he's "less than cautiously optimistic" about progress on most issues, including the use of eminent domain and the commitment to build affordable housing expeditiously. (He mentioned a letter to Governor David Paterson that he hadn't released when it was sent in December.)
Nor has the ESDC convinced him why Atlantic Yards, unlike such other large projects as Queens West or Brooklyn Bridge Park, does not deserve a separate governance structure to provide oversight over the long term. He was most animated in his frustration over that issue.
Jeffries, unlike other local legislators (City Council Member Letitia James, Assemblyman Jim Brennan, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, and state Senator Velmanette Montgomery), has not gone to court to challenge decisions by the ESDC and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. He's said that doing so would compromise his advocacy.
Thus he walks a careful line: expressing opposition to eminent domain but not standing with the main groups fighting eminent domain for the project; hoping to ensure that, if the project goes forward, there are jobs for community residents and sufficient affordable housing; and hoping to ensure that, if the project goes forward, there's a credible governance structure.
AYR also links to a video, posted on Jeffries's YouTube page, featuring an appearance on Fox News last November that included the Assemblyman and Matthew Brinckerhoff, the attorney who has argued the Atlantic Yards eminent domain cases on behalf of property owners. We missed that segment when it aired originally.
Click through Norman Oder's Q&A with Jeffries following his address last night.
Posted by eric at 9:50 AM
January 26, 2010
Brooklyn jobless rate continues to grow
Borough's unemployment rate exceeds city, state and national average
Courier Life Publications
by Stephen Witt
Don't worry, Brooklyn. Borough President Marty Markowitz has a plan.
“There are still far too many in our borough for whom economic and employment opportunities are few and far between, and that’s why creating jobs must remain ‘job one,’” said Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Markowitz said the borough’s high unemployment rate is deeply troubling, and his office has been proactive in creating employment opportunities throughout the borough.
This includes everything from hosting economic strategy sessions at Borough Hall to supporting job-creating projects in Coney Island, Gateway Estates Shopping Center, Atlantic Yards and the Navy Yard, he said.
NoLandGrab: The jobs-per-dollar of public investment in Atlantic Yards would surely make the project the least efficient jobs program in America.
Posted by eric at 11:35 PM
January 23, 2010
Jeffries to hold State of the District address on Wednesday, January 27
Atlantic Yards Report
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries will hold his annual State of the District address at the Pratt Institute's Higgins Hall at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, January 27.
The address is 61 St. James Place at Lafayette Avenue. An RSVP is requested, to either (718)596-0100 or jeffriesh[at]assembly.state.ny.us.
According to a press release:
This will be the assemblyman’s third State of the District address since taking office in 2007. This year’s speech will mention an update on Project Reclaim, the initiative introduced at last year’s address which seeks to transform market-rate condominiums that have failed into desperately needed affordable housing. The assemblyman will also hold a discussion on the Section 3 Campaign for HUD, and legislative initiatives to combat alleged police misconduct and shootings.
In his first and second addresses, he made only glancing mentions of Atlantic Yards, so, according to that pattern, we shouldn't expect much more. Then again, AY is in the news these days.
Posted by steve at 8:25 AM
January 20, 2010
New Public Advocate Assails Bloomberg’s Performance on Homelessness
The New York Times
by Julie Bosman
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is apparently making homelessness job one, so we're wondering what prevented him from standing with the protesters Monday night who held a vigil for families being evicted from the Prospect Heights shelter in the Atlantic Yards footprint that Bruce Ratner plans to turn into a parking lot?
Was it his support for the project, despite no iron-clad guarantee that affordable housing will ever be built? Was it the dearth of TV news cameras? Or is this just more "empty rhetoric" from a politician, to quote Councilmember Letitia James.
In his first policy announcement since taking office, Bill de Blasio, the city’s new public advocate, will challenge Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s record on homelessness and call on him to intensify his efforts to address the problem.
A day before Mr. Bloomberg’s State of the City address, scheduled for Wednesday, Mr. de Blasio will hold a news conference of his own at his office at noon on Tuesday, surrounded by invited elected officials and advocates for the homeless.
Posted by eric at 11:03 AM
January 15, 2010
Brodsky seeks investigation of "shady, inadequate, unfunded" MTA agreement on tunnel repairs associated with Atlantic Yards (fake)
Atlantic Yards Report
Since thing are a bit slow over at AYR (only five other posts today), Norman Oder imagines the kind of press release New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky might issue if he wasn't mysteriously AWOL on the matter of Atlantic Yards.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, the watchdog of public authorities, leader on public authority reform, fierce after-the-fact critic of the Yankee Stadium deal, and putative Attorney General candidate, has chosen not to look closely at Atlantic Yards (despite occasional swipes at the MTA's failure to fulfill its fiduciary duty), so the below press release is only what Brodsky might have said.
Click through for the goods.
Posted by eric at 12:41 PM
January 7, 2010
Brooklyn BackBroadside Double Dose
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Dennis Holt
New Atlantic Avenue LIRR/Subway Entrance Fits the New Brooklyn
The decision by the MTA to finally bring the complex into the new century was not made in isolation. As has frequently happened in recent Brooklyn history, Bruce Ratner influenced matters. After the Atlantic Center was built, he made plans to build what we now call the Atlantic Terminal Mall. Then, after 9/11, he decided to build a new office building for a displaced company.
The patriotic Bruce also saw an opportunity to get his hands on a pile of federal subsidies.
And then came the master plan for Atlantic Yards across Atlantic Avenue, and independent of Ratner, the concept of a new cultural center, in and around BAM.
One did not have to have a degree in urban planning to realize that a lot more people would be coming that way, everything would be new, and it would make no sense for people to get off at a station that looked like a dump.
Moreover, Ratner, with the MTA’s hearty endorsement, planned to link the station underground with the new sports arena, and the MTA concluded it was time to get cracking. While they were at it, someone decided, why not build a whole new entrance to go along with all the other jazzy stuff coming to the neighborhood?
Only problem is, the ESDC says it won't be "feasible" for LIRR passengers to get from the train to the arena underground.
New Talent to Match Old In City Government Posts
These are [Bloomberg's] visions for the city in the decades to come — big goals supported by big development projects.
Atlantic Yards and the West Side Rail Yards will not be finished in four years, but should be far enough along to assure completion. And Bloomberg will not be content to coast along — he will want to see his Coney Island plan in movement.
Actually, it's very likely that only the arena, and maybe one of Atlantic Yards' planned 16 buildings, will be finished by the time Bloomberg leaves office (assuming he doesn't try to buy a fourth term). But Prospect Heights will have acres of surface parking lots as his monument.
Posted by eric at 4:42 PM
January 6, 2010
Atlantic Yards Report: coffers and sewers...
Norman Oder examines Forest City Ratner's money trail leading to politicians that have been called upon to investigate the legality of the quasi-public corporation that issued the tax-free bonds for the arena at Atlantic Yards.
More recently, in a look ahead to next year's statewide elections, Ratner gave $5000 to Andrew Cuomo 2010. (He hasn't given to Gov. David Paterson's campaign, though Cuomo, now Attorney General, is expected to challenge the sitting Governor.)
And he gave $2000 to DiNapoli 2010, the campaign committee for Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. (Both Cuomo and DiNapoli have been asked by state Senator Bill Perkins to weigh in on the legality of the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation, or BALDC).
Today Governor David Paterson is expected to unveil a plan to ban corporate campaign contributions, lower the maximum contribution for any candidate for state office to $1000, and cut back severely on Housekeeping accounts, where political parties can now get unlimited gifts they can dispense to candidates.
The latter was dubbed "sewer money" in a 10/19/09, a New York Times editorial headlined Fed Up With Albany, which criticized New York's "notoriously loose" campaign finance laws.
And Forest City Ratner is one of the prominent participants. I pointed out at the time that the Times missed an opportunity to criticize Forest City Ratner's January 200, contribution of $58,420 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee's Housekeeping account.
But I should have checked further. On 12/4/08, FCR gave another $3644 to the Democrats' Housekeeping account.
And if you keep following the money, it includes some bucks for New York State Republicans from a caring contributor in Cleveland with a last name that begins with "R" and rhymes with "Fat-cat-ner."
Posted by lumi at 7:28 AM
January 5, 2010
Jan 5. Senator Perkins' Hearing on Eminent Domain and Reforming New York State's Heinous Laws
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE: NEW YORK STATE SENATE
Senate Standing Committee
Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
Senator Bill Perkins, ChairUnconstitutional: What the Appellate Division’s Eminent Domain Ruling Means for the Columbia Expansion
Location – Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building
163 W. 125th Street, 2nd Floor Art Gallery
New York, New York 10027Tuesday, January 5, 2010 – 4 P.M. to 7 P.M.
Posted by eric at 2:19 PM
January 4, 2010
Senate Democrats Look to Repair the Damage -- Before It's Too Late
Gotham Gazette
by David King
It was too late for Albany a long time ago — nothing short of a mass uprising by the citizenry will bring real change — but there is one potentially game-changing piece of legislation in the offing.
Another major piece of legislation the Senate will consider -- if Sen. Bill Perkins has anything to say about it -- is legislation to change the state's current eminent domain law. Perkins was motivated by a recent appellate court ruling that found the Empire State Development Corp. overstepped its bounds by declaring as blighted parts of Manhattanville where Columbia University hopes to build a new campus. The state backed Columbia's efforts.
Perkins has called on Paterson to declare a moratorium on the use of eminent domain and asked that the state not appeal the appellate court ruling; Paterson has indicated he plans an appeal and has not declared a moratorium. Nevertheless Perkins has hearings planned across the state, including one on Jan. 5 in Harlem. Perkins' actions could have bearing on the Atlantic Yards project as well as the Columbia case. But, according to Shafran, it is unclear where the Perkins' colleagues stand on the issue.
NoLandGrab: Unlike the vast majority of his colleagues, who seem to care only about enriching themselves and their cronies and wielding political power, Bill Perkins actually thinks government should serve the people.
Posted by eric at 10:38 AM
December 24, 2009
Bloomberg salutes AY progress, continues to ignore IBO findings on loss to the city
Atlantic Yards Report
A statement from the mayor:
STATEMENT OF MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON PROGRESS OF ATLANTIC YARDS DEVELOPMENT
“While the rest of the country wrings its hands about the national recession, we’re building our way out of it. The $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project - the most extensive development ever undertaken in Brooklyn - is moving forward, bringing thousands of units of housing and thousands of jobs for New York City’s middle class. In the past few weeks alone, we’ve made major investments or reached critical milestones on development projects decades in the making at areas like the Hudson Yards, Hunter’s Point South, Coney Island, Willets Point and other neighborhoods across the City. This is no time to wait and see what happens with the national economy and just hope for the best. We’re acting more aggressively than ever to create jobs and ensure New York City’s best days are still to come.”Well, as the mayor conveniently forgets, the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) found the arena--the only part of the project with a design--to be a net loss for the city. As for the thousands of units of housing, they depend on yet-to-be-announced city subsidies.
And while construction of the arena and other buildings surely would bring construction jobs, the number of permanent jobs projected has been steadily shrinking, with the market for office space questionable.
Posted by eric at 12:39 AM
December 23, 2009
As master closing proceeds, with filing of condemnation, Perkins says governor's response unacceptable; is lawsuit coming?
Atlantic Yards Report
With the governor's blessing, it looks like the "master closing" for Bruce Ratner's subsidy-sucking, eminent-domain-abusing, public-accountability-circumventing, Atlantic Yards megaproject will proceed today, despite the use of a questionable quasi-governmental "creation" to issue the arena bonds.
No one has a written statement responding to questions raised by state Senator Bill Perkins about irregularities in the issuance of arena bonds, but the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) yesterday said it expected the Atlantic Yards project to proceed through final approvals today, with the final contracts signed and the eminent domain process to begin in earnest.
"We anticipate the Master Closing to happen tomorrow," spokeswoman Elizabeth Mitchell said yesterday in an email message. "It will include the bond closing, deposit of the funds and real estate documents in escrow, and the filing of the condemnation petition. ESDC expects possession of the title on or near February 1st, 2010."
"We are going to continue to demand that there is going to be accountability and transparency with this project," Perkins said. "We think it’s clearly in violation of the type of scrutiny that is required by law… I know that a lawsuit is being considered." But he didn't say what role he might play in such a lawsuit or who might be plaintiffs.
...
I spoke yesterday with Perkins, who said he’d spoken with Peter Kiernan, Paterson's Counsel, on Monday.“I asked him, as per our prior conversation on Friday, what he came up with," Perkins recalled. "And he said 'We’re satisfied with what we got from ESDC and others.' I said, 'Well, what does that mean?' He said, "It’s a creation of JDA.' So I said, 'OK, Is that a subsidiary?' He says, 'No, it’s a creation.' I say, 'What does that mean? Because that sounds like a new word in the context of the conversation… because you said at first it was a subsidiary.'"
NoLandGrab: By calling the BALDC a "creation", not a "subsidiary," of the Job Development Authority (JDA), the BALDC is not subject to any of the laws regulating either the Empire State Development Corporation or the JDA?
This is another example of the mind-boggling contortions New York State has performed, in order to give Bruce Ratner what amounts to the largest single-source private development project in NYC history.
State government has run amok... disgusting!
Posted by lumi at 5:49 AM
December 22, 2009
Pol says Brooklyn arena financing is illegal
New York Post
By Rich Calder
Here is further mention of State Senator Perkins' letter to Governor Paterson regarding concerns that bonds for the proposed Nets arena are illegal.
A state Senator says that a $511 million finance plan to help pay off an NBA arena proposed for Brooklyn appears to be illegal.
Sen. Bill Perkins (D- Harlem), chair of the Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, sent a letter to Gov. Paterson Friday addressing legal concerns about the $511 million in tax-exempt bonds floated for developer Bruce Ratner’s project by the state-created Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation.
He said the funding plan raises “the spectre of fraud,” and that the bonds are “effectively worthless.”
At issue is the BALDC’s origin.
It was created by the Job Development Authority, a dormant state public authority, rather than directly through the Empire State Development Corporation.
...
ESDC did not return a message seeking comment.
All concerned are still awaiting a definite statement from Governor Paterson on this matter.
When asked about the letter Saturday, Paterson said “If there is information in the letter that is asking us to take a look to see that everything was done properly, we would certainly be happy to do that.”
A spokeswoman for Paterson today sent the Post an e-mail saying “In addition, I can add that there is an objective, ongoing review being conducted by our counsel on the procedures. Top administration officials along with the chairmen of ESDC and the MTA met with Assemblyman [Hakeem] Jeffries last week to address concerns that he has with respect to Mr. Ratner’s commitment to building affordable housing. We are carefully reviewing.”
Related coverage...
Ok, so perhaps the counsel for Paterson, Peter Kiernan, will produce a statement sometime Tuesday, a day before the expected "master closing" in which all contracts are supposed to be signed.
As for Jeffries' concerns, the affordable housing depends on incentives and penalties built into the contractual documents that won't be made available, as well as the city's willingness to allocate scarce tax-exempt housing bonds to this project above others.
Posted by steve at 7:54 AM
Markowitz basks in Barclays/Nets photo op
Atlantic Yards Report
That's Borough President Marty Markowitz at a media event--as opposed to, say, the much quieter announcement of the lawsuit that helped him raise the money for his new home--in which his favorite developer brought holiday toys to Brooklyn children. To his left is Forest City Ratner's Scott Cantone; to his right is Nets rookie ("star" in the press release) Terrence Williams, in the Santa hat.
...
At the press conference, Markowitz again invoked the Brooklyn Dodgers. "You're so lucky," he addressed the children. "Brooklyn will be back on the map in the national sports arena." He ended his five-minute address by excitedly saluting the Brooklyn Nets.
...
The Salvation Army takes sides
To quote Eric McClure of NoLand Grab:
Far be it for us to throw a wet blanket over a little holiday cheer for children who might otherwise have none, but perhaps this explains why the Salvation Army's Travis Lock testified before a board meeting of the Empire State Development Corporation on September 17th, saying "It is my sincere hope this morning that you would move forward with this project, the Atlantic Yard projects, on behalf of the Forest City Ratner Corporation."
Yes, Lock said exactly that, without irony. And that's Lock in the video, too.
Posted by steve at 7:29 AM
Public authorities: not reformed quite yet
New York Fiscal Watch
By Nicole Gelinas
Did the ESDC cut one corner too many and end up helping to issue fraudulent bonds?
Are New York’s public authorities fixed? Little more than a week ago, Gov. Paterson signed a bill to “rein in” New York’s “free-spending public authorities.”
But State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem thinks that the convolutions New York’s Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) put itself through to get the Atlantic Yards basketball arena funded “vitiate the longstanding efforts of the Legislature to reform public authorities and make them more accountable and transparent.”
Moreover, Atlantic Yards may not even pass muster under the law, Perkins says.
How could that happen?ESDC, the state agency in charge of Atlantic Yards, has worked with developer Bruce Ratner to complete the $511 million bond deal for the arena portion of the Brooklyn project through something called the “Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corp,” or BALDC.
...
Whatever the complexities, the PACB and the comptroller should vote on the debt issuance, because the Atlantic Yards debt carries a moral guarantee from Albany. A vote “would have required the PACB to undertake a substantive review of the financial merits of the bond issue, which are questionable,” Perkins notes.
Posted by steve at 7:03 AM
Council OK’s Broadway Triangle rezoning
The Brooklyn Paper
By Andy Campbell
Because the "Broadway Triangle" project went through the city's ULURP process, outgoing Councilmember David Yassky was able to look past a development featuring a no-bid contract. He tried to justify his decision by pointing to the even worse process used for the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
“This is not an Atlantic Yards project that circumvented [the process],” Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights) said at what would be his final hearing in office. The Triangle is in his district and, as such, he played a large role in seeing it get through the Council.
“We’re going to have 800 affordable apartments. We went through the process and had public input.”
Posted by steve at 6:13 AM
December 21, 2009
HOLIDAY STORY PHOTO OP TODAY
The office of the Brooklyn Borough President put out the following press advisory earlier today:
BP MARKOWITZ, NETS PLAYERS CHRIS DOUGLAS-ROBERTS AND TERRENCE WILLIAMS, NETS LEGEND DARRYL DAWKINS TO DELIVER TOYS TO 60 BROOKLYN CHILDREN
4:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
TODAY, MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL
...Today, Monday, December 21, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will join NETS players Chris Douglas-Roberts and Terrence Williams, NETS legend Darryl Dawkins and The Salvation Army to deliver hundreds of toys to 60 children at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The toys are being donated by the Barclays/Nets Community Alliance, which includes a partnership among Barclays, the NETS, and Forest City Ratner Companies. Presented by National Grid, a NETS sponsor, the event will provide toys to children who otherwise might not have received any during the holiday season. The Barclays/Nets Community Alliance is donating to The Salvation Army more than 1,100 toys for Brooklyn youngsters, as well as funding children’s holiday parties at each of the five main Salvation Army centers that serve Brooklyn, including in Bay Ridge, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Bushwick and Sunset Park.
Far be it for us to throw a wet blanket over a little holiday cheer for children who might otherwise have none, but perhaps this explains why the Salvation Army's Travis Locke testified before a board meeting of the Empire State Development Corporation on September 17th, saying "It is my sincere hope this morning that you would move forward with this project, the Atlantic Yard projects, on behalf of the Forest City Ratner Corporation."
At that meeting, the ESDC board voted to enhance public funding for Atlantic Yards.
Posted by eric at 4:38 PM
Mayor says big projects will go forward in NYC in 2010
SILive.com
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today that, going into 2010, major public and private projects are moving forward in the city despite the recession.
Here are his remarks as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio:
"Great cities grow and change. And despite the lingering impact of the national recession, growth and change are reshaping New York - for the better.
...And the proposed Atlantic Yards project at the heart of Brooklyn got a big vote of confidence last week from private investors, who snapped up more than $500 million worth of bonds for that housing and commercial development in just two hours time.
Posted by eric at 3:47 PM
December 20, 2009
Asked About Taking a Promised Hard Look at Atlantic Yards Before Issuing Arena Bonds Does Paterson Understand AY?
Noticing New York
Michael White catches up with Governor Paterson
Governor Paterson was asked questions today about the hard look his administration said it would take at Atlantic Yards. Questions came from Norman Oder of Atlantic Yards Report (see, Saturday, December 19, 2009, Hail Mary or silver bullet: Perkins, raising questions of fraud in arena bond sale, asks Paterson to put Atlantic Yards on hold) and Noticing New York was able to ask our own question at the same brief press conference.
At a critical time the governor probably still needs to get up to speed on Atlantic Yards.
Our question to the governor and his response were as follows:
NNY: Governor, you are trying to close a budget gap and the MTA is trying to close a budget gap. You said that you will take a serious, hard look at the Atlantic Yards project. That project is perhaps $2-3 billion in public subsidies and it’s calculated by the city Independent Budget Office to be a $220 million net loss to the public, that’s the net loss not te cost. Don’t you think that perhaps taking that serious look should happen before bonds are issued for the arena?
Paterson: The bonds were issued for the arena. There are a number of projects that probably add up to tens of billions of dollars that we could take off the table if we were trying to save cash. The whole premise of these sort of public-private arrangements is to create jobs and bring revenues back into the state. So, if you take a snapshot in time it is a loss. If you take a snapshot in time funding the educational system is a loss, but the revenues that you generate from the workforce in the years to come far outweigh the investment that you make.
...
The governor’s statement that the bonds have been issued is not correct. Goldman Sachs has found buyers for the bonds but the bonds are not currently scheduled to be “issued” until this Wednesday, December 23rd, and that date could be postponed if the governor and his counsel decide they need time to think about whether they should be issued at all. This is a very important distinction for the governor to understand since he had just finished answering questions from Mr. Oder about the serious likelihood that the bonds, if issued, would be illegal.
Read the rest to see that Paterson still needs to come up to speed on the Atlantic Yards Project. Otherwise, he might continue to try and compare the proposed Atlantic Yards project to the construction of a public school. Also, he might want to understand how the almost phantom Job Development Authority's (JDA) creation the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC) resulted in the issuance of illegal bonds.
Posted by steve at 7:06 PM
December 19, 2009
Hail Mary or silver bullet: Perkins, raising questions of fraud in arena bond sale, asks Paterson to put Atlantic Yards on hold
Atlantic Yards Report
Did the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC) slip up in authorizing bonds for a proposed Nets arena? State Senator Bill Perkins thinks so and is calling on Governor Paterson to take action.
Suggesting that bonds for the Brooklyn arena were issued improperly, state Senator Bill Perkins yesterday asked Governor David Paterson to halt the "master closing" for the project scheduled for Wednesday and to stay condemnation proceedings until "serious questions... are addressed."
Had the bonds been issued by an Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) subsidiary, they could be repaid via for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs), but the issuance would have had to have been approved by the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB), Perkins wrote in a letter. However, in an apparent effort to avoid the PACB, the ESDC created the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC), and that murky entity--which issued $511 million in bonds--should not possess a property tax exemption, the letter said.
Perkins, speaking at a public meeting in Harlem this morning, said that last night he spoke to the governor's counsel, Peter Kiernan, who was taking the matter seriously.
Paterson, interviewed this afternoon at a separate event, did not seem aware of the controversy.
...
The bond issuance, Perkins said, "prevents it really from going forward," adding that "we consider [it] an illegal action."
Perkins, who has stood out as the legislator most interested in reforming the state's much-criticized eminent domain laws, said he expects to hold hearings on the Columbia case, the Willets Point plan, and even another hearing on Atlantic Yards, in light of the bond issue.
"Essentially what we have here is a situation in which it unfortunately it appears that the government is in cahoots with the developers, that the best interests of the community are not being represented but rather the best interests of, let's say, the elite," he said.
...
The "spectre of fraud"
The letter, citing a unanimous Court of Appeals decision from June, suggests that the arena does not deserve a tax exemption:
In light of this analysis, the BALDC property is not tax exempt if used for arena purposes. Consequently, payments-in-lieu of taxes cannot be used to secure the bonds, and they are effectively worthless. If ESDC knowingly misrepresented the legitimacy of these bonds, this raises the spectre of fraud.
The letter was also sent to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
What next?
I asked Perkins (off camera) what happens now.
"We sent that out yesterday; I spoke with the governor's counsel," he responded. "He seemed to acknowledge that he needs to take a look at it. He indicated that he would get back to me."
And if they don't?
"I'm going to reach out to them again this week," he said. "But in the event that they have a different point of view, we'll see some legal measures we can take."
"As I said to him, the murkiness of this situation flies in the face of the [public authorities reform] legislation we just passed," Perkins said. "This is a representation of the old way of doing business."
Read the rest of this blog entry to get an explanation from Amy Lavine, a staff attorney at the Albany Law School's Government Law Center, who first discovered this issue.
Posted by steve at 3:06 PM
December 18, 2009
On Brian Lehrer Show, DDDB's Goldstein points to Paterson, but the governor hasn't spoken out on his AY pledge
Atlantic Yards Report
So, maybe it's up to Gov. David Paterson now.
At about 16:30 of yesterday's Brian Lehrer segment, Recent Developments, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein was the guest. He said that, while legal strategies remain, only Paterson can stop the planned "master closing" of contracts regarding Atlantic Yards scheduled for next week.
And Paterson, who on December 1 made a public pledge to conduct a further inquiry into Atlantic Yards, has not made a statement since, with queries to his aides coming up blank.
Click through for some highlights from the show, and Norman Oder's commentary.
Posted by eric at 9:36 AM
Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz purchases $1.45 million home in Windsor Terrace
NY Daily News
by Erin Einhorn and Erin Durkin
Lifelong tenant Marty Markowitz is trading his Park Slope rental for a home of his own - a two-story, three-bedroom brick house in Windsor Terrace.
The borough president and his wife, Jamie, dropped $1.45million on the new house - a semidetached home nestled on a tree-lined street a block from Prospect Park - on Nov. 30 with a $417,000 mortgage.
"I've always been a tenant, all my life. This is the first time I'm a property owner," Markowitz said.
Ah, the irony! As the Empire State Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner get ready to seize the properties of the remaining homeowners in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards project — for which Markowitz has played chief cheerleader for the past six years — Markowitz himself is becoming a first-time homeowner.
Markowitz wouldn't give details about the purchase, initially refusing to say where he got the money for his $1 million-plus down payment.
...Later, an aide said about $750,000 of the down payment came from the sale of a Manhattan Beach home his wife inherited from her parents when they died.
The rest came from savings and from a settlement paid to Markowitz in a slip-and-fall case [NLG: Say what?!], his spokesman Mark Zustovich said.
...Still, the sale comes with controversy.
Markowitz used his chief of staff, Carlo Scissura, as a lawyer for the property deal. City law says city lawyers can't represent their public official bosses in private legal matters.
Markowitz initially denied Scissura was involved. "I do not believe he was the attorney of record," he said.
When the Daily News noted that Scissura is listed as the lawyer in property records, Zustovich argued that the law applies only to lawyers working for the city as attorneys, not as chiefs of staff.
article
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, When Markowitz played poor at the affordable housing information session, he and his wife had a down payment in hand
But the purchase, and the funds behind it, also undermine one very conspicuous "man of the people" claim Markowitz made in the midst of the Atlantic Yards debate.
At a 7/11/06 affordable housing information session sponsored by Forest City Ratner, Markowitz declared, as I reported, that “this is an exciting time to live in Brooklyn,” but, regarding new developments, “Sadly, almost all are beyond our reach—yours and mine.”
I noted that Markowitz earned $135,000, and eats a lot of free meals.
Now the Daily News tells us that about $750,000 of the down payment for the $1.45 million house came from the sale of a Manhattan Beach home Markowitz's wife Jamie Snow inherited from her parents.
And a check of records suggests that Markowitz and Snow had that money in hand when the BP appeared at that affordable housing information session.
Snow's mother died on 7/7/04. The family house was sold on 2/7/05 for $1.4 million, with Jamie Snow Markowitz, her brother, and her mother's estate listed as the sellers. The affordable housing information session came 17 months later.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, BEEP Markowitz's New Home Is Blighted
Congratulations to the BEEP on his new home!
There is only one problem. It seems to be underutlized. It also looks like there are a few sidewalk cracks, and we can't be sure but that bush looks more like a big patch of weeds. And it looks like the mortar is cracking in some spots.
In other words, we're sorry to inform the Borough President that his new home is blighted and must be taken by eminent domain. Because, it really could serve a better purpose than housing him and his wife.
Them's the breaks.
Posted by eric at 12:29 AM
December 13, 2009
Public authorities reform bill signed; why is Assemblyman Brodsky not mentioning the BALDC?
Atlantic Yards Report
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has sponsored legislation to rein in New York's Public Authorities. Although he has been critical of public financing of the new Yankees and Mets stadiums, he has held back in his criticism of the proposed Atlantic Yards project and its associated Nets arena.
From a New York Times article headlined Paterson Signs Bill to Rein in State’s Free-Spending Public Authorities:
Mr. Brodsky, who spent months battling New York City officials over the legality of public financing for the new Yankee Stadium, said that if the law had been in effect, it would have forced far more transparency on city officials as they negotiated the Yankees deal.
“Three billion dollars in taxpayer-backed debt was issued by 12 anonymous people who were essentially doing the bidding of the mayor,” Mr. Brodsky said, referring to the board of the New York City Industrial Development Agency, which issued the bonds on behalf of the Yankees, the wealthiest team in baseball.
Well, it might have forced more transparency, but it's a questionable whether it's taxpayer-backed debt. Formally, it's not; the bonds for Yankee Stadium are non-recourse bonds, backed only by the revenue or property behind it.
What about the BALDC?
So too are the $500 million in tax-exempt bonds issued--and being sold right now--by the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC).
Except BALDC officials wouldn't rule out a state bailout, only saying that it was speculation. Nicole Gelinas of the Manhattan Institute has written:
Ahead of any bond sale, Gov. Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg should make it crystal-clear, publicly and to potential investors, that no New York State or City entity will step in to make up for any shortfall in Atlantic Yards’s revenues, even if it means a bond default.
Brodsky, however, has remained far more quiet about Atlantic Yards.
Posted by steve at 6:05 AM
December 12, 2009
Paterson Signs Bill to Rein in State’s Free-Spending Public Authorities
The New York Times
By Nicholas Confessore
Governor David Paterson signs into law legislation to force public authorities, like the ESDC and the MTA, to act more responsibly. The sponsors of the bill were Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and State Senator Bill Perkins.
For the first time, board members of those authorities will have a legal obligation, known as a fiduciary duty, to protect the interests and mission of the authorities they supervise, rather than being beholden to the mayors, governors and legislative leaders who appoint them. The new law will require authorities to seek approval from the state comptroller for most contracts of over $1 million that are not competitively bid.
The Governor notes the incredible amount of debt being run up by authorities. Will he step up and do the promised review of the proposed Atlantic Yards project before it becomes an albatross for Brooklyn and the rest of New York State?
Mr. Paterson said that passing the law this year was crucial because of the state’s perilous fiscal condition, which the public authorities have added to with the enormous amount of debt they have taken on. Taxpayers have almost no say over that debt, but are ultimately responsible for it. Public authorities have between $140 billion and $150 billion in debt — significantly more than the state’s entire annual budget.
“Public authorities play a tremendous role in government,” Mr. Paterson said. “But for a very long period of time, they have operated really without any oversight and operated very much in the dark, and often have amassed crippling back-door financing that has threatened the stability of our economy.”
The MTA's part in delivering a sweetheart deal to developer Bruce Ratner is shown as an example of reckless behavior.
Under the new law, authorities, some of which have acquired significant and, in some cases, secret real estate holdings, will also face limits on the sale of real property. With some exceptions, authorities will no longer be allowed to sell real estate for below-market value, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority did when it sold rights to build over railyards in Brooklyn to the developers of the Atlantic Yards project.
Posted by steve at 6:43 AM
December 9, 2009
Pol says Columbia case should halt Atlantic Yards
The Brooklyn Blog [NY Post]
by Rich Calder
Is this the last hope for Atlantic Yards opponents?
State Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) is asking Gov. Paterson not to appeal a recent court ruling blocking the use of eminent domain for Columbia University’s expansion and to order "a statewide moratorium" on the use of the controversial land-grabbing procedure.
Such a move would obviously affect developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which the Paterson-controlled Empire State Development Corp. is expected to begin seizing private land for through eminent domain in the coming weeks.
But the ESDC isn’t caving in. A spokeswoman said the ESDC plans to appeal the Columbia ruling, which it believes "doesn’t impact" Atlantic Yards.
Additional coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Perkins asks Paterson for moratorium on eminent domain, not to appeal Columbia case
State Senator Bill Perkins, who represents West Harlem and in September 2008 held a hearing on reform of emiment domain, has asked Governor David Paterson "to forego an appeal" of the Appellate Division decision blocking the use of eminent domain for the Columbia University expansion, "and to order a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain within the State of New York pending legislative action."
That would include eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project.
...It would be more difficult for Paterson to reverse course on Atlantic Yards; for example, the MTA, which he controls, argues that the Atlantic Yards deal was too far along to consider seeking another bidder for the Vanderbilt Yard.
Perkins' letter draws significantly on the decision in the Columbia case, known in shorthand as Kaur. It says little about the Court of Appeals' decision in the Atlantic Yards case, but does make a fundamental point: For one, no one knows what 'blight' is—the crucial and fundamental issue in both the Columbia and Atlantic Yards cases.
NY Observer, Perkins to Paterson: Don’t Appeal Columbia Decision, Reform Eminent Domain
In a letter to the governor dated Tuesday, Mr. Perkins called for "a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain," and said he was preparing "a bill to reform how eminent domain is exercised."
He also tries to invoke the issue on a more personal level with the governor, bringing up a 2005 rally the two of them attended, protesting the use of eminent domain:
You may recall that back in 2005 you and I stood on the steps of City Hall together with several members of the City Council to protest the United States Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which affirmed the use of eminent domain for private development that entails a so-called "public use." That decision contained language encouraging states to review their own eminent domain statutes. Some states have done just that. It is now New York's turn.
Mr. Perkins has established himself as one of few loud voices in the Legislature to protest eminent domain.
Posted by eric at 8:38 PM
DDDB PRESS RELEASE: Sen Perkins: Gov, Stop Eminent Domain for Atlantic Yards
New York/December 9, 2009—Senator Bill Perkins (30th Senate District, D-Harlem, Manhattanville) has sent a letter to Governor Paterson calling on the Empire State Development Corporation not to appeal the court ruling barring it from using eminent domain for Columbia University's expansion.
The letter also supports the Governor in his recent public comments that he would convene an objective review of the Atlantic Yards project.
In light of the confusion in the courts regarding eminent domain and blight, Senator Perkins calls on the Governor to stop the Empire State Development Corporation from proceeding with taking properties by eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project and reminds the Governor of his 2005 call for a moratorium on eminent domain, even more urgent now.
Excerpted from letter:
...At the time of the Kelo decision, as a State Senator and Minority Leader you understood that the current process is flawed and called for a blanket moratorium on the use of eminent domain. The same reasons for instituting a moratorium back then still exist. In fact they are even more urgent given the Kaur decision, and the recent decision by the Court of Appeals affirming the taking in the case involving Atlantic Yards. It is my understanding you recently and publicly committed to a full objective review of that project and its financing.
...The Columbia decision has intolerably heightened the confusion and uncertainty over what, if anything, constrains the ESDC from taking anyone’s property whenever it suits its fancy. For one, no one knows what “blight” is—the crucial and fundamental issue in both the Columbia and Atlantic Yards cases....
[The full text of Perkins's letter can be found after the jump, as well as at http://www.nysenate.gov/report/letter-governor-paterson-eminent-domain.
December 8, 2009
Hon. David A. Paterson
Governor, State of New York
State Capitol
Albany, New York 12224
Dear Governor Paterson:
I write with a great sense of urgency in respectfully calling upon you to forego an appeal of last week’s decision in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, and to order a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain within the State of New York pending legislative action.
As you are aware, last week’s court decision struck down as unconstitutional the taking of property by the Urban Development Corporation d/b/a“ESDC” for the benefit of Columbia University.
The court found ESDC violated both state and federal due process clauses in an effort to prevent affected property owners from obtaining information, and that ESDC’s finding of blight was “bereft of facts which established the neighborhood in question was blighted.” Furthermore, ESDC’s determination that the project even has a public use, benefit or civic purpose is wholly unsupported by the record. The court also noted the glaring conflict of interest, which reeks of bad faith, that existed as a result of ESDC and Columbia using the exact same consultant to review the project and determine blight.
You may recall that back in 2005 you and I stood on the steps of City Hall together with several members of the City Council to protest the United States Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London which affirmed the use of eminent domain for private development that entails a so-called “public use.” That decision contained language encouraging states to review their own eminent domain statutes. Some states have done just that. It is now New York’s turn.
At the time of the Kelo decision, as a State Senator and Minority Leader you understood that the current process is flawed and called for a blanket moratorium on the use of eminent domain. The same reasons for instituting a moratorium back then still exist. In fact they are even more urgent given the Kaur decision, and the recent decision by the Court of Appeals affirming the taking in the case involving Atlantic Yards. It is my understanding you recently and publicly committed to a full objective review of that project and its financing.
As Chair of the Senate’s Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee, I held hearings involving the topic of eminent domain. I have gone on record on numerous occasions against what I perceive to be the abuse of eminent domain in this state, particularly as it relates to private development projects. I have often described that abuse as a “mugging”, and one equal to “placing a gun to the community’s head”.
The Columbia decision has intolerably heightened the confusion and uncertainty over what, if anything, constrains the ESDC from taking anyone’s property whenever it suits its fancy. For one, no one knows what “blight” is—the crucial and fundamental issue in both the Columbia and Atlantic Yards cases. What is clear, however, are the signals that the ESDC was not acting in good faith. This I would suggest, is evidenced by the court’s statement that “the record before ESDC contains no evidence whatsoever that Manhattanville was blighted prior to Columbia gaining control over the vast majority of property therein.” The opinion also makes a strong case that the blight determination in that case was severely flawed, and in large part the product of the ESDC’s desire to transfer property to a “private elite education institution”. As a result, I am left with my own opinion, and that of others in my community, that these type of actions on the part of the ESDC are part of an insidious form of discrimination and civil rights violations that must not stand. As the Kaur decision reads, “‘few policies have done more to destroy community and opportunity for minorities than eminent domain.’” In fact, the Court found that the ESDC’s actions in the Columbia expansion is, “clear evidence of that reality. The unbridled use of eminent domain not only disproportionately affects minority communities, but threatens basic principles of property contained in the Fifth Amendment.”
For these and other reasons I request that you urge the ESDC not to appeal the Kaur decision. Please impose a statewide moratorium on further eminent domain actions and then let us work together on a legislative solution. I am currently working on a bill to reform how eminent domain is exercised in the State of New York. The purpose is not to hamper development, but to make the process more transparent and provide stakeholders with substantive due process. This will result in development that reflects community input and serves community needs. Your participation will be critical. An enlightened eminent domain procedure will be a significant victory for all involved.
I respectfully request your support on these issues and am ready to stand with you publicly again, this time for the purpose of announcing actions that will lead to genuine reform. Please feel free to contact me for any further discussion at 212-222-7315, or in my Albany office at 518-455-2441. I look forward to hearing from you at the earliest convenience, and I thank you in advance for your attention to this very important matter.
Very truly yours,
Senator Bill Perkins
30th District
cc: Dennis M. Mullen, President & CEO, Empire State Development Corp.
Posted by eric at 3:55 PM
December 2, 2009
Paterson meets with Atlantic Yards opponents, promises "objective and fair hearing" (but what does that mean now?)
Atlantic Yards Report
So, as the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) moves forward with Atlantic Yards, can the man in charge of the agency, Governor David Paterson--once a public opponent of eminent domain (as DDDB's Daniel Goldstein reminds us), now a tacit supporter of Atlantic Yards--do anything?
Well, at least he's listening. Last night, before a "community conversation" at the First A.M.E. Zion Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, organized by local elected officials. Paterson held a hastily-called meeting with a small group of Atlantic Yards opponents.
He promised them "an objective and fair hearing"--seemingly meaningless (and too late) boilerplate given that state agencies like the ESDC and Metropolitan Transportation Authority have already been charged to do so and have vigorously defended their actions in court after being sued.
Also, with a bond sale in the works, surely others in the administration would tell Paterson that the horse is about to leave the barn and stopping the project would lead to a huge legal mess. Then again, there's a serious argument--as per Nicole Gelinas--that the bond sale is risky, thus giving Paterson some cover, should he invoke his maverick streak.
(What could he do? Tell the ESDC not to pursue eminent domain? Stall the bond sale?)
Posted by lumi at 7:50 AM
December 1, 2009
In Bloomberg statement on AY, inflated jobs figures come from FCR; by contrast, ESDC projections are more conservative
Atlantic Yards Report
If Atlantic Yards is such a great project, why do the politicians need to repeat developer Forest City Ratner's lies about the benefits?
From Mayor Bloomberg's radio address last Friday:
All told, Atlantic Yards is expected to create some 8,000 new permanent jobs in Brooklyn. More immediately, building it is also going to produce nearly 17,000 of the new union construction jobs that New Yorkers need.
Norman Oder explains:
Well, not exactly. Those figures--17,000 "construction jobs" and 8000 permanent jobs--come directly from Forest City Ratner's press release rather than a governmental source.
By constrast, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), in its 2009 Modified General Project Plan, projects 12,568 new direct job-years and 21,976 total job-years (direct, indirect, and induced) for project construction and 4,538 new jobs in New York City (direct, indirect, and induced).
Keep in mind that the 17,000 jobs--overstated--would be in job-years, and that all figure presume a project buildout over a decade, which is highly doubtful. For example, a good portion of those new permanent jobs would be in an office tower, but there's no market for office space right now, as Bruce Ratner recently told Crain's.
NoLandGrab: By the same logic, Bloomberg has been elected to "four more jobs."
Posted by lumi at 5:15 AM
November 25, 2009
OFFICIAL STATEMENT: NY State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries
"I am extremely disappointed with the decision of the Court. The power of eminent domain is extraordinary and should only be authorized in limited circumstances where, unlike in this case, there is a clear and robust public benefit. The use of eminent domain to benefit a private developer to build a basketball arena for a team owned by a foreign billionaire is an abuse of this extraordinary power, and I hope that Governor Paterson will choose not to exercise it."
— Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries
Posted by lumi at 4:33 AM
November 19, 2009
Given no 2009 feasibility study of AY after changes, DDDB calls for new PACB review of project financing
Atlantic Yards Report
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) has sent a letter to State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, State Senator Bill Perkins, and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (chairs of the respective committees on public authorities) arguing that the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) needs to convene and vote on whether to approve the Atlantic Yards project’s financing.
Crucially, the letter points out that, before project approval in 2006, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) hired KPMG to do a report about the feasibility of the project, no such analysis was conducted before the ESDC passed the 2009 Modified General Project Plan (MGPP) in September.
Unmentioned in the letter is that the ESDC did ask KPMG for an update, but only on the feasibility of the housing market over a ten-year buildout--a market study that was highly dubious.
Posted by eric at 10:52 PM
November 16, 2009
No answers to tough questions for NYC EDC's Pinsky on sweet deals on stadiums
Atlantic Yards Report
Last week, Seth Pinsky, the president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC), answered questions from readers of the New York Times's CityRoom blog about citywide entrepreneurship.
Given the circumscribed topic, it's unsurprising that, in his answers (Round 1, Round 2), Pinksy bypassed hard questions on development issues. Still, it's notable--and further evidence for Mayor Mike Bloomberg's tougher-than-predicted re-election bid--how much anger there is about the city's willingness to push stadium deals. (The state, of course, is in charge of Atlantic Yards, with the city's agreement and Pinsky's support.)
Click through for a sampling of some of the questions Pinsky didn't answer.
Posted by eric at 12:06 PM
November 12, 2009
Meeting with Roger Green
Battle of Brooklyn via Kickstarter
In the winter of 2004/2005 Roger Green, state assemblyman for part of the project site, addressed the community in regards to his position on the project. This scene has become part of a montage in the film.
More than 100 people have pledged more than $7,500 to help fund the production of Battle of Brooklyn. Click here to add your support.
Posted by eric at 12:12 PM
November 11, 2009
Borough President Marty Markowitz still has a few tricks up his sleeve, woos big companies
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
After eight years in office, Marty Markowitz knows Brooklynites might be getting "tired" of him.
...While acknowledging he may be old hat - or shoe - Markowitz, who won reelection with 85% of the vote, said he's got some tricks up his sleeve to ward off the third-term blues.
At the top of his agenda is luring big corporations to Brooklyn to combat the borough's whopping 11% unemployment rate.
...That's not all that's on his wish list: Markowitz is pushing a groundbreaking for the controversial Atlantic Yards project, and last but not least, a bigger Nathan's hot dog.
Additional coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, The Markowitz wish list: Atlantic Yards groundbreaking and bigger Nathan's hot dog
Well, it wasn't Markowitz who yoked the clearly frivolous--the bigger hot dog--with the highly deceptive--the groundbreaking--but the sentence does sketch the BP's rather curious universe of duties.
Should there be a groundbreaking, assuming a victory for the state in the eminent domain case and the sale of some $700 million in arena bonds--it almost surely would involve only the arena (with perhaps one tower in tow), not the project at large.
And it most likely would occur before footprint residents, owners, and commercial tenants have been removed via eminent domain.
Posted by eric at 9:57 AM
November 6, 2009
New York City's Comptroller: John Liu
WNYC Radio [The Brian Lehrer Show]
New York City Comptroller-elect John Liu gets asked by "Lenore in Brooklyn" about the Atlantic Yards project, beginning at about the 10:20 mark. Says Liu:
"Large developments like Atlantic Yards... have used up quite a bit of taxpayer subsidy in exchange for promises; the promises have been slow to materialize. I will use the full audit powers of the Comptroller's office to take a look at what in fact has transpired and set each one of these projects on a timetable to actually deliver those promises."
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, On Brian Lehrer, caller asks about "enormous" AY subsidies; Liu says he will ensure benefits; why not look into PILOTs and naming rights?
Better yet, he should take a look at the Department of Finance's arena block assessments and gauge whether the agency has, as with Yankee Stadium, stretched credulity with its numbers.
And why can't he recommend a city policy regarding the selling of sports facility naming rights, which most jurisdictions simply give away (but shouldn't)?
Posted by eric at 12:38 PM
Paterson calls special session, will include public authority reform
Atlantic Yards Report
NY Governor David Paterson has called a special legislative session for this month, and the reform of Public Authorities (i.e. Atlantic Yards sponsor the Empire State Development Corporation) is on the agenda. However, since the Public Authorities-reform standardbearer, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, would rather rail at the Yankee Stadium deal after the fact than unwind an equally twisted boondoggle yet in the works, don't hold your breath for any reforms that could get in the way of Bruce Ratner's megaproject.
Posted by lumi at 5:36 AM
November 4, 2009
Atlantic Yards Report post-election posts
Had [NY Times columnist Jim] Dwyer come to Brooklyn, he would've found voters angry about Atlantic Yards divided about whether Thompson represented a viable alternative. And Thompson's posture toward AY was a sign of (take your pick) the challenger's ineptitude or the difficulty of taking on a project that still retains some powerful backers.
Does Marty Markowitz consider the Atlantic Yards arena his legacy? He says no, others say yes
Posted by lumi at 7:21 PM
Markowitz celebrates borough president re-election
Courier Life Publications, via YourNabe.com
By Stephen Witt
He isn’t often referred to as “Party Marty” for nothing.
...
In his victory speech, [Borough President Marty] Markowitz thanked Mayor Michael Bloomberg for overturning the term limit law allowing him to run for a third term.
NoLandGrab: Because Markowitz knows in his heart that he's not qualified to run for anything other than "Party Marty?"
Looking ahead to his third term, Markowitz said he can’t wait to get the shovel in the ground for the $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards project that will see the NBA’s Nets move to Brooklyn into a newly built arena at the Flatbush/Atlantic avenues intersection.
NLG: Maybe Markowitz ran for a third term in order to hang around for an Atlantic Yards groundbreaking. Bruce Ratner's megaproject was announced in the middle of Markowitz's first(!) term.
Posted by lumi at 6:36 PM
Bloomberg's third term seen as challenge
amNY
By Jason Fink
With Mayor Michael Bloomberg winning another term, New Yorkers can expect him to continue pushing two of his biggest goals: improving school test scores and redeveloping large areas of the city.
But experts caution that the unexpected closeness of his victory and the city’s fiscal problem will blunt his agenda.
...
“Whatever policy initiatives the mayor has are going to be very much compromised by the city budget,” said Bruce Berg, a Fordham University political science professor.
...
Still, Berg and others point to several projects on which Bloomberg will likely spend political capital, including Coney Island and Atlantic Yards.
Atlantic Yards Report, Three papers, two views of reality: Bloomberg's narrow victory in the Post, Times, and Daily News online
The results are in and Bloomberg either steamrolled over or squeaked by the competition, depending on which daily newspaper you read.
Posted by lumi at 5:14 AM
November 3, 2009
Election Day Triangles
Noticing New York
Michael D.D. White urges a vote for Bill Thompson.
The fact is that while Thompson’s errant support for some version of Atlantic Yards is a problem (he has occasionally said he doesn’t know "what" the mega-project is at this point), there is hope that with a Thompson city administration support for Atlantic Yards will ultimately (and logically) fade. There is no such hope with the stubborn Bloomberg administration, irrespective of the way Bloomberg may try to hide, misrepresent or deny his administration’s support.
NoLandGrab: We wish we could share White's hopefulness for a different Atlantic Yards outcome if Bill Thompson somehow managed an upset, but given every chance to differentiate himself from Bloomberg on development issues — seemingly his best chance to win — he's instead presented himself as Bloomberg light, a recipe , no doubt, for runner-up status.
Posted by eric at 7:07 PM
On Election Day, a Bloomberg story: the mayor disavows influence on Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Peter Krashes, former president of the Dean Street Block Association, encountered Mayor Mike Bloomberg on the campaign trail two Saturdays ago at the Grand Army Plaza Farmers Market.
Krashes told the mayor that neighbors near the Atlantic Yards footprint had problems with ongoing construction activities. Bloomberg responded that there wasn't much the city could do.
"He specifically said it's a state project and the city doesn't have much sway or influence," Krashes recalled. "I told him I didn't think that was true. From what I hear, you are pushing quite hard on the project."
(After all, didn't his MTA appointees lead the charge for the revision of the Vanderbilt Yard deal?)
"I said I didn't believe the project had a public benefit." Krashes recalled, "and I asked him what he thought it was." The conversation ended, however, as campaign aides stepped in and moved Bloomberg along to another appointment.
Posted by lumi at 5:36 AM
November 2, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere... (election eve edition)
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], Challenger TKO’d by Technicality
Tish James dispatched Forest City Ratner's hand-picked candidate in the Democratic primary; one of her general election opponents just dispatched himself.
City Council Member Letitia James has one challenger fewer to worry about in tomorrow’s election: Osaretin Ighile, an independent, who was kicked off the ballot last week.
...His failure to write in one number — 35, the district he is running in — made all the difference, the appellate division of State Supreme Court ruled last week.
We'd be sympathetic about his being removed from the ballot on a technicality, except for this:
He supports the Atlantic Yards project and is critical of Ms. James’s opposition to it.
“Anything that will create jobs for our community, I’m for that,” he said. “I want to make life less bothersome to the working class.”
NoLandGrab: And you can be sure that two or three decades of massive surface parking lots won't be bothersome at all.
Lucid Culture, The Brooklyn What Runs for Brooklyn Borough President
Local punk rockers The Brooklyn What have officially launched a write-in campaign for the Brooklyn Borough Presidency, an effort that actually got started a couple years back.
The local, Brooklyn raised punk rock band has been running informally since summer 2007, when lead singer Jamie Frey and guitarist Evan O’Donnell encountered current Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz at a concert in Coney Island, and informed him that they were not interested in the planned Nets arena in Prospect Heights. “Marty took one look at our shirtless, sweaty, hairy bodies and told us to ‘move out’,” Recalls O’Donnell. “From then on, it was war.”
...The Brooklyn What’s Top Five Reasons not to vote for Marty:
The Proposed Atlantic Yards Project, which illegally uses eminent domain to give land to a private developer for a fraction of its valu, in order to build a basketball arena and several high rise condo buildings in the middle of prospect heights.
Marty is Corrupt. The New York Post reported that Markowitz has steered nearly $700,000 in no bid contracts to his personal non-profit, which has also been recipient of $1 million in contributions from who else? Bruce Ratner, the Atlantic Yards developer
Marty knocked his only democratic challenger off the ballot. Thanks for the democracy, Marty!
Marty Endorses Bloomberg. Bloomberg has made living in this city without a million dollar salary nearly impossible.
Marty is Manhattan-izing Brooklyn. Skyscrapers, exorbitant rents, local treasures (Coney Island) turned into tourist traps, sound familiar?
Washington Square Park, Why you should not vote for Mike Bloomberg for Mayor Tomorrow Election Day NYC!
Tomorrow, Tuesday November 3rd, is Election Day for Mayor, City Council, and other races in New York City. The Mayoral election is very important. Please vote! — for anyone but Mike Bloomberg.
Here are some reasons why:
* The Bloomberg Administration has shown no regard – or use for – community input, planning, and participation. In fact, Mayor Michael Bloomberg does not care about maintaining the character and uniqueness of our city. That’s been evident throughout the “process” of the redesign of Washington Square Park and many other places – Yankee Stadium (destroyed parkland and corporation giveaways), Union Square, Willets Point, Atlantic Yards, etc. etc.
Found in Brooklyn, Don't Forget to VOTE Bloomberg OUT TOMORROW!!
Atlantic Yards, Coney Island, Gowanus, Williamsburg, Long Island City, the lower east side, all uglified or on their way to become uglified. Get this man O-U-T!
Posted by eric at 9:14 PM
On Your To Way Vote, We Quizzically Ask: How “Green” Is Our Bloomberg?
Noticing New York
Michael D.D. White offers up a little election eve quiz.
True or False: Bloomberg uses his environmental PlaNYC as a justification for promoting more city real estate development.
...But the question with the Bloomberg administration is which came first: A love of the environment or the promotion of big development? By 2007, long before PlaNYC the Bloomberg administration was well on its away to promoting megadevelopments and most of the 100 upzonings covering a fifth of the city were in place. We have also seen, in other situations, how prone the Bloomberg administration is to the cynical use of beneficial things, for instance “affordable housing” as excuses to justify otherwise indefensible mega-monopolies like Atlantic Yards.
Posted by eric at 8:47 PM
AY opponents James, Owens endorse AY supporter Vann in the 36th CD, neglect AY opponent Griffith
Atlantic Yards Report
It's not every day that we disagree with Tish James and Chris Owens, and agree with Errol Louis, but hey, it's election day eve.
In the race between incumbent 36th District Council Member Al Vann, who won an eight-person Democratic primary by a slim margin, and challenger Mark Winston Griffith, who came in second and is running on the Working Families Party line, you'd think 35th District Council Member Letitia James might endorse the challenger.
After all, Vann voted to overturn and extend term limits, while James was a fierce opponent of that effort. And Vann is a supporter of Atlantic Yards, attending the MetroTech tree-lighting last December, while James is the project's leading political opponent--and Griffith opposes the project.
You'd also think that Chris Owens, who ran for the 11th Congressional District in 2006 as the only candidate opposing Atlantic Yards, also might endorse Griffith.
But James and Owens are endorsing Vann, as the New York Times reports today. Along with their citation of his very long track record as a patriarch of black politics in Brooklyn, I'd have to suspect that mutual crusades and mutual favors go a long way. (James used to work for Vann. And Atlantic Yards is hardly the major issue in the district.)
NoLandGrab: Al Vann's vote in favor of overturning term limits, and his support for Atlantic Yards, automatically disqualify him; Mark Winston Griffith, despite having to run on the Working Families/ACORN line, has been outspoken about his opposition to Bruce Ratner's boondoggle.
Posted by eric at 8:28 PM
Markowitz campaign mailer touts "Marty's Brooklyn Story," omits Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Brooklynites this weekend got a mailer reminding us to vote for [Marty] Markowitz, with the essential argument that the job of Borough President is to increase pride and happiness, rather than, say, to weigh in on things like land use.
...the mailer consists of endless photos of Markowitz meeting Brooklynites and presiding over things Brooklyn, including Dine in Brooklyn, the new cruise ship terminal, the Coney Island circus, and even a soccer team.
Atlantic Yards is conspicuously absent, just as Markowitz's promotional Brooklyn!! publication (1, 2, 3)--essentially, a cousin of the campaign mailer--omits or downplays the borough's most controversial project, the project on which Markowitz has staked his reputation.
Posted by lumi at 4:52 AM
October 31, 2009
Pechefsky challenges 39th CD frontrunner Lander on AY, but differences are small; will Council hold the AY hearing Lander seeks?
Atlantic Yards Report
In overwhelmingly-Democratic New York City, the winner of the primary normally wins in the general election as well. Brad Lander, the Democratic candidate for City Council in the 39th District, is being challenged by David Pechefsky of the Green Party. This blog entry compares/contrasts the two candidates who are both opposed to the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
David Pechefsky (right), the Green Party candidate for the 39th City Council District, may be a long-shot, but he's run a lively campaign, most notably challenging Democratic frontrunner Brad Lander (below, left) on the role of the Council and, secondarily, on Atlantic Yards.
Indeed, while Pechefsky critiques Lander for not having a plan to stop the project, neither does Pechefsky, though he contends that, should the City Council be able to block additional or approved-but-not-delivered funding, the project could be hampered.
Rather, Pechefsky's candidacy speaks more to reforming the City Council budget process (including member items), thus challenging a candidate like Lander who would represent a mostly progressive constituency but must also play nice with the power structure.
Posted by steve at 7:19 AM
October 29, 2009
The Gamble
Weighing the risks and rewards of a Bloomberg third term
City Hall News
by Edward-Isaac Dovere
"Our view is that if we do everything conceivable to get our message out and turn our voters out, we’ll win—and the better a job we do, the more votes we get,” explained Bloomberg campaign manager Bradley Tusk. “I’m paraphrasing it, but LBJ said something along the lines of ‘If you do everything you possibly, humanly can and then a little more, you should win.’ That’s how I see it too.”
Um, doesn't he mean "if we spend everything conceivable" and "if you spend everything you possibly, humanly can?"
Many people have called for Bloomberg to seek and get control of development at Ground Zero, but to date, he has given no indication that he wants that particular albatross. Still, his frustrations at past failures simmering just below the surface, he does not seem content to have his biggest contributions to the skyline be whatever has grown out of his administration’s comprehensive rezonings over the last two terms and the new Bloomberg LP headquarters on the Upper East Side.
“We have to do the big projects,” he said at a recent press conference, his face scrunched in a grimace as he addressed the current condition of Atlantic Yards.
...“Once you make a decision that you’re not facing any future elections, does it give you a greater sense of independence? It does,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who this year endorsed the mayor for the second time.
NoLandGrab: OK, one, how does Marty Markowitz, who refuses to go gracefully into the night, know what it feels like to decide one is not going to face any future elections? And two, what's preventing Emperor Mike from overriding term limits again in the future, should NYC voters be so foolish as to give him the third term he covets?
Posted by eric at 12:31 PM
Rev. Billy: Brooklyn’s Third-Party Candidate
Anti-Consumerism Is Windsor Resident’s Theme
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Raanan Geberer
The Rev. Billy, whose real name is Bill Talen, grew up in the Midwest but has lived in Brooklyn for quite a few years. He has lived for six years in quiet Windsor Terrace and lived in Fort Greene beforehand. He has often gotten involved in Brooklyn issues such as the Atlantic Yards project and the Coney Island development plan – both of which he opposes.
The Rev. Billy’s main theme is anti-consumerism – his organization is known as the “Church of Stop Shopping.” He opposes the “mono-culture” of shopping malls, gentrification and large-scale development in favor of mom-and-pop shops and neighborhood-based cooperation.
...On the subject of his two much-better-known rivals, he says, “Mayor Bloomberg and Thompson are both proponents of an attack on neighborhoods, almost like a military assault, of chain stores [although he does like Fairway], gentrification and skyrocketing rents. There is a partnership between the city and landlords and developers, and that partnership is corrupt.
Posted by eric at 10:02 AM
Down to the wire with Dave
YourNabe.com
Green Party candidate David Pechefsky may or may not be victorious in his bid for the 39th District’s New York City Council seat next week, but he’s sure injected some sorely-needed adrenaline into an otherwise anemic election cycle.
...Among the latest, his contention that the New York City Council, through the power of the purse, has the ability to scrap earmarks for Atlantic Yards and thus slay the controversial project once and for all - if only members of the city council had the political will.
In recent weeks, Pechefsky has also gone after all-important member items - those tantalizing monies allotted to city council members for disbursement to non-profits in their districts.
“As it now stands, members who are loyal to the speaker or have a constituency that the speaker cannot alienate get the most money, and those who oppose the speaker get the least,” Pechefsky says. “The only way to compensate is by horse-trading votes for money.”
Posted by eric at 9:58 AM
October 28, 2009
Press release: "DE BLASIO PROTECTS RESIDENTIAL BROOKLYN FROM HIGH RISE DEVELOPMENT"
Atlantic Yards Report
Shocker! From a press release from City Council Member (and presumptive Public Advocate) Bill de Blasio:
DE BLASIO PROTECTS RESIDENTIAL BROOKLYN FROM HIGH RISE DEVELOPMENT
CITY COUNCIL IS EXPECTED TO PASS DOWN-ZONING IMPOSING STRICT HEIGHT LIMITS ON BUILDINGS IN CARROLL GARDENS
...Atlantic Yards, and the transition between a border zone and a historic district, has not gotten the same attention from de Blasio.
Posted by eric at 11:18 PM
Thompson criticizes Bloomberg on MTA, ignores AY
Atlantic Yards Report
From a press release from Democratic Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson regarding remarks today on the MTA:
Thompson said, “Our City’s economic health and quality of life depend on leadership at City Hall that speaks up for transit riders. Unfortunately, New Yorkers haven’t had that advocacy under Mayor Bloomberg. The Mayor’s top-down decision-making approach has led to two fare hikes in 15 months, service cuts, and crumbling subway stations. As fares have gone up, the Mayor and his MTA appointees have been largely silent.”
...
Addressing the MTA’s mismanagement, Thompson said, “I will appoint MTA Board members who are transit activists and more representatives of the riding public—unlike the Bloomberg Administration’s loyalists who have no special knowledge or even prior familiarity with transit. And my appointees will be instructed that raising fares will not be the silver bullet solution to the MTA’s mismanagement and bloated budget.”Unmentioned: the leadership of Bloomberg's MTA appointees in revising the deal for the Vanderbilt Yard at Forest City Ratner's request--now the subject of a lawsuit.
Posted by lumi at 4:01 AM
October 26, 2009
Gotham Gazette and Endorsements
The Wonkster [Gotham Gazette]
Gotham Gazette does not now and never, ever has endorsed candidates. It would be a violation of our tax status and even if we could endorse candidates, we wouldn’t want to.
Gotham Gazette is published by Citizens Union Foundation (it says so on the site!). Citizen’s Union Foundation does not endorse candidates either.
Citizens Union Foundation’s sister organization is Citizens Union, which does endorse candidates. But those preferences play no role — none ! — in Gotham Gazette’s coverage.
In fact, Gotham Gazette does not take official stands on any of the weighty issues facing our city. We are not for (or against ) the millionaire’s tax or slashing city services. We had no position on mayoral control of schools, Atlantic Yards or what to do with the city’s garbage. And we do not urge City Council to adopt or reject any particular piece of legislation.
Our only stand — if you can call it that — is to believe that citizens should be informed about their government.
NoLandGrab: And one of the best ways to inform the citizenry is to call the government out when it intentionally misleads its citizens — which has clearly been the case with city and state support for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. Unfortunately, Citizens Union, "an independent, nonpartisan, civic organization of members who promote good government and advance political reform in the city and state of New York," has declined to join other good government groups in legal action to stop Atlantic Yards — and has endorsed third-term powergrabber Mike Bloomberg for re-re-election.
Posted by eric at 4:01 PM
Another Look at the Dinkins Administration, and Not by Giuliani
The New York Times
by Michael Powell
In the wake of Rudy Giuliani's none-too-subtle invocation of race politics last week, The Times's "Political Memo" column looks back at the last time New York City had an African American mayor.
Mr. Dinkins also negotiated a stadium deal that still draws applause. His administration gave the United States Tennis Association a 99-year lease on city parkland; in exchange, the tennis association built a stadium and tennis complex in Flushing Meadows, Queens, and shares the courts with the public.
The tennis deal, Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed several years ago, was “the only good athletic sports stadium deal, not just in New York but in the country.”
NoLandGrab: And after two Bloomberg-championed baseball stadiums, and a full-court press to build Bruce Ratner's basketball palace, it's still true.
Posted by eric at 10:07 AM
October 23, 2009
Atlantic Yards critic turns conciliatory
Boro Politics
by Stephen Witt
Hakeem Jeffries has of course clarified his position, but that didn't make it into the story until the seventh paragraph, nor, obviously, into the headline. Meanwhile...
[Assemblyman Nick] Perry, who represents East Flatbush, Canarsie and Brownsville, said he remains mostly supportive with some reservations about the project.
“If we can get this project off the ground it would benefit all of Brooklyn in tough economic times,” said Perry of the letter. “We just want to make sure our expectations abide to it [the CBA] and even go beyond it. We have an obligation to keep their feet to the fire.”
Perry said he does not turn a deaf ear to Atlantic Yards critics, but feels their concerns can be worked out.
NoLandGrab: We admire Perry's altruism when it comes to the CBA, since the community he represents is about two-and-a-half miles from the Atlantic Yards footprint at its nearest point. As for working out our concerns, sure, we expect that to happen any day now.
Posted by eric at 11:51 AM
At PHNDC meeting, Jeffries says meeting with governor needed, ombudsman not empowered; Adams invokes security (and Jeffries says feds should weigh in)
Atlantic Yards Report
Three local elected officials appeared last night at a meeting of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council (PHNDC), and the Atlantic Yards news came not from City Council Member Letitia James (speaking at left), who barely mentioned the project, noting that her position was well-known.
Rather, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and state Senator Eric Adams, two elected officials somewhat critical of AY but--unlike James--have not stood with project opponents in protests and lawsuits, offered some clarification of their positions.
Notably, Jeffries said he and other local elected officials seek a meeting with the state's leaders to discuss Atlantic Yards; that he didn't have editorial control of a seemingly pro-AY letter he signed; that the federal Department of Homeland Security, not just the New York Police Department, should advise on security issues; and that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) had not empowered its own AY ombudsman to do the job.
Adams added that the history of a failed terrorist attack at the Atlantic Avenue terminal made a careful security review imperative, which means he can't endorse the project at this time.
(Adams and Jeffries, among others, have called for a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement, which was rejected.)
Click thru for much more detail, including video clips of the meeting.
Posted by eric at 11:34 AM
October 22, 2009
Your 2 Cents: Daniel Goldstein Of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
NY1 News
 |
NY1 VIDEO: Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn offers his take on the mayor's urban development policy in "Your 2 Cents," a series of on-camera, unedited guest editorials delivered by prominent New Yorkers.
Posted by eric at 4:27 PM
October 21, 2009
An update from Jeffries: "I remain highly critical" of Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, the subject of criticism for signing a letter with a very positive posture toward Atlantic Yards, has issued the following statement backing away from the tone of the letter:
"My colleagues in the legislature, including Sen. John Sampson, the leader of the democratic majority of the New York State Senate, requested a meeting with the principal developer of the proposed Atlantic Yards project, and invited me to participate. I remain highly critical of the project and the direction it has taken in recent years. I continue to believe that the extraordinary measure of eminent domain should not be used for the purpose of building a basketball arena."
So I'm guessing he didn't write the letter he signed along with Sampson and Assemblyman Nick Perry. The question, which I suspect will be raised at tomorrow's PHNDC meeting, is why he signed it.
Jeffries added, in response to my question, "Yes, I did not draft the letter, and to the extent there is any additional uncertainty about my views toward the project, I would of course be delighted to address the issue at tomorrow's town hall meeting."
Posted by eric at 6:10 PM
Assemblyman Jeffries' Evolution on Atlantic Yards and His Co-signed Letter to Ratner and Prokhorov
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
DDDB looks at the history of Prospect Heights Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries' stance on Atlantic Yards, and wonders what his recent letter to Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov portends.
Posted by eric at 11:48 AM
Rawyal — Issues
Atlantic Yards makes a cameo (around the 1:50 mark) in Hip Hop artist Rief Rawyal's get-out-the-(anti-Bloomberg)-vote rap.
Posted by eric at 11:38 AM
Republican Seeks To Replace De Blasio
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Harold Egeln
Joe Nardiello, the Republican candidate for City Council in the 39th:
On Atlantic Yards and development, he said he is “a proponent of bringing the Nets to Brooklyn,” creating manufacturing in Central Brooklyn and “making Brooklyn the epicenter of solar power usage.”
NoLandGrab: Idiocracy — the candidate for "reining in high transit fares and preventing East River bridge tolls by reforming the MTA" is in favor of the MTA's sweetheart deal with Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner.
Posted by lumi at 6:24 AM
October 20, 2009
Jeffries changes tune, calls AY "vital to the economy," wants meeting with Prokhorov; also, PHNDC Town Hall with electeds on Thursday
Atlantic Yards Report
Once upon a time (actually 5/3/08) Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said publicly, "Let's give Governor Paterson a chance to say no to eminent domain."
Now, along with legislative leaders John Sampson (beneficiary of a fundraiser held at Forest City Ratner offices) and Nick Perry, he's calling for a meeting with Bruce Ratner and prospective Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov.
Posted by eric at 11:03 PM
Dear Messrs. Ratner and Prokhorov...
Are one or more of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefit Agreement signatories getting nervous, or are a couple of local legislators trying to hop on the gravy train before it leaves the Vanderbilt Yard?
State Senator John Sampson and Assemblymen Nick Perry and Hakeem Jeffries sent a letter to Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov yesterday, praising the basketball impresarios for their "recent efforts to propose new business arrangements to sustain" Atlantic Yards "in these challenging economic times," while expressing concern that "all covenants previously executed" in the CBA "remain in force, and are fully executed."
NoLandGrab: ROTFLMAO. The Atlantic Yards CBA is about as firm as a bowl of Jello.
They're also seeking "a meeting with [Bruce and Proko] at the earliest opportunity to review... this vital economic development project."
NLG: We're not sure what angle Sampson (who recently held a fundraiser in Forest City Ratner's Metrotech offices) and Perry are playing, but we would've expected the normally cagey Jeffries to take pains to appear a bit more savvy.
Related coverage...
NY Observer, Sampson, Jeffries to Russian Billionaire, Ratner: Please Meet With Us
Posted by eric at 9:32 PM
October 19, 2009
What Bloomberg and Stuckey have in common: the Detroit dodge
Atlantic Yards Report
Rudy Giuliani says that if we don't reelect Mike Bloomberg, then New York City will turn into Detroit.
Jim Stuckey said that if we don't build Atlantic Yards, then New York City will turn into Detroit.
Norman Oder says not so fast:
As I responded:
Actually, New York has no chance of becoming the next Detroit, a city based on one industry, with no public transportation, and which is not exactly the country’s cultural and financial capital.
NoLandGrab: Actually, if we do build Atlantic Yards, we will become Detroit.
Posted by eric at 11:21 PM
As the Times says "Stop the sewer money" in Albany, a prime exhibit could be Ratner's $58K check to a Silver-controlled committee
Atlantic Yards Report
The New York Times is Fed Up With Albany.
Several commenters noted that the editorial, which covered several issues, failed to mention all-powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who, among other things, has refused to reveal the identities of his legal clients.
Also, consider that, in January 2008, Forest City Ratner apparently reversed a pledge to refrain from campaign contributions, giving $58,420 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee's Housekeeping account. That's part of the mutual closeness between the developer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Posted by eric at 11:16 PM
Calling it, for Thompson
Columbia Spectator
by Al Benninghoff
Adventures in phone banking.
Phone banking for Thompson, however, is quite a different experience.
No one that answered the phones hadn’t heard of Bloomberg. It would be hard not to. He’s spent $60 million on his campaign so far, with plans to spend another $60 million in these final weeks. He’s bought so many advertisements that people are beginning to complain that it’s overkill, but when you call voters, you can tell that the commercials’ contents are beginning to sink in. The people I was calling were spouting rhetoric found not only in his commercials and on his fliers, but in the articles that have churned out weekly covering the campaign. There are a few constant themes.
...#3. Bloomberg is a businessman who has brought huge economic development projects to New York.
He’s made some big promises, but most of the big ideas Bloomberg touts never get off the ground. Ground Zero is still just a hole, the West Side Stadium project was a dud, and the Atlantic Yards project seems to have stalled.
Posted by eric at 11:54 AM
October 16, 2009
Jeffries: MTA has breached fiduciary duty, but joining new lawsuit would compromise his advocacy
Atlantic Yards Report
Continuing down the well worn path, which for the past five years has tediously led nowhere, NY State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries tells Norman Oder that he chose not to join other elected officials in the lawsuit challenging the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) re-sweetened sweetheart deal with Bruce Ratner because his "ability to forcefully and candidly advocate on behalf of the community, with the Governor and the MTA on the other side of the negotiating table, would be compromised if [he] were to be a named plaintiff in the litigation at this point in time."
Oder's analysis:
I can only speculate at the additional motives behind Jeffries' decision.
...
Perhaps Jeffries has calculated that Atlantic Yards is more likely than not, and that, should the project move forward, he wants to make sure that Forest City Ratner, and government agencies that could provide housing subsidies, deliver on the 200 affordable homeowner units the developer promised in December 2006 but which have never been incorporated into government documentation.
Posted by lumi at 6:20 AM
October 15, 2009
Thompson lays out an economic agenda
Mayoral candidate City Comptroller Bill Thompson is light on specifics as he offers an economic plan for the city at a Crain's forum.
Crain's NY Business
by Erik Engquist
He was more forceful in attacking the mayor’s record on development. Mr. Thompson focused on three projects that have not moved forward as quickly as the administration had hoped. “Hudson Yards, Atlantic Yards, Willets Point and on and on and on,” the comptroller said. “I don’t think we’ve seen much growth there.”
NoLandGrab: Bill Thompson just doesn't get it, does he? Let us offer up some free political advice — criticizing Bloomberg for being an underdeveloper, no matter the audience, is not a recipe for a November 3rd upset.
Posted by eric at 10:16 PM
October 13, 2009
Mayoral battle for the city’s skyline
Thompson up against most ambitious real estate planner in decades
MetroNY
By Carly Baldwin
So where do mayoral rivals Michael Bloomberg and William Thompson stand on building the city?
Bloomberg embraces development to increase economic growth and tax revenue. He supports the controversial Atlantic Yards project, gave tax breaks to Yankee Stadium, and changed zoning in Greenpoint-Williamsburg and Coney Island to increase residential development.
...
Thompson paints himself as an advocate for tempered growth, who will protect neighborhoods from overdevelopment and demand good jobs in exchange for public financing.
NoLandGrab: Somewhere along the line, we believe that Bruce Ratner's overdevelopment was renamed "the controversial Atlantic Yards project."
FYI: Thompson is for the controversial project, though he's believes that his support represents "a very different position" from the Mayor's support.
Posted by lumi at 5:33 AM
October 12, 2009
Bloomberg wants to get rid of Public Advocate position, says "we have an aggressive enough press"
Atlantic Yards Report
Mayor Mike Bloomberg says that the Public Advocate position should be abandoned:
"You should get rid of the public advocate," he said. "It's a total waste of everybody's money. Nobody needs another gadfly and we have an aggressive enough press," he said.Well, incumbent Betsy Gotbaum hasn't exactly distinguished herself. But Bloomberg thinks the press is aggressive enough. How about the publishers who agreed to support his effort to overturn and extend term limits?
NoLandGrab: Norman Oder is too kind. The mainstream press in NYC has more or less rolled over and played dead for the Mayor.
Posted by eric at 4:55 PM
October 8, 2009
Thompson claims major development projects require cost-benefit analyses, but ignores Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
From Democratic Mayoral nominee Bill Thompson's speech yesterday on the economy:
Enormous staff resources and time were wasted planning a West Side Jets Stadium that was never built. Huge subsidies went to the New York Yankees for a stadium project with little local economic impact.As Mayor, I will require that decisions to invest taxpayer dollars in major development projects undergo rigorous cost, jobs, and community-benefit analyses.
Mayor Mike Bloomberg's campaign responded that Thompson "flip-flopped"--as opposed to, maybe, changed his mind--on Yankee Stadium.
Thompson ignored the Independent Budget Office's analysis that the Atlantic Yards arena would be a money-loser for the city.
NoLandGrab: We'll give Thompson the benefit of the doubt and say he "came to his senses" on Yankee Stadium.
Posted by eric at 11:15 AM
The speaker? A squeaker!
The Brooklyn Paper
by Gersh Kuntzman
The City Council is a big fish that stinks from the head down — or so says would-be Councilman David Pechefsky, a Green Party candidate challenging Democratic front-runner Brad Lander to represent Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Carroll Gardens and parts of Cobble Hill and Gowanus.
...David Pechefsky, Green
I will not support a Speaker who voted to overturn term limits. But regardless of who is Speaker, without the reforms I have advocated, including reform of the committee structure, reform in the hiring and retention of staff, and reform of the member item system and budget process as a whole, the Council will continue to inadequately fulfill its responsibility as a counterweight to the mayor. A councilmember who votes for Speaker Quinn has little credibility on the term limits issue and therefore on commitment to reform more generally. It would also call into question that Councilmember’s commitment and ability to stand up to the mayor on such issues as Atlantic Yards and the Gowanus Canal.
Click thru to see what the other candidates speak about the Speaker.
Posted by eric at 8:57 AM
October 6, 2009
Lobbying firm hosts $1000 (minimum) fundraiser for Senator Sampson at FCR's MetroTech offices
Atlantic Yards Report
Bruce Ratner makes an in-kind contribution.
Forest City Ratner offices at MetroTech are the site tonight for a fundraiser (minimum contribution: $1000) supporting Senator John Sampson, leader of the New York State Democratic Conference.
The evening is sponsored by the Albany-based lobbying firm of State & Broadway. (Click on graphics to enlarge.)
Forest City Ratner for years avoided direct political contributions, preferring to rely on lobbying. However, in January 2008, the company gave $58,420 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee's Housekeeping account.
So this indirect support might be seen as a way of maintaining influence, given the need for future tax breaks and other governmental goodies for projects like Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: We guess that $1,000 a plate buys Sampson's ignorance of the rude treatment — orchestrated by Forest City operatives — heaped on his colleague, Sen. Bill Perkins, at the May 29th State Senate hearing on Atlantic Yards.
Posted by eric at 6:57 PM
Bloomberg's biographer offers gentle treatment of development issues, and barely a mention of the Nets arena (but no AY)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder critiques Joyce Purnick's bio of NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, where, through the lense of rezoning and development shortcomings, Atlantic Yards is the 800-lb. gorilla.
For Purnick's verdict on development issues, consider this summary paragraph (p. 4):
And in every rundown corner of the city he aggressively cleared the way for renovation and real estate development, to the chagrin of serious city planners and devotees of city landmarks, to the delight of builders, construction unions and pragmatists who share his preference for imperfect development over neglect.
A reader might conclude that casual city planners and those who care partially about landmarks are fine with Bloomberg's record. But Purnick sets up a false dichotomy between imperfect development and neglect, fails to look into project like Atlantic Yards, and does not even hold Bloomberg to his own standards, as I point out below.
Posted by lumi at 5:56 AM
BORO PRESIDENTS' FIGHT
CityLimits.org
By Jarret Murphy
Brooklyn's Marty Markowitz, who was elected in 2001 and considered a run for mayor before term limits were extended, faces a long-shot Republican opponent, businessman Marc D'Ottavio. A libertarian candidate, Michael Sanchez, is also in the race.
D'Ottavio says his campaign is about listening to needs that don't get much attention. "You hear about Atlantic Yards, you hear about Coney Island, the Gowanus Canal. You don’t hear about these parking garages in residential areas," or about a failing pedestrian bridge near the New York Aquarium on Coney Island, he says.
NoLandGrab: Frankly, it's pretty amazing that you hear about Atlantic Yards — it takes a lot of jumping up and down to get folks to pay attention to the largest private development project in NYC history.
D'Ottavio makes the case for the need for better outer-borough coverage.
Posted by lumi at 4:36 AM
October 3, 2009
Deal could give New York State power over hundreds of public authorities
Daily News
By Juan Gonzalez
Here is word that Governor David Paterson may be on his way to signing legislation that would make state authorities like the ESDC, tool of developer Bruce Ratner, more accountable. This change in law probably comes too late to correct the lack of accountability of state support for the proposed Atlantic Yards project. The prime sponsors of this legislation are Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and Harlem state Sen. William Perkins.
It's hard to believe that any meaningful reform could come out of the Legislature these days, but this could be the exception, thanks to the dogged work of Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and Harlem state Sen. William Perkins, the prime sponsors of the legislation.
The new law would:
Require appointees to authority boards to act in the interest of that authority and not simply follow instructions from the local mayor or the governor who appointed them.
Give the state Senate the power to confirm the chief executives of some of those authorities.
Set up an independent Authority Budget Office with subpoena power. That office would set operating rules and monitor the finances of the agencies.
Forbid agencies from selling public assets at below market prices unless there is a clear public purpose.
Require the state controller to review all major contracts issued by the authorities.
...
"These authorities have been Soviet-style bureaucracies for too long," Brodsky said. "We're bringing them back under the rules of American democracy."
Posted by steve at 9:20 AM
October 2, 2009
Thompson claims his AY support is "a very different position" than Bloomberg's AY support
Atlantic Yards Report
On today's Brian Lehrer Show, Democratic Mayoral candidate Comptroller Bill Thompson, eschewing the opportunity to criticize Atlantic Yards as a "boondoggle" as did 2005 Democratic candidate Freddy Ferrer, instead stuck to calling for the affordable housing to be built.
And that, he asserted, showed how he differed with Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who has supported the project to the hilt.
The action begins at about 22:20
BL: Do you differ with the mayor at all on this point on what should happen next at Atlantic Yards?
BT: I supported, maybe not the mayor's original plan at Atlantic Yards, but I had supported Atlantic Yards based on two reasons. The large number of affordable units that were supposed to happen there, and the Community Benefits Agreement that also was happening at Atlantic Yards. Over a period of time, I'm not going to say that I haven't been concerned at the constant changes in Atlantic Yards. I still have a number of questions and continue to pay attention and monitor that. Because that project continues to change and morph. And I have to tell you, it continues to raise concern with me.
He's not monitoring it much. (The statement sounded as convincing as the statement July 22, by the Empire State Development Corporation Steve Matlin, that "We're constantly updating" the fiscal analysis of Atlantic Yards.). Otherwise Thompson would have noticed the mayor's criticism of CBAs, the lack of guarantees and doubts whether enough subsidies would be available, and the unenforceability of the CBA.
NoLandGrab: For an actually different position on Atlantic Yards, we suggest voters pull the lever for the unbought and unbowed (and well-coifed) Green Party candidate, Rev. Billy Talen.
Related coverage...
WNYC Radio [The Brian Lehrer Show], 30 Issues: Thompson on Development
Posted by eric at 10:14 AM
Markowitz Endorses Bloomberg for Mayor
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Raanan Geberer
Two term-limit abusing politicians have a lovefest.
These tough times, however, call for someone extraordinary, said Markowitz. The Democratic borough president compared Bloomberg, an independent and former Republican, to Chelsey [sic] “Sully” Sullenberger, the airline pilot responsible for the successful emergency landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River. He stressed that in his opinion, the mayor and he share many of the same goals and support many of the same projects. These include “a 24/7 Downtown Brooklyn, the City Point project, Atlantic Yards, the continuing development of the Navy Yard, the Weeksville historic museum, the redevelopment of Coney Island” and more.
NoLandGrab: Captain Chesley Sullenberger should sue for defamation.
Posted by eric at 10:00 AM
October 1, 2009
CHatter: With Win, James Shrugs Off Forest City Ratner
City Hall News
The race between Council Member Letitia James and Delia Hunley-Adossa centered on Atlantic Yards.
Hunley-Adossa, head of the local precinct’s community council, hit James on her opposition to the Atlantic Yards project, saying the new amenities will create jobs and needed housing. But James and her supporters saw Hunley-Adossa as a mouthpiece for developer Forest City Ratner.
...
Taking more than 80 percent of 9,214 votes, James said the results sent a message to the Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner that the community is against the mega-project.“Sorry, Forest City Ratner,” James said. “You got to deal with me for another term.”
NoLandGrab: The way Ratner played it, the election turned into a referendum on Atlantic Yards with the developer losing. If the aim was to unseat Letitia James or make her break a sweat, why did the normally politically savvy developer back a candidate who was so blatantly for the project, and lacked public polish?
Posted by lumi at 6:52 AM
September 30, 2009
On Brian Lehrer, Mayor (in clip) disses IBO; Schuerman explains why it’s tough for Thompson; Council candidate Griffith gets a say
Atlantic Yards Report
AYR analyzes today's two Atlantic Yards-related segments on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show.
The Atlantic Yards segment on today’s Brian Lehrer show concentrated mainly on the minor differences between full-throated project support Mayor Mike Bloomberg and supporter-with-concerns Comptroller Bill Thompson, the Democratic candidate.
The most valuable moment in the segment came at about 13:45, when Lehrer brought up the fact that New York City Independent Budget Office Mayor Mike Bloomberg, in full voice, disses the cost-benefit analysis of the Atlantic Yards arena: “I don’t know what the IBO studies would have shown back when they tried to establish the value of Central Park or Prospect Park or anything else. These are the kinds of projects you have to do because without that we don’t have a future, and we’re going to get this one done.”
As Schuerman pointed out, “The funny thing is, he applauded the IBO study when it came out four years ago, showing it was a slight positive net gain for the city.” Schuerman noted that the effort to analyze costs and benefits is “murky,” given that the IBO was able to look only at the arena.
Has the Comptroller reacted to the IBO study? “More than anything, I don’t think Thompson has taken a position on Atlantic Yards,” Schuerman added, noting that Thompson has not chosen to audit the project.
...Caller Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy suggested that Thompson could challenge Bloomberg on Atlantic Yards, given that it’s “a poster child of all the mayor has done wrong, when it comes to megadevelopments.”
Posted by eric at 7:54 PM
Our pick: Mike Bloomberg for mayor
The Brooklyn Paper
The Community Newspaper Group's endorsement of incumbent Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who orchestrated the overturning of term limits to clear the way so he could run again, is not totally outlandish, since it's well nigh impossible to get excited about his Democratic challenger, Bill Thompson. But someone must have spiked the coffee down at the CNG's Metrotech offices, because some of the reasons they give for supporting Bloomberg are downright nutty.
Protecting neighborhoods: To his ill-informed critics, the mayor is a tool of developers who want to pillage our communities. But on the ground in the neighborhoods we cover, the mayor has moved ahead with zoning changes to preserve neighborhoods or revitalize commercial areas, such as Carroll Gardens and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Jamaica in Queens or along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. In such cases, we’ve seen the benefits of the mayor’s big-picture approach.
First off, we've never called Bloomberg a "tool" of developers, since he's richer than all of them. More like a BFF.
But seriously, the "benefits" of the Fourth Avenue rezoning? You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who praises that ill-conceived effort. Here's a shining example of that "big-picture approach."
Concerning the sprawling Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the mayor’s team admitted long ago that it didn’t handle the development properly and has since done a much better job. That improvement deserves praise.
WTF? We'll defer to Norman Oder's critique, below, but suffice it to say, the "mayor's team" in this instance was one ex-staffer, former Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, who admitted the project should have gone through the city's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, rather than have short-circuited that process with a state-level zoning override. As for the "much better job" since, well, that's pure fantasy. And "praise?" Sorry, not here.
More coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, CNG editorial claims Bloomberg's "not a politician" and has "done a much better job" on Atlantic Yards
Here's Norman Oder on the Mayor's alleged Atlantic Yards improvement:
A much better job? Do they mean the accelerated transfer of subsidies or the dissing of the Independent Budget Office?
Term limits
Remember, the Community Newspaper Group is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who agreed to have his New York Post support Bloomberg's effort to overturn and extend term limits.
...The endorsement claims:
And best of all, he’s not a politician.
...I'll point people to Tom Robbins in the Village Voice, critiquing Bloomberg's claim of "Progress. Not Politics":
The first word is a debate worth having. The next two are simply lies.Not politics? Whatever you think of Bill Thompson's erratic campaign, at least he was being nominated that very night by his own party in an open primary. Mike Bloomberg? His GOP endorsement came courtesy of a classic, old-school political deal in which five Republican county leaders sat down in a room and agreed to give the mayor their ballot line.
He cut the same insiders' pact with the cultish local chapter of the Independence Party. The party's nominating convention this spring featured all the democracy of a Chinese Politburo meeting, including a ruling clique that fawned over the visiting mayor. A few weeks later, Bloomberg sealed the deal with a $250,000 down-payment to the party's coffers, with presumably a great deal more to come.
Not politics? Bloomberg continues to scorn the city's campaign finance system, the hard-won reform designed to curb the influence of big money in elections. He spends as much as he wants—the same way the hacks used to do before limits were adopted.
Then there's the bare-bones political scheming that won the mayor the very right to even appear on the ballot this year. That's the one topic Mike Bloomberg still refuses to talk about. He gets an electric-like jolt whenever the topic is raised. Just when and why Mike Bloomberg decided to overturn the city's term limits laws is shrouded in mystery. He's done his best to keep it that way.
Posted by eric at 5:13 PM
Proposed Supermarket Divides Bronx Community
The New York Times
by Terry Pristin
An article about a Bronx supermarket project and a related Community Benefits Agreement highlights the Mayor's flip-flop.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who in the past has supported the efforts of community groups to forge their own pacts with developers for projects like Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, is now adamantly opposed to so-called community benefits agreements. City officials say that benefits to local residents should be considered as part of the public approval process, not in separate agreements.
Seth W. Pinsky, president of the city Economic Development Corporation, said the split over the supermarket illustrated the flaws inherent in these pacts. “On the one hand you have groups that are claiming to represent the communities saying no to grocery stores,” he said, “while on the other hand there are community groups saying we desperately need more grocery stores.”
NoLandGrab: The truth is probably that the Bloomberg Administration will embrace CBAs when they suit their goals, and oppose them when they don't.
Posted by eric at 10:29 AM
September 29, 2009
Two Runoff Elections: Your Votes Sure Could Make a Difference, Or Is That Really So?
Noticing New York
With both candidates for Public Advocate in favor of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards megaproject and both candidates for Comptroller tepidly against the project, blogger Michael D.D. White recommends that you cast your ballot today.
Posted by lumi at 5:34 AM
September 28, 2009
Opportunity for Thompson? Looking at Bloomberg's support for the West Side Stadium, reflexive backing for AY, and how AY was reframed in polls
Atlantic Yards Report
Underdog Democratic mayoral nominee Bill Thompson's an Atlantic Yards supporter. Indeed, he signed a boilerplate letter (left) in July 2005 to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in support of the project.
Should Thompson somehow challenge Mayor Mike Bloomberg on his support for the project, the challenger might gain some headway--only if he looked back in history and framed the issue appropriately. (Right now the only AY critic in the race is Green Party candidate Rev. Billy Talen.)
Click here for Norman Oder's look back at the political history of Atlantic Yards.
Posted by lumi at 6:41 AM
September 23, 2009
Answers About Michael R. Bloomberg
City Room [NYTimes.com]
Joyce Purnick, the author of “Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics,” plays oracle to SteveFtGreene's question about Atlantic Yards:
Question: Why does Mayor Bloomberg continue to support Atlantic Yards when the supposed public benefits, especially the affordable housing will not be available until decades in the future, or never?
Answer: His argument: Economic development is good for the economy. It puts people to work, it generates tax revenues so the city can build more moderately priced housing and spend on other services. That is what he would say if you asked him. Others, and not only opponents of the Atlantic Yards project, don’t see it that way, to put it mildly.
Posted by lumi at 7:44 PM
September 20, 2009
Really Wylde? New NY Federal Reserve Bank Director Supported Major NYC Net Loss ($220 Million) Megadevelopment
Noticing New York
This blog entry focuses on Kathy Wylde, who was recently appointed to the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Wylde has been a supporter of Michael Bloomberg, helping to overturn voter wishes on term limits, and also a supporter of the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
Here is a description of much of what is so wrong about Atlantic Yards:
A spectacularly flawed project in almost all respects, New York City’s Independent Budget Office has concluded that the Atlantic Yards arena, the only part of the Atlantic Yards project currently designed or for which any kind of enforceable, documented deal exists will be a net money loser for the city to the tune of $220 million($39.5 million in direct losses and $180.5 million in opportunity losses). The megadevelopment’s guaranteed inadequacies flow principally from the fact that it was set up and concocted by the developer, Forest City Ratner, as a subsidy-infusion system intended to deliver maximum benefit to the developer at the expense of the public. The IBO has conservatively calculated that on the arena alone the city will be giving the developer$726 million in no-bid giveaways.
The as yet undesigned rest of the megadevelopment has been formulated as a multi-decade no-obligation developer monopoly on a swath of valuable Brooklyn real estate that will allow the developer to blackmail the public into deeper subsidies, redoubling its net losses. In fact, just this week the developer caused New York Governor Paterson’s Empire State Development Corporation to casually shake the advance of another $25 million out of its sleeve. (See: Thursday, September 17, 2009, Noticing New York Comment on and at Today’s ESDC Board Meeting.) Since the project is unlikely ever to return the accelerated advance of that money, this extra $25 million could well bring the calculated net loss on the project up from $220 million to $245 million.
...
The mega-project, containing the seeds for its own demise from the get-go, has been foundering embarrassingly for the five years since it was proposed. The developer could quite likely go under financially. There have thus been ample and repeated opportunities for responsible organizations to call for pulling the plug on the degenerating deal. We have written before about how Ms. Wylde has, instead, errantly recommitted her support to it no matter how far it degrades. (See: Monday, July 6, 2009, Wylde Ideas, Making For a Wrong Partnership.) Most recently, despite a change in the economic environment which should have made it possible to get a much better deal for the public, Ms. Wylde endorsed a far worse one on behalf of the Partnership (see the article just linked to) where hundreds of millions of extra giveaways are being lavished on the project without quid pro quo.
Wylde will join Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University, and eminent domain abuser on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board. The entry ends with this warning:
So, if you are wondering about what kind of biases might govern the Federal Reserve in conducting federal policy to protect the public and ensure soundness of the economy, just remember that two of its board members who are there to set policy and direction are Atlantic Yards, Bloomberg and eminent domain supporter Kathy Wylde and eminent domain abuser Lee Bollinger from Columbia.
And there is this. According to Crain’s:
The New York Fed also has the ear of Washington, D.C.—U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was president of the New York Fed until his White House appointment.
Worried?
Posted by steve at 10:43 AM
September 19, 2009
Congratulations, Councilman Levin…Now What?
Real Reform Brooklyn: Eye on the 33rd
Steven Levin won the Democratic primary this week for a seat on the City Council. This open letter is a suggestion list. One of the asks is that Levin fix the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
Dear Councilman Levin:
We know that it is premature to call you that. You still need to go through the general election and get sworn in. But we all know those are mere formalities. You won. Vito Lopez hooked you up every which way from Tuesday: the Zalmanite faction with Rabbi Niederman and UJO, the union endorsements, the Bushwick United Democratic Club. But it would be unfair to say that Lopez won the election for you. The other candidates sliced and diced themselves up to a fair-thee-well. All that, and good honest campaigning on your behalf, won the day. You are to be personally credited with running an honorable campaign. You never went negative. You never took a shot below the belt. That is why we said “we really want to like you.”
The question is, now what? We thought that we would give you a few suggestions for your new office:
...
- Don’t Fold On Atlantic Yards. You have the real opportunity to curb the excesses of Atlantic Yards. You should work with Lopez to make this happen. On December 31st, Ratner’s tax-free financing is going to go “poof.” You need to use that opportunity to force a re-orienting of the proposed arena so that eminent domain is not needed. You also need to bring about a contextual re-working of the plan to integrate it into the surrounding communities.
This appears in this item's comments section:
“You need to use that opportunity to force a re-orienting of the proposed arena so that eminent domain is not needed.”
the arena doesn’t fit at that location without eminent domain. so better: you need to denounce the use of eminent domain to build an arena.
Posted by steve at 7:31 AM
September 17, 2009
More primary election wrap-up in Ratnerville
The Local, Crunching, and Chewing on, Some Numbers
And we can confirm commenter harriet’s report that Letitia James won by the biggest margin of any council candidate in the city — 67 percentage points over Delia Hunley-Adossa. But we need to correct her statement that Ms. James got the most votes. That honor goes to Inez Dickens of Harlem’s 9th District.
Can the results in other districts be analyzed through the rubric of the "Atlantic Yards effect?"
This morning we linked to Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn’s post stating that all three council districts surrounding and including Atlantic Yards were carried by anti-AY candidates.
But Atlantic Yards Report says it’s a bit more complicated than that, calling one of the winners, Steve Levin in the 33rd, a “fence-sitter” and the other, Brad Lander in the 39th, a “latecomer to opposition,” at least compared to Josh Skaller, whom he defeated.
In the citywide races for public advocate and comptroller, which will take runoffs to decide, Atlantic Yards Report notes that while the next comptroller will be less kindly disposed towards AY than the present one, Bill Thompson, the next public advocate will be a supporter, like the current one.
Do you think that yesterday’s results augur anything in particular for the political fortunes of Atlantic Yards, which seems likely to need as much political support as it can possibly get in order to get off the ground? Please share.
The Brooklyn Paper, Tuesday’s primary results are in!
Democratic voters in the 35th District, which covers Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, resounding backed their incumbent, Letitia James against the better-funded challenger, Delia Hunley-Adossa, whose campaign benefitted financially from her support of the Atlantic Yards project.
James won with 81.2 percent of the vote to Hunley-Adossa’s 14 percent.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Lander and Levin Sweep To City Council Victories
Atlantic Yards opponent Councilwoman Letitia James easily trounced project supporter Delia Hunley-Adossa with 7, 479 votes, a landslide of 81.2 of the vote, to Hunley-Adossa’s 1,275, or 13.9 percent.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Little-Known Mayoral Candidate Represents Conservative Party
What kind of world is it when the Conservative Party mayoral candidate takes a wait-and-see approach to ham-fisted-pork-barrel-top-down overdevelopment?
On developments such as Atlantic Yards and Coney Island, [Conservative Party candidate Rev. Stephen] Christopher wants to see what lessons may be learned from these controversial proposals. “Everything in the city is made excessively complicated. Agencies play a huge role and developers’ deep pockets take precedent, and the middle class is squeezed out,” he said.
NoLandGrab: Ironically, deep-pocketed developer Bruce Ratner probably believes that things started off pretty simple and only became "excessively complicated" when the neighbors in around the footprint of his Atlantic Yards scheme didn't roll over.
Posted by lumi at 5:38 AM
September 16, 2009
Primary Election Round-up: Atlantic Yards edition
It's hard to say that Atlantic Yards played much of a role in the outcomes of yesterday's primary elections, since in many races, such as Brooklyn's 33rd and 39th District City Council primaries, all the candidates professed at least some degree of opposition to the project.
There was one race, however, which could be viewed as a referendum on Atlantic Yards, and the results were not pretty for Bruce Ratner's hand-picked candidate. More on that, and all relevant results, below.
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], James, in a Landslide
City Councilwoman Letitia James coasted to victory over Delia Hunley-Adossa and Medhanie Estiphanos in the Democratic primary tonight, drawing more than 80 percent of the vote and virtually guaranteeing that she will be elected to a third term in the general election in November.
With 99 percent of the votes tallied, Ms. James had 7,479 votes to Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s 1,275 and Mr. Estiphanos’s 460, the city Board of Elections reported. That works out to 81 percent for Ms. James, 14 percent for Ms. Hunley-Adossa and 5 percent for Mr. Estiphanos.
...The campaign took place against the backdrop of Atlantic Yards, the gargantuan $4.9 billion development proposed for the western edge of the district. Ms. James has fought against it. Ms. Hunley-Adossa, as head of a coalition of nonprofits that entered into a community benefits agreement with the developer, supports it.
At Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s headquarters on Washington Avenue in Prospect Heights, the scene was also animated, but not in a happy way. A cluster of her campaign workers milled in front of the office, complaining loudly and profanely that they had not been paid.
The Brooklyn Paper, In the 35th District: Letitia James steamrolls Yards-loving foe
Letitia James* 7,479 (81.2 percent)
Delia Hunley-Adossa 1,275 (13.9 percent)
Medhanie Estiphanos 460 (5 percent)35th Council District covering Fort Greene and Clinton Hill
The popular incumbent James fended off a challenge from Hunley-Adossa that turned out to be mostly a financial one. Backed by construction union workers thanks to her support for the Atlantic Yards mega-project, Hunley-Adossa was able to raise more money than the incumbent — a rarity in New York.
But her inaccessability, plus her poor performance in a Community Newspaper Group-sponsored debate, hurt her ability to capitalize on her funding.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, The Results Are In: Three Who Oppose Atlantic Yards Win Local Races
In the three districts that surround the proposed Atlantic Yards site, all three primary election victors have professed opposition to Atlantic Yards.
Here are the positions of the winning candidates on the beleaguered project:
33rd Council District (seat currently held by David Yassky)
Winner: Steve Levin
(33.7% of the vote)
"At the present moment, it looks like it's probably not going to happen," Levin said. "So I do not support the plan as it currently stands. I think it's too much, it's too big. And I believe that it shouldn't be supported because the silver lining in the original plan, the affordable housing and the union jobs that would be created, does not look like it's going to be there."
(From Atlantic Yards Report coverage of News12 debate.)
...35th Council District
Winner: Incumbent Councilmember Letitia James
(81.17% of the vote)
Councilwoman James is the leading political opponent of the Atlantic Yards proposal since it was unveiled in December 2003.(AY Community Benefits Agreement chairwoman, Forest City AY Partner and political surrogate Delia Hunley-Adossa whose Brooklyn Endeavor Experience received at least $400,000 from Forest City Ratner for her salary and other questionable uses, received 13.4% of the vote.)
39th Council District (seat currently held by Bill de Blasio)
Winner: Brad Lander
(41.15% of the vote)
Brad Lander said, "We should scrap the Atlantic Yards plan and go back to the drawing board." He referenced a critical report he co-authored in 2005 and said the developer "had time to address" the critiques but made the project worse.
(From Atlantic Yards Report coverage of News12 debate.)We look forward to working with our newest local councilmembers.
Congratulations to all of the candidates who competed, and congratulations to the winners.
Now, let's all hold their feet to the fire when it comes to their campaign positions on Atlantic Yards.
Atlantic Yards Report, The election results, the argument for IRV, and the AY effect
Maybe I was wrong when I took the New York Times to task for not issuing an endorsement in the race for the 35th Council district.
The Times announced endorsements in "several of the most competitive districts" and I thought that Delia Hunley-Adossa would give incumbent Letitia James a decent run. Well, despite something of a stealth campaign, Hunley-Adossa's camp worked hard in the final weeks, with a significant presence putting up posters.
But James won 81% of the vote in a low-turnout election, despite some Hunley-Adossa shenanigans. I still think the race deserved editorial comment, but it clearly wasn't competitive.
The ever-clear-eyed Oder gauges what it all means for the Atlantic Yards battle.
The AY effect
The current configuration regarding Atlantic Yards is changed only somewhat. DDDB claims that three who oppose AY won, but one is a fence-sitter and the other a latecomer to opposition. Veteran opponents of AY lost in both districts.
Project opponent James remains in office. In the 33rd, Levin's fence-sitting posture is not unlike that of incumbent David Yassky, though clearly the current climate pushed Levin toward more rhetorical criticism.
Lander, though not a longtime opponent like Skaller, is a longtime critic who now says the project should be scrapped--again, likely to respond to Skaller's challenge.
Though Lander may feel pressure from some supporters to moderate that position, it's a much tougher position than that held by the incumbent, Bill de Blasio. So Lander should be more of an ally to James on the issue.
Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel, an AY opponent, lost, and the two candidates in the runoff, Mark Green and Blasio, are supporters. But so is incumbent Betsy Gotbaum.
In the Comptroller's race, AY supporter Bill Thompson will be replaced by either Council Member David Yassky and John Liu, both of whom have expressed occasional skepticism along with essential support.
Thompson beat AY opponent Tony Avella in the race for Democratic nomination for mayor. Perhaps most importantly, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, an unyielding project supporter, is highly favored to win a third term.
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill], The Day: Yay for James, Nay for Atlantic Yards?
The Brooklyn Paper, In the 39th District: Lander crushes four rivals
Lander, an affordable housing developer best known for his work leading the Fifth Avenue Committee and the Pratt Center for Community Development, dominated his four Democratic rivals, winning all but one polling location outside the heavily Orthodox Jewish, and largely conservative, Borough Park portion of the district.
...“As badly as we lost, we also won something,” Skaller told his supporters at Johnny Mack’s on Eighth Avenue and 12th Street. “Before we got into the race, the importance of taking on Atlantic Yards was not seen as serious, the need to fight developers in Carroll Gardens was not on the agenda, and the urgency of a Superfund clean-up of the Gowanus Canal was not understood — but it all is now.”
park slope on a rope, Primary wrap and Park Slope
What does this mean for you? I have no idea, I didn't vote either. What I do know is that Lander used to be for Atlantic Yards before he was against it. He's a public housing advocate though and now that well known sonofabitch Bruce Ratner, of AY developer Forest City Ratner, has all but punted on the affordable housing component that was crucial to getting city approval for the project, watch for Lander to be a thorn in Ratner's side. Good. Make sense? Great.
Last note is that Lander held his victory party at Commonwealth, home of the world's greatest bathroom graffiti. I like this guy more and more.
NoLandGrab: Brad was never for Atlantic Yards; he's been a critic from the beginning.
City Room, Snapshots of Primary Day
Dan Avallone, a remodeling contractor who declined to say whom he was voting for, said he was not excited about the election.
“I’m one of the few people who think the Atlantic Yards is a good idea,” he said, blaming the opposition for the long delays that have hampered the project. “Politicians and my neighbors missed an opportunity. They are looking at the future through a rear-view mirror.”
Pardon Me For Asking, Disappointed? Yes! Regretful? No! The Day After The Primaries
I hope that Josh will continue to be a strong voice for change. We need him, be it in the fight against Atlantic Yards, in the fight for the Gowanus Canal Superfund designation or in the fight to preserve our brownstone neighborhoods.
Posted by eric at 10:48 AM
September 15, 2009
Hunley-Adossa palm card claims alliance with anti-AY candidate Norman "Siegal"
Atlantic Yards Report
Hey, if you can't win by running for Atlantic Yards, try running against it!
It's not clear if Atlantic Yards booster Delia Hunley-Adossa, challenging Council Member Letitia James in the 35th District, has any significant endorsements. (You can't find any on her web site. No newspaper has endorsed her.)
But on the palm card her camp distributed today, she's shown in alliance with Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who surely shares her views on Atlantic Yards.
The rest of the poorly proofed document says she's "working along side our trusted leaders," including Comptroller Bill Thompson, Markowitz, Council Member (and Comptroller candidate) David Yassky, and Public Advocate candidate "Norman Siegal."
That would be news to Siegel, who's a vehement opponent of Atlantic Yards and has brought up eminent domain abuse regularly during Public Advocate debates.
And Yassky has stayed out of the race.
NoLandGrab: Perhaps it should be called a greased-palm card.
Posted by eric at 2:48 PM
Our Endorsements for Tuesday's Primaries
Atlantic Yards Voter Guide
These endorsements are based on one thing only: true blue, principled, consistent and active opposition to Atlantic Yards. And if you think that is too "single-issue" keep in mind that Atlantic Yards involves nearly every single important issue to New York City in the 21st century (we said nearly, not all).
With that in mind, our choices for the primaries on September 15
33rd Council Race (soon to be former Yassky seat)
-- Vote for Ken Baer or Ken Diamondstone35th Council District (Absolute no brainer)
-- Vote for Letitia James
(Delia Hunley-Adossa should be investigated, not on a ballot.)36th Council District (Absolute no brainer)
-- Vote for Mark Winston Griffith39th Council District (soon to be former de Blasio seat, also a no brainer)
-- Vote for Josh SkallerPublic Advocate (Absolute no brainer)
-- Vote for Norman SiegelComptroller
Sorry, but they all stink when it comes to Atlantic Yards, but if you must hold your nose, and hold it hard and tight, David Yassky is the only one of the four who has at times, over the years, been critical of Atlantic Yards, though he does support it. But we repeat, they all stink when it comes to Atlantic Yards. (Note well that Melinda Katz never saw a real estate developer she couldn't embrace.)Mayor
-- Vote for Tony Avella
NoLandGrab's endorsements are here.
Posted by eric at 9:57 AM
Voting booth
We've already put up the NoLandGrab slate of candidates for today's primary elections. Here are some others.
Noticing New York, Our thoughts on Navigating the Voter Minefields When All the Candidates Know the Words to Mouth on Development
This will provide our good government, good real estate development oriented, Noticing New York thoughts on who to vote for in a number of tomorrow’s most important primary elections and why: Tony Avella for Mayor. Norman Siegel for Public Advocate. John Liu (or David Yassky?) for Comptroller. Josh Skaller in the 39th City Council District. Jo Ann Simon (or Evan Thies?) for the 33rd. Tish James for the 35th. Yetta Kurland in the 3rd to defeat Christine Quinn and unseat her as speaker of the City Council.
Michael D. D. White explains how he came up with his slate, including the Marty and WFP anti-endorsement.
Atlantic Yards Report, Thinking about the 33rd Council District (Part 2): why I'm voting (gingerly) for Simon
Though it is a little uncharacteristic for Norman Oder to share his personal views on his blog, he explains that his tepid vote for Jo Anne Simon has more to do with casting a vote against Stephen Levin.
Posted by lumi at 5:19 AM
September 14, 2009
The NoLandGrab Primary Slate
The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow. If you don't know your polling location, click here.
NoLandGrab offers the following candidate endorsements for your consideration.
For Mayor
Tony Avella has been a staunch opponent of Atlantic Yards and eminent domain abuse. From Prospect Heights to Willets Point to Columbia, he has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with property owners and residents and against publicly subsidized, land-grabbing boondoggles.
His democratic opponent, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, says he's a "late supporter" of Atlantic Yards, has collected tons of developer money, and has done nothing — remember, he's the city's CFO — to investigate or even evaluate the hundreds of millions of dollars the city is throwing at project developer Bruce Ratner.
The choice is clear: Tony Avella will pull the plug on the city's support for Atlantic Yards on his first day in office.
For Public Advocate
This is another race in which the choice is crystal-clear. Norman Siegel has made a career of fighting for just causes, and has been a fierce critic of eminent domain abuse. He represented DDDB in the early days of the fight against Atlantic Yards, and is the attorney for Nick Sprayregen, the Manhattanville business owner fighting the Columbia University land grab. Siegel has been New York City's de facto public advocate for years — he deserves to have his name on the office officially.
For Comptroller
None of the four candidates for Comptroller has expressed clear opposition to Atlantic Yards. Melinda Katz has taken more developer money than any candidate in the city. David Weprin says he's against eminent domain for private projects, but has voted in favor of such projects in the City Council. David Yassky has been for and against Atlantic Yards on numerous occasions; he's more in the anti camp now, but it's too little, too late. John Liu perhaps shows the most promise on land-use issues, and he's drawn the support of some prominent Atlantic Yards opponents, but his failure to stake out a concrete position on the project keeps us on the sidelines in the Comptroller's race.
For City Council, 33rd District
All seven candidates in this race have at least claimed some degree of opposition to Atlantic Yards, but two stand apart from the rest. Ken Baer and Ken Diamondstone were early, vocal opponents of the project; Baer led the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter when it signed on as a plaintiff to the lawsuit challenging the Atlantic Yards environmental review, and Diamondstone had to fight to keep his Community Board seat after speaking out early and often against the project.
While some critics of Atlantic Yards have spent time trying to handicap the race in the 33rd in order to cast a defensive vote (trying to prevent the election of machine candidate Steve Levin), we're more interested in who should win rather than playing the complicated game of who can win. With that in mind, we endorse the Kens, Baer and Diamondstone.
For City Council, 35th District
Incumbent Letitia James is running for re-election. 'Nuff said. The staunchest, most outspoken opponent of Atlantic Yards holding elective office, she is highly deserving of another term. It's hardly worth mentioning that her chief opponent, Delia Hunley-Adossa, is a signatory of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, heads an organization that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Forest City Ratner, and is an unquestioned proxy for Bruce Ratner. Brooklyn needs Tish James in City Hall.
For City Council, 36th District
There are a host of candidates challenging Atlantic Yards-supporting incumbent Councilmember Al Vann (who voted to overturn term limits), but nearly all of them support the project, too. Except one: Mark Winston Griffith. He's been a community activist for two decades, and currently serves as Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute, in which position he has repeatedly criticized Atlantic Yards and developer Forest City Ratner. Mark Winston Griffith is the obvious choice in the 36th.
For City Council, 39th District
Four of the five candidates in the 39th District race have been at a minimum deeply critical of the Atlantic Yards project, but only one has earned the widespread support of the most dedicated opponents of Bruce Ratner's boondoggle. Josh Skaller, who as president of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats led the organization to join the lawsuit challenging the Atlantic Yards EIS, has been unwavering in his opposition to the project, and he pledged from the start of his campaign to take no money from developers — a position that some of his opponents were later forced to adopt. We have no doubt that, if elected, Josh Skaller will be a feisty, principled Tish James-like independent in the City Council, and we endorse him wholeheartedly.
Posted by eric at 4:34 PM
Candidate Profile: Ken Baer
YourNabe.com
by Aaron Short
Park Slope resident Ken Baer is a one-man show.
He has no staff, no vehicle, and no cell phone, but he is running an ambitious do-it-yourself City Council campaign in the 33rd District, which he believes he can win on September 15.
...Baer moved to Park Slope in 1979, and promptly joined the Park Slope Food Co-op.His 21 years as a Sierra Club activist have shaped his political views considerably, from opposing the Atlantic Yards project and the proposal to construct high-rise residential buildings in Brooklyn Bridge Park to urging the EPA to designate the Gowanus Canal as a superfund site and urging the MTA to find a long-term solution to its financial situation.
“Development is an environmental issue. Atlantic Yards, if constructed, would lead to a considerable amount more traffic, noise and air pollution. It would put shadows on Fort Greene which would preclude the installation of solar panels and affect people’s gardens,” he said.
Posted by eric at 4:27 PM
Real Estate's Last Stand
Gotham Gazette
by Courtney Gross
Who are big real estate developers supporting in tomorrow's primary?
Wielding the city's most lucrative resource -- land -- developers have long used their purse strings to try to influence City Hall. And this year is no different.
The most viable citywide candidates have collected more than $2.5 million from real estate interests for the 2009 election, according to an analysis by Gotham Gazette. None have collected more than comptroller candidate and Land Use Committee Chair Melinda Katz, who took in more than 30 percent of that figure. Thompson and public advocate candidate and Councilmember Eric Gioia have also pulled in considerable sums, at $393,000 and $314,807, respectively.
At the same time, some of the city's most well known or active developers have increased their donations by more than 30 percent since 2001 -- and we haven't even passed the primary.
...On stage at New York Law School earlier this summer, public advocate candidate and civil rights attorney Norman Siegel gave the audience a warning for this year's election.
"Developers are out of control," he cautioned, wearing his trademark tan suit. "You should ask every candidate here whether they get money from developers. They should disclose what developers they get money from, where they stand on these issues of eminent domain. I, for one, don't get any money from developers."
But no one, not even Siegel or Avella, is immune from the development industry.
Some are more immune than others, however.
Of the citywide candidates, both Avella and Siegel have been the most critical of developers. Nearly all of Siegel's contributions associated with the industry -- which total $8,405 -- come from low-level realtors. He has one $4,950 contribution from a West Harlem developer that fought against the expansion of Columbia University -- a position Siegel also took.
...In Fort Greene, Councilmember Letitia James is facing off against Delia Hunley-Adossa, who is an ally of Atlantic Yards developer, Forest City Ratner. Even though Hunley-Adossa has not received funds from Ratner directly, her ties to the project have caused controversy.
..."If you look at the amount of money [the industry] spends, you find they are one of the biggest contributor blocks as a profession," said Josh Skaller, who is running for City Council in the 39th district in Brooklyn and has pledged to not take developer money. "There is a direct correlation, in my opinion, in how our neighborhoods are being overbuilt right now."
Click thru for lists of the top recipients of developer money — and its sources.
NoLandGrab: Two things to note. Mayor Bloomberg, were he not already New York's richest person (and self-financed candidate), loves developers too, even if he doesn't need their money. And Forest City, which appears to give next to nothing to candidates, actually funnels significant contributions through relatives of CEO Bruce Ratner, including his brother, constitutional rights attorney Michael Ratner, and college-student cousins.
Posted by eric at 3:50 PM
Atlantic Yards Report's Primary Colors
The Daily News's non-endorsement in the 35th District
In August I wrote that I doubted that the Atlantic Yards-loving Daily News could legitimately endorse challenger Delia Hunley-Adossa in the 35th Council District after her unwillingness to subject herself to public scrutiny.
Indeed, today's endorsements for "those City Council candidates whose primary victories tomorrow hold the greatest promise of raising the low quality of the municipal legislature" ignores the 35th District.
Thinking about the 39th: why Dov Hikind causes Brad Lander to sound curiously like Charles Barkley
[Josh] Skaller's been a longtime opponent of Atlantic Yards--hence the support connected to DDDB.
[Brad] Lander has been a longtime critic, though not unsympathetic to the potential benefits, who now says the project should be scrapped; in other words, he didn't oppose the fundamental decision by the Empire State Development Corporation to declare the site blighted and to pursue eminent domain, but he's now gotten much tougher.
(The WFP has close ties to ACORN, Forest City Ratner's partner on AY. In the 33rd District, the WFP has endorsed the most pro-AY candidate, Steve Levin. Then again, the WFP also supports Mark Winston Griffith, the candidate in the 36th District who's most critical of Atlantic Yards, as well as project opponent Letitia James in the 35th District.)
Still, Lander's supported by Ron Shiffman, a DDDB board member who has a professional tie as his predecessor at the Pratt Center for Community Development.
Thinking about the 33rd Council District (Part 1)
At the debate, [Steve] Levin came off with unctuous insincerity, claiming, for example, that "I am not in favor of Atlantic Yards." (Actually, he's more of a fence-sitter.)
Perhaps the most telling answer came in response to the (very good) question about which Council Members the candidates would feel closest to. Levin said he'd built relationships with Council Members Lew Fidler, Dominic Recchia, and Erik Dilan--all reliable allies of the clubhouse and Forest City Ratner, with the first two from deep southern Brooklyn, far from Levin's base in north Brooklyn.
Posted by eric at 1:07 PM
Political developerments in the 35th
Gotham Gazette, Real Estate's Last Stand
Courtney Gross examines the role real estate developers are playing in this week's elections. Atlantic Yards makes a cameo in Ft. Greene:
In Fort Greene, Councilmember Letitia James is facing off against Delia Hunley-Adossa, who is an ally of Atlantic Yards developer, Forest City Ratner. Even though Hunley-Adossa has not received funds from Ratner directly, her ties to the project have caused controversy.
The Local, Newcomer in Council Race Argues for Change
Medhanie Estiphanos is running for City Council against incumbent Letitia James and Atlantic Yards ally Delia Hunley-Adossa:
Third on his list of concerns is the lack of affordable housing and the high cost of apartments, driven in part by the many new luxury developments — like Atlantic Yards — coming into the area.
Posted by lumi at 5:12 AM
September 13, 2009
Jo Anne Simon Endorsement Update: Veterans and Atlantic Yards
Mole 333 makes an endorsement in the City Council District 33 race. Simon's position on the proposed Atlantic Yards project is a factor.
Now the other clarification regarding endorsements in the 33rd race. Three of the other candidates in the race have as their main strategy negative campaigning against Jo Anne Simon. Among their attacks have been trying to portray her as pro-Ratner. This is very much not the case. I want to emphsize that Jo Anne Simon is THE candidate endorsed by many of the core anti-Ratner activists. I have highlighted some of them in the past, but let me give a more comprehensive list (with a reminder of some I have forgotten before thanks to the Simon campaign).
Jo Anne Simon has been endorsed by:
Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats
Councilwoman Tish James
State Senator Velmanette Montgomery
State Senator Eric Adams
Candace Carpenter (head of the DDDB legal team fighting Ratner)
Isabel Hill (film maker who made Brooklyn Matters, an award winning documentary about the fight against Ratner)All of these have been champions in the fight against Ratner and they have ALL endorsed Jo Anne Simon. Believe me that Tish James, CBID, the head of the DDDB legal team and the maker of Brooklyn Matters would NOT endorse a pro-Ratner candidate! So don't believe misleading negative campaigning. A vote for Jo Anne Simon is a vote against not just the Vito Lopez machine but a vote against Bruce Ratner.
Posted by steve at 7:58 AM
September 12, 2009
Three profiles of the 35th District City Council candidates
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
By Sarah Maslin Nir
These are rather lengthy profiles of three City Council candidates. Only brief excepts having to do with the proposed Atlantic Yards project are being quoted here.
In Council Race, James Banks on AY Opposition
But the battle that has ended up defining Ms. James’s tenure on the council was only beginning to take shape in 2003 — Atlantic Yards, the $4.9 billion development proposed for a western swath of her district, which Ms. James has fought against for years.
Ms. James, who also heads the council’s contracts committee and is co-chairwoman of its infrastructure task force, is counting on popular opposition to the project to carry her to victory over her main challenger, Delia Hunley-Adossa, one of Atlantic Yards’ most prominent supporters.
Hunley-Adossa: FCR Alliance for the Community’s Good
It’s the elephant in the room, so let’s say it right up front: The non-profit organization run by Delia Hunley-Adossa, the leading primary challenger to City Councilwoman Letitia James, has accepted somewhere in the area of $400,000 from Forest City Ratner, the developer behind the Atlantic Yards project.
Ms. Hunley-Adossa, 52, whose friends call her “Dee,” makes no apologies for her nonprofit group, Brooklyn Endeavor Experience — an entity distinct from herself and from her campaign — accepting the money.
“Yes, I have taken and I have gotten money on behalf of the developer to give back to the community,” said Ms. Hunley-Adossa, a first-time contender for public office. “I could be cited for that, and I will do it again and again.”
Newcomer in Council Race Argues for Change
Third on his list of concerns is the lack of affordable housing and the high cost of apartments, driven in part by the many new luxury developments — like Atlantic Yards –coming into the area.
Whether it’s “Myrtle Avenue or Park Avenue,” Mr. Estiphanos said, all new developments must be required to have a portion of their units allocated as affordable housing, a move that he said will foster “economic, racial, ethnic” and even sexual orientation diversity, and improve New Yorkers’ lives.
Posted by steve at 6:16 AM
The Day: Politics and More Politics
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
By Andy Newman
As the race for the City Council seat for 35th District City Council comes down the wire, candidate and Ratner beneficiary Delia Hunley-Adossa has gone negative against incumbent and pro-UNITY stalwart, Tish James.
As if you needed to be reminded, there are just four more shopping days until Tuesday’s primaries. Stand by for mini-profiles of all three council candidates, plus the last three installments of our virtual debate, the candidates’ schedules for the next few days if we can get them, as well as any other campaign news that crosses the transom.
Speaking of which, the Delia Hunley-Adossa brochure we characterized yesterday as “feel-good” (compared to a flier accusing Letitia James of buying her way into office) was not entirely so, as commenter Mike pointed out. It claims, among other things, that Ms. James moved to the district in order to run for office and is “too weak to negotiate” with big developers — presumably Forest City Ratner.
Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s supporters also inflated a union rat yesterday outside Ms. James’s council office on Hanson Place, an allusion to the construction jobs Ms. James is accused of chasing away by opposing Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: It's a safe bet that the inflatable rat was courtesy of construction unions that have contributed to Hunley-Adossa's campaign, but whose members live outside of the council district.
Posted by steve at 5:33 AM
September 11, 2009
Friday Politics Watch
Here's a round-up of the latest Atlantic Yards-related campaign news. It'll be mostly all over on Tuesday, which'll save a lot of trees.
Atlantic Yards Report, Public Advocate candidate Siegel: public hearings should be called on development process
What can the Public Advocate do to question the Department of Finance's questionable assessments in the Atlantic Yards footprint? I got an answer from candidate Norman Siegel: public hearings and even judicial inquiries.
...Siegel responded:
My answer to your question is yes, the Department of Finance’s assessment of the Atlantic Yards footprint is a matter of great concern to me. As many readers of your blog know, I opposed the Atlantic Yards project from the beginning and served as counsel to Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn in the effort to stop the project. I am also involved with community groups opposing the New York Yankees’ broken promises to replace park space in the South Bronx that was taken over by their new stadium. The favorability of the Department of Finance’s assessments to the developers in both these cases is extremely troubling. It highlights a primary reason that the abuse of eminent domain in the case of Atlantic Yards is unconstitutional – the negotiations have not been undertaken in good faith, and they have been completely developer-driven from the get go.There is a lot that the Public Advocate can do to hold the Department of Finance accountable, because the Public Advocate has the responsibility to oversee all city agencies. While I hope that other elected officials would support me in this effort, there has not been enough focus on the Administration or Department of Finance from the more powerful, citywide office holders. One of the most important features of the Public Advocate’s office is its authority to hold public hearings. When dealing with City agencies accused of wrongdoing, one can be assured that holding hearings is a tool I will use liberally. If I were Public Advocate, I would have already called for multiple public hearings into the city’s most roiling development projects, such as Atlantic Yards, the new Yankee Stadium, Columbia University’s expansion, and the Willets Point plan. In many of these cases public hearings aren’t sufficient to discern what discussions really occurred between government officials and developers and whether they indeed constituted bad-faith negotiating; New York law also allows the Public Advocate to petition for judicial public hearings when there has been any showing of government impropriety, which allows the public to hear the acts in a court of law.
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn, Greetings from Scott Turner: ST's Personal Guide for Voters
Fans for Fair Play's Scott Turner offers his primary endorsements via OTBKB. Here's a sampling.
Brooklyn's 33rd City Council District: Ken Diamondstone, Ken Baer, or anyone else named Ken. Diamondstone and Baer are straightshooters, excellent AY stance, and environmentally sound
Brooklyn's 35th City Council District: Letitia James. The bravest politician in NYC these past five years, speaking the truth to power. Her chief opponent is bankrolled by Forest City Ratner.
Brooklyn's 39th City Council District: Josh Skaller. Hands down. When you say "why can't we ever get somebody good into office?", it's Josh that you're wishing for. Smart, brash, compassionate and uncompromisingly principled, Josh is it. Also, an elected official whose name sounds like a scrubbing pad is nothing to sneeze at.
Atlantic Yards Report, As Hunley-Adossa goes negative and avoids questions, her top campaign promise is... more CBAs
Delia Hunley-Adossa, challenging incumbent Letitia James in the 35th Council District, previously agreed to answer written questions posed by the New York Times blog, The Local, but has backed off, her campaign manager claiming she's too busy.
...Hunley-Adossa has not shown a deep knowledge of policy, as evinced in her performance in two debates (sponsored by CNG and News12).
But she did respond, at least in part, to a questionnaire from the Citizens Union (CU). In the questionnaire, Hunley-Adossa reveals that her number one campaign promise, despite its absence on her web site, is "Community Benefits Agreements for all development projects."
NoLandGrab: Ka-ching! With the Atlantic Yards CBA funneling several hundred thousand dollars to Hunley-Adossa's Brooklyn Endeavor Experience — which spends a good chunk of it on Hunley-Adossa's salary — her enthusiasm for more CBAs is no surprise.
City Hall News, Beneath Atlantic Yards Dispute, Complaints About Funding, Politicking In James’ Race
Delia Hunley-Adossa, a well-funded community fixture, has made a name for herself as a candidate, both for her support of the controversial Atlantic Yards development project and her campaign strategy of shunning the spotlight for several months before attempting to come out strong in the final weeks before the primary.
“You can’t show all your hands at the beginning,” Hunley-Adossa said, by way of explaining her seemingly counter-intuitive election strategy. “So we’ve been playing our cards close to the chest.”
NLG: That's also a good strategy for not revealing how utterly devoid of ideas one's campaign might be. Coincidence?
YourNabe.com, Thompson talks Bronx at CNG candidate Q&A
Here's another fan of CBAs.
Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson huddled with reporters at the downtown Brooklyn headquarters of the Community Newspaper Group on Monday, September [NLG: we think he means August] 31 to discuss his five-borough plan.
...Thompson is a proponent of community benefits agreements linked to development, granted that the city formulate a benefits agreement blueprint. Benefits agreements should be negotiated as part of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, he said.
Bloomberg has attempted to shut out neighborhood stakeholders at the Atlantic Yards and Kingsbridge Armory developments.
The Brooklyn Paper, And from the mailbag...
To the editor,
It is disappointing, to say the least, that The Brooklyn Paper based so much of its endorsement for the 39th District Council seat on its position in favor of the arena at Atlantic Yards (“Dems should pick Heyer in the 39th District,” Sept. 4).
The arena would produce few good, long-term jobs, but plenty of congestion and even urban blight. And you gave short shrift to an impressive group of other candidates, in particular Gary Reilly, who has articulated very well-thought-out positions on this and other issues.
All in all, a baffling endorsement from a paper that should know better.
Michael Cairl, Park Slope
mole333's blog [The Daily Gotham], An Updated Rundown of the 39th City Council Candidates
Via Room Eight, Simon’s Atlantic Yards Fence-Sitting Buys Her Another Endorsement; Biviano Leads Groundswell Urging End to Business As Usual
Posted by eric at 9:44 AM
September 10, 2009
Ask the Candidates: If Atlantic Yards Is Built
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
But if the project does move forward in one form or another, the district’s city council member will have to figure out how to deal with the developer — the subject of this installment in our reader-driven ask-the-candidates forum. Here are thoughts on the subject from challenger Medhanie Estiphanos and incumbent Letitia James, cut and pasted, without editing.
Though the other Democratic challenger, Delia Hunley-Adossa, had said she would participate in this forum, she has not answered any of the questions yet, and her campaign manager, Musa Moore, told us yesterday she has been too busy. “We’re trying to win a campaign against a seven-year incumbent,” Mr. Moore said. “The luxury of incumbency gives you that power. I have to keep my candidate in the street from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.”
However, Moore's candidate has apparently had time to print up a glossy attack flyer, 'cause when you've got nothing to say, attack your opponent.
The Local, When Candidates Attack
Some residents of the 35th City Council district received two mailers today from the Friends of Delia M. Hunley-Adossa.
The other one was different. It featured a photo of the incumbent, Councilwoman Letitia James, above the headline “Convicted Brooklyn County Organization Leaders Sold Political Offices to the Highest Bidder.” The next line says, “So just how much did Letitia James have to pay?”
...Ms. James said that she did not buy her council seat from the party organization, and that moreover, the flier is factually incorrect — when she ran successfully in 2003, she was no longer the machine candidate.
“It’s basically desperation,” she said of the flier. “That’s all that it is.”
Click thru to see the reverse side.
NoLandGrab: Now who would've expected Bruce Ratner's hand-picked Council candidate to start slinging mud? Desperate times apparently call for desperate measures, and speaking of time, the clock's running out on Ms. Hunley-Adossa's candidacy.
Posted by eric at 5:22 PM
Atlantic Yards Report React-o-matic
Some analysis of press releases we already posted yesterday from Norman Oder's Atlantic Yards Report:
Well, the Empire State Development Corporation won't renege completely on the promise, made publicly by former CEO Marisa Lago, to hold two community information sessions.
However, the second session, to be held in conjunction with Forest City Ratner and the Center for Architecture, will be "focused on the new arena design," the ESDC said in a press release issued today.
The meeting will be held at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Monday, September 14 from 6 pm to 7:30 pm.
While the meeting might be intriguing, it's fairly meaningless. There are far more questions about the project than the arena itself and, given that the public comment period has closed, any issues raised in the session Monday can't be brought up before the ESDC board meets on September 17 to approve the plan.
Yes, Markowitz is on board (just as he was in June)
Borough President Marty Markowitz issued a statement regarding the new arena design:
“As I have said all along, Brooklyn is the greatest city in America. We’re ready to get back into professional sports’ big leagues, and this arena is going to make it happen. I am thrilled that the new design delivers not only a luminous, iconic structure that celebrates Brooklyn’s industrial heritage with its steel and glass exterior, but one that harmonizes with the architecture of the surrounding neighborhoods and creates a welcoming environment for the public at street-level.
...
In June, after the original architect, Frank Gehry, had been dropped for arena designer Ellerbe Becket, Markowitz declared that the new design, derided as a "hangar," was "actually better for Brooklyn."
DDDB statement on arena design: "lipstick on a corrupt pig"
Posted by lumi at 7:14 AM
Politics as unusual
The Local, Ask the Candidates: Atlantic Yards
The NY Times local blog querried the City Council candidates from the 35th District about their opinions on what should happen if Bruce Ratner is unable to build Atlantic Yards and the alternative UNITY plan. Two candidates support the UNITY plan, and "the other Democratic challenger" (aka, "the Ratner candidate") is MIA (again).
Atlantic Yards Report, In Public Advocate debate, Siegel again returns to eminent domain issue
Norman Oder reviews this week's Public Advocate debate. Candidates Norman Siegel and Eric Gioia scored points against their opponents on eminent domain.
Posted by lumi at 6:55 AM
September 8, 2009
Thompson vs. Avella on Atlantic Yards, affordable housing, and CBAs
Atlantic Yards Report
While the Community Newspaper Group's interviews with the Democratic Mayoral candidates, Comptroller Bill Thompson and Queens City Council Member Tony Avella, have already been summarized in the CNG's reports, the video is worth watching for an extended look at their analyses of Atlantic Yards.
Notably, Thompson showed himself to be a supporter of affordable housing and Community Benefits Agreements... while Avella addressed both issues with more criticism and more detail.
Unlike many candidates, who rely on funds from the real estate industry, Avella said his game plan was to tell the industry they no longer control the city's land use agenda.
...Look for Atlantic Yards to come up again during an hour-long debate between the two on Wednesday, September 9, to be broadcast live on WABC television (Channel 7) and 1010 WINS.
Posted by lumi at 5:20 AM
September 6, 2009
NY Times City Council Endorsements (Or Lack Thereof) In Districts Most Affected by Atlantic Yards
Two blog entries concern themselves with endorsements from the New York Times in city council races taking place in districts most directly affected by the proposed Atlantic Yards development. The New York Times is a business partner with developer Bruce Ratner.
In the 39th District, the Times has endorsed Brad Lander. For those who have been fighting the proposed Atlantic Yards development, Josh Skaller is the obvious choice. Skaller has been strictly opposed to Bruce Ratner's land grab early on.
However, the Times can't even bring itself to mention the despised project, instead, saying that Skaller "made a name fighting big development in the area."
Only The Times, with its conflicted relationship with Forest City Ratner, could turn "Atlantic Yards" into the generic "big development in the area." Had the paper actually used the name of the big development Skaller has been fighting it would have alerted readers who care about Atlantic Yards who their candidate is; by diluting it thoroughly the editorial has underinformed its readers and done a solid for Lander. (And that's not to mention the fact that Skaller is well-known for many other reasons including being the former president of the area's most active and reformist political club.)
Norman Oder looks at additional City Council races.
There is no endorsement in the 35 Council District seat which is occupied by encumbent and anty-AY stalward Tish James.
Notably, the Times, which said it was weighing in on "several of the most competitive districts," chose not to opine regarding the 35th Council District.
That essentially suggests that the newspaper considers incumbent Letitia James, an AY opponent, and challenger Delia Hunley-Adossa, an AY supporter, equally qualified (or non-qualified)--despite, for example, Hunley-Adossa's curious explanation for her inaccessibility.
The endorsement for Joanne Simon the 33rd District manages to avoid her opposition to Atlantic Yards.
The anonymous Thies partisans at Real Reform Brooklyn (RRB) called it "a pretty naked nod to its development partner" and said "the Times endorsed the one candidate who has done more to undermine unified community opposition to Atlantic Yards than any other."
Well, I wouldn't go that far, but it's notable that the Times didn't see fit to mention AY in any part of the editorial. As I've written, though BrooklynSpeaks's stated position is "mend it, don't end it," I think (contra RRB) the group's record is more mixed, and that it engaged people, such as elected officials, who were never going to join Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and other opponents filing lawsuits
I also note that Thies, though he is a strong opponent of the project now, has not played such a longtime role (given his position as an aide to Council Member David Yassky). And surely the Times doesn't endorse Simon's criticism of the project.
But I would agree with RRB that the endorsement is "pretty lukewarm," given that Simon's legal background and work with the disabled are less relevant than her positions on development issues and independence from the county party.
Brad Lander is endorsed over stronger and long-time Atlantic Yards opponent Josh Skaller in the 39th District. In this case the Times can only mention Atlantic Yards as "big development in the area"
Regarding Skaller, the Times could not see fit to translate "big development" into "Atlantic Yards. Lander has been more associated with BrooklynSpeaks than Atlantic Yards opponents, though he now says the project should be scrapped--another position that the Times surely doesn't support.
The 36th District race doesn't even get a mention.
Also, bizarrely enough, the Times ignored the highly competitive 36th District, where incumbent Al Vann faces seven challengers, with AY critic Mark Winston Griffith one of the best-qualified.
Posted by steve at 4:30 AM
September 5, 2009
Hunley-Adossa campaigners said to be rude in front of incumbent James's office
Atlantic Yards Report
Is Delia Hunley-Adossa, who is running for the City Council seat held by incumbent Tish James, sending young campaign workers to harass Tish's campaign workers at their headquarters? One correspondent thinks so, and Norman Oder wants to know if this is the case.
I and others got an email from a Frank Lavergneau, pointing to apparent rude behavior by teenage campaigners for Delia Hunley-Adossa, who's challenging incumbent Letitia (Tish) James in the 35th Council District:
My name is Frank, I'm a Clinton Hill resident, and I'm somewhat interested/involved in local politics. Today, I was enjoying some coffee along Fulton Street, and I didn't believe what I saw. Around 3:00pm, I saw around 10-12 young women carrying Delia Hunnly signs in front of Tish James' campaign office. None of these girls could have been over 16 years of age, and they were a loud, rude, gyrating crew. I didn't see from which direction they arrived, but they were walking back and forth maybe 2 blocks of Fulton (that included Tish's campaign office), so I couldn't imagine they were there for any other reason but to heckle Tish's campaign people.
It seems really disrespectful, unprofessional, and a bit sad that Delia has to resort to sending children to taunt her opponent [and they did taunt, I overheard them saying, "You should work for Dee! She pays gooood!" to the office, who as far as I could tell ignored the entire event]. Furthermore, this is really disrespectful to the neighbors and businesses to send these loud children into our community for this foolishness. Delia should be thoroughly embarrassed, because I am embarrassed for her. I am not a hard "Tish supporter", but this has made the choice for me. I have attached photos I took on my cell phone as proof, and I am sending this email to all the media I could find online or had already, because this kind of behavior needs to be exposed.
More here on Room 8, which means it was posted by someone with some political/media savvy, likely not the original source.
I have a question in to Hunley-Adossa's campaign.
Posted by steve at 9:22 PM
A Check and a Balance? JOHN LIU with Theodore Hamm
The Brooklyn Rail
By Theodore Hamm
This interview with candidate for Comptroller, John Liu, touches on the proposed Atlantic Yards development. It's not clear exactly where he stands regarding the project and if he believes that developer Bruce Ratner can eventually deliver on promises of jobs and housing.
Rail: What about oversight of large development projects? For example, consider the Atlantic Yards. It’s almost impossible that the initial projections will be realized. How can you play a role in seeing that future promises come true?
Liu: I’m the only one in the race talking about these issues. Over the last several years the Bloomberg administration has announced several mega-development projects, including Atlantic Yards, and a number in the Bronx and in Queens. And all these projects promise thousands of jobs and thousands of affordable housing units—and several years later, today, what do we see? Nada, zilch. As comptroller, I will be able to use the audit powers immediately to look at what was announced, and how much progress has been made to see how short we are. Because I’m sure that in every single one of these cases they are significantly short of their goals. And I do that not to say “I got you,” but to put every one of these deals on a timetable with milestones for deliverables on the promises. Right now there is no timetable for any of these major projects.
Posted by steve at 6:14 PM
September 4, 2009
Also on News 12: the 33rd, 34th, 36th, and 39th District candidates on Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Politics, always politics. Just 11 days to go until the September 15th primary election.
Along with the feisty 35th District debate held recently on News 12, some other News12 debates for Council seats are worth a look, especially for the Atlantic Yards discussion.
Posted by eric at 10:14 AM
Looking at the weekly newspaper endorsements: James, Thies, Skaller, plus some contradictions
Atlantic Yards Report
Well, the endorsements from Brooklyn's major weeklies (Brooklyn Paper and Courier-Life, plus Ledger/Star and Caribbean Life) are out and there are some (relative) surprises:
- three endorsements for incumbent Letitia James in the 35th District and none for challenger Delia Hunley-Adossa
- two endorsements for Even Thies in the 33rd District and one for Steve Levin
- two endorsements for Josh Skaller in the 39th District and one for John Heyer (and none for Brad Lander).
Clearly, the Atlantic Yards issue isn't dispositive; otherwise the Brooklyn Paper would not have endorsed AY opponent James as well as proponent Heyer.
Clearly, the issue of independence from the county Democratic Party isn't dispositive; otherwise, the Courier-Life wouldn't have endorsed reformer Skaller as well as Levin, chief of staff to party boss Vito Lopez. (Skaller's an AY opponent, Levin a fence-sitting supporter.)
Posted by eric at 9:46 AM
The Brooklyn Paper's Schizophrenic Endorsements
The Brooklyn Paper can't seem to make up its mind about Atlantic Yards as a campaign issue.
Incumbent James deserves re-election
No one in elected office has been a more outspoken opponent of Atlantic Yards, and especially its planned basketball arena, than Tish James.
She is a talented community leader who has shown gutsy independence by breaking with the city’s power elite when appropriate.
...But above all, Letitia James has consistently been ahead of her colleagues in criticizing much-hyped development projects that don’t create as much affordable housing or community benefits as promised.
As a reward for her various fights, James finds herself in a tough struggle for re-election. Her opponent, Delia Hunley-Adossa, is a strong supporter of the Atlantic Yards project, which has allowed her to raise enough money from the construction trades and other allies of the development to wage a serious campaign.
James has had to raise her money the old-fashioned way: by hitting up members of her community for small donations.
Despite her large war-chest, Hunley-Adossa offers little else but her support for Atlantic Yards.
...For all these reasons, we heartily endorse Letitia James for the Democratic nomination in the 35th District.
Dems should pick Heyer for the 39th District
Democratic voters in Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Carroll Gardens and other parts of the 39th Council District have four extremely qualified candidates for the nomination to succeed Councilman Bill DeBlasio.
...But the candidate we are endorsing for the Democratic nomination is John Heyer.
...And he’s the only candidate in the race who is not ashamed to say that he wants the Atlantic Yards basketball arena built at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues, a position that we share.
The Brooklyn Paper also endorsed long-time Atlantic Yards opponent Norman Siegel in the race for Public Advocate, and Evan Thies, who has become a very outspoken opponent of the project, in the 33rd District City Council primary.
Posted by eric at 9:33 AM
Jo Anne Simon & More Questionable $$$
Real Reform Brooklyn
RRB's anonymous blogger (or bloggers) raises (raise) more questions about fundraising and perceived conflicts of interest in the 33rd District City Council race, and seeks the counsel of DDDB and Norman Oder.
Following up on our earlier report of Jo Anne Simon’s real estate related campaign contributions, we are deeply troubled because she has also taken money from three board members of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation (“BBPDC”). BBPDC is a subsidiary of the Empire State Development Corporation (“ESDC”). ESDC is the state agency that has been approving Atlantic Yards through by-passing the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Process.
...We would be interested in the opinion of Norman Oder and DDDB regarding Simon taking funds from board members approving ESDC development in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Posted by eric at 9:20 AM
September 3, 2009
Brooklyn For Barack Hosts Comptroller Debate
Our Time Press
by Mary Alice Miller
Comptroller candidates David Weprin and John Liu were asked about their views on Atlantic Yards.
Regarding the Atlantic Yards development, Weprin said he “supports some form of development. It is very important the community have input. Regarding I know there was a Community Benefits Agreement. There were commitments that were supposed to provide housing. From what I understand, there is some disagreement whether that commitment is being fulfilled. I have questions about where the project is going. I have reservations about the project’s size and scope and a situation where we throw good money after bad money. It happened after ground zero. Nothing there is happening sufficiently after 8 years. I would hate to see that kind of situation happen at Atlantic Yards. As a citywide official, the Comptroller can use the bully pulpit, but the Comptroller does not have direct control in that particular development, per se.”
...[Liu] would use the powers of audit to review huge development deals. Regarding Atlantic Yards, that have announced promises of thousands of jobs, affordable housing and years later “I don’t see where all those promises are materializing. I would use the powers of audit to see how far short they are and put these projects on a strict timetable to make sure those promises are delivered to the people.”
Posted by eric at 10:38 PM
Atlantic Yards Report political watch
Council Member Tish James and challenger Delia "Dee" Hunley-Adossa face off in another debate.
A News 12 debate taped last Thursday between 35th District Council incumbent Letitia James and challenger Delia Hunley-Adossa shows both candidates going at each other, unlike in their previous debate, when James tangled with third candidate Medhanie Estiphanos.
Hunley-Adossa spoke somewhat more effectively than she did in the previous debate. Despite lobbying the same charge against James, she showed her focus was essentially Atlantic Yards, which she repeatedly pronounced herself in agreement with.
She also claimed--for the first time publicly--that half the money received by her nonprofit, Brooklyn Endeavor Experience (BEE), went to air conditioners for her building--a curious example of Forest City Ratner routing money through a third party rather than simply doing the job itself, as it has done for other residents of the area around the AY footprint. It's a reminder that the pleasantly-named BEE, whose board members are Hunley-Adossa's family and neighbors, was originally called the First Atlantic Terminal Housing Committee.
NoLandGrab: Since Brooklyn Endeavor Experience's biggest expense is Dee Hunley-Adossa's salary, and half the money received from Forest City was spent in her own building, maybe "BEE" should be renamed "DEE."
What the 33rd District race is about: Vito Lopez, and the circular firing squad favoring Steve Levin
In the Village Voice, Tom Robbins lays out Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez's role in the 33rd and 34th Council District races, but doesn't quite point out how infighting favors his candidate, Steve Levin, in the 33rd.
And yes, this year, Lopez is pushing the envelope even further, promoting not one, not two, but three of Ridgewood Bushwick's allies into elective office. He is seeking nothing less than a sweep, a kind of Vito-fecta that will further extend his political influence.
...I wrote earlier about Lopez's power base, the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council (RBSCC). And more on Lopez's connections, notably judicial appointments and support for Atlantic Yards, from the anonymous blog Real Reform Brooklyn.
See how RBSCC received nearly $800,000 in the current (FY 10) budget in discretionary funding from the City Council, notably a $350,000 grant attributed to Council Member Lew Fidler and the Brooklyn delegation.
In the FY 09 budget, it received more than $900,000. Note that nearly $280,000 in grants attributed to 34th District City Council Member Diana Reyna were not renewed, as Reyna has split with Lopez and he now backs challenger Maritza Davila. Now 37th District Council Member Erik Martin Dilan has picked up the slack. A victory by Levin in the 33rd would certainly help Lopez and his organization.
NLG: Levin has ducked at least half of the 33rd District candidates' debates — not a promising sign for constituent service and accessibility should he win the primary election.
Posted by eric at 10:41 AM
Atlantic Yards political watch
If it doesn't actually make your stomach turn, then it's kinda fun watching citywide candidates trying to get their stories straight on Bruce Ratner's controversial Brooklyn boondoggle:
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Thompson "Late Supporter" of Atlantic Yards. Says Urban Planning Not About "Developer Accommodation"
Whoopsie! Despite what Mayoral hopeful and current City Comptroller William Thopmson says, he seems to have forgotten that he publicly supports Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards boondoggle, at least since 2005.
Comptroller and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson says he is a "late supporter" of Atlantic Yards. Late supporter? Support has moved away from the project over the years due to more and more coming to light about what a boondoggle it is. Becoming a late supporter means one is moving towards a boondoggle.
Anyway, it is hardly true. Thompson was an early supporter. Thompson's letter of support was part of the development proposal package submitted to the MTA by Forest City Ratner in 2005. Download his letter here [pdf].
Atlantic Yards Report, At the Comptroller debate, Yassky's contradiction on AY
In all fairness, it can be hard to keep the facts and figures straight on Atlantic Yards, especially since some of them are such moving targets. However after seriously lowballing some of the figures for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards, City Councilmember and candidate for City Comptroller David Yassky declares, "The project should not be built with taxpayer money."
Norman Oder points out:
[T]he only way Forest City Ratner would build it is with taxpayer money, and a "right-sized project" might require more subsidies. Still, Yassky thinks it's a "good project," so he's been unwilling to challenge such things as the state's dubious finding of blight.
Check out the rest of the article to learn more about how the other candidates bungle the issue.
NoLandGrab: In classic Yassky fashion, he's managed to confuse his position on Atlantic Yards. At this point, we have to assume that he's for the project, if only it could be a different project, and will occasionally speak out against it, but won't do anything about it.
Atlantic Yards Report, On Brian Lehrer Show, de Blasio wants "original interpretation" of AY
City Councilmember and Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio wants you to know that when it comes to Atlantic Yards he's a strict constructionist:
[WNYC Radio host Brian] Lehrer asked, "Do you have a position on Atlantic Yards and what should happen next?"
"I have said from the beginning I believe in the affordable housing, the hiring of local residents and living wage levels," de Blasio said. "This vision has not been fulfilled so far. I think there should be no more subsidies. I think there should be no more demolitions. I think the company involved has to prove that they will keep to the original interpretation or we should pull the plug."
No more demolitions? De Blasio is repeating talking points from April 2008.
The original interpretation? Forest City Ratner has changed its plans in numerous ways, but the single biggest one, about which de Blasio was noticeably silent, was the revision in June of the deal for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard, saving developer Forest City Ratner more than $100 million and leading to a smaller, rather than larger (as promised), permanent railyard.
NoLandGrab: No more demolitions?? Sorry Bill — Ratner has already taken down every building he can, except for the Spalding building, which at this point is worth more standing, should Atlantic Yards not get built. Plus, de Blasio was nowhere near the footprint when the wrecking balls were flying.
Posted by lumi at 7:19 AM
September 2, 2009
Brooklyn elections for borough Council districts pit incumbents against upstart challengers
NY Daily News
by Erin Durkin
It's a battle over Atlantic Yards in the race for the 35th District seat.
Incumbent Letitia James is one of the most vocal opponents of developer Bruce Ratner's plan for a Nets arena and 16 towers in Prospect Heights. She faces challenge from Delia Hunley-Adossa, a project backer whose nonprofit, Brooklyn Endeavor Experience, is funded by Ratner under a community benefits agreement.
"Being in opposition and not sitting at the table or attempting to negotiate with the developer on behalf of the community is unacceptable," said Hunley-Adossa, who is also president of the 88th Precinct Community Council.
"Her position is one way: 'I'm against it. I don't care who's for it. I don't care what everybody's saying that needs jobs, that needs housing,'" she said.
Hunley-Adossa said her group got about $400,000 from Forest City Ratner. Its biggest single expenditure has been her salary - $51,000 over six years, she said.
"I'm not ashamed," she said, adding the money has gone to pay for air conditioners and rat abatement for homes near the construction site, environmental awareness classes, and sending kids to summer camp.
NoLandGrab: We're not surprised that Ms. Hunley-Adossa is "not ashamed." We would be surprised if she produced receipts for all those claimed expenses, however.
Related coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Parsing the Daily News story on the 35th District; Hunley-Adossa, treated unskeptically, says Ratner gave $400,000
Norman Oder is a bit skeptical, too.
While Delia Hunley-Adossa mostly steers clear of Atlantic Yards on her campaign web site, and has disingenuously claimed that her candidacy for the 35th Council District has nothing to do with the project she supports, the Daily News today places the project front and center--and does an inadequate job by not looking closely enough at her statements regarding the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).
...Also, she'd never before said that the money went to rat abatement or air conditioners--both the responsibility of Forest City Ratner under the Memorandum of Environmental Commitments, with no mention of its CBA partners. Nor does the BEE web site claim such spending.
Posted by eric at 11:13 AM
September 1, 2009
Green, de Blasio support AY without considering balance between costs and benefits
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder goes to the heart of the matter in the recent Community Newspaper Group debate among candidates vying in the Democratic primary for NYC Public Advocate.
I wrote earlier about the divide on Atlantic Yards in the Public Advocate race, as shown in a recent WABC debate, but a previous debate, sponsored by the Community Newspaper Group, and Brooklyn Community Access Television, also is instructive.
Not only does it show candidate Bill de Blasio supporting affordable housing and jobs without any reflection on the cost of those benefits, it shows former Public Advocate (and frontrunner) Mark Green deferring to the mayor and economic development agencies to determine the benefits, without any acknowledgment that such analyses are absent or deeply flawed.
The issue of AY came up at about 13:03. (Previous coverage in the Courier-Life described the AY issue, but not in as much detail as below.)
Click thru for the Atlantic Yards blow-by-blow.
NoLandGrab: "Public" advocate? De Blasio and Green seem to define "public" quite narrowly.
Posted by eric at 8:42 PM
Bill de Blasio's evasiveness on Atlantic Yards (and opposition from Public Advocate candidates Siegel and Gioia)
Atlantic Yards Report
DDDB's unofficial transcript of the Atlantic Yards portion of the recent Public Advocate debate shows Brooklyn City Council Member Bill de Blasio, currently second in the polls to former Public Advocate Mark Green (and gaining thanks to a New York Times endorsement), continuing his ignorance and obfuscation on Atlantic Yards.
Meanwhile, candidates Norman Siegel and Eric Gioia expressed opposition to the project, while frontrunner Mark Green, a former Public Advocate, wouldn't criticize it. Even the supporters, de Blasio and Green, agreed there should be no more subsidies for the project, but they haven't exactly criticized increased subsidies in the past two months.
The AY piece somehow didn't make the print coverage in the Times, which called the debate "light on policy" even though there was a lively discussion about the City Council "slush fund" scandal, with Siegel and Green landing some blows. For those who remember, the Times in 2005 ignored Siegel's challenge on AY to incumbent Betsy Gotbaum.
Posted by lumi at 4:34 AM
August 30, 2009
Watch our public advocate debate now!
The Brooklyn Paper
By Jeremy Walsh
A debate between four candidates for Public Advocate included a discussion of eminent domain abuse.
Last week, the candidates — Councilmembers Bill DeBlasio (D–Park Slope) and Eric Gioia (D-Queens), civil rights lawyer Norman Siegel and former Public Advocate Mark Green — clashed in a spirited debate held by The Brooklyn Paper in conjunction with Brooklyn Independent Television.
The debate aired on the BCAT TV Network last week, but it’s available to watch whenever you want both on this Web site and on BoroPolitics.com, a new site set up by the Community Newspaper Group, the parent company of this newspaper.
...
Indeed, some of the most-heated exchanges came during a question about the city’s use of eminent domain in its Willets Point redevelopment.
DeBlasio said he supported eminent domain in “very certain circumstances,” including the Queens project, while Gioia called the practice “absolutely wrong” for economic development.
“Often the city says it will only use eminent domain if it has to, but that’s like negotiating with Al Capone, who walks in, puts a gun on the table, and says, ‘Pay no attention to the gun. I’ll only use it if I have to.’”
Siegel agreed that there has been “abuse” of eminent domain, not just at Willets Point, but at Atlantic Yards, too. He cited the Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo verdict, which allowed such use of eminent domain to seize privately owned land under many circumstances, but not if there is a closed process or if there is bad faith.
Green, who supports the Willets Point redevelopment, challenged Siegel’s reading of the law, but Siegel’s reiterated that his interpretation of the 5-4 verdict was correct because there had been both bad faith and a closed process at Willets Point.
Posted by steve at 9:28 AM
August 29, 2009
Mr. Mayor comes to Metrotech
A Short Story
In this account of going-ons at the Community Newspaper Group's (CNG) headquarters in the Ratner-built Metrotech development, Courier Life reporter Aaron Short ends with an oddly breezy mention of the debate sponsored by the CNG between candidates of the 35th council district, one of whom is the incumbent and anti-Ratner stalwart, Tish James.
Finally, Letitia James, Delia-Hunley Adossa, and Medhanie Estiphanos (35th District, Fort Greene/ Clinton Hill) dropped by late afternoon to settle some scores. First off, Hunley-Adossa her unreachability, saying that the reason why she didn't return reporters' phone calls was because they were calling her cell and her home number, and she won't return calls on private lines until after the election. But enough about that. From the reports, it sounds like Tish mopped the floor with the others.
It's all fun. Afterwards, we tried to see how many candidates we could stuff into an elevator. The answer? Three candidates. Plus Gersh.
Posted by steve at 9:21 AM
August 28, 2009
Looking at the 35th District debate: Delia Hunley-Adossa surfaces (and shows why she's been inaccessible)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder watched the debate so you wouldn't have to, though his report on it may be longer than the debate itself. Still, it's well worth a read, especially for insight into Forest City Ratner-backed challenger Delia Hunley-Adossa.
While the Brooklyn Paper’s coverage (headlined Our debate is a brawl! Candidates for Fort Greene seat get testy) of the 35th Council District debate focused on the clash between Council Member Letitia James and longshot challenger Medhanie Estiphanos, perhaps the real news came from watching challenger (and Atlantic Yards supporter) Delia Hunley-Adossa, who currently leads AY opponent James in cash on hand, in action.
Now we know why Hunley-Adossa has been so inaccessible. She relies on platitudes and her speaking style is peppered with malapropisms.
Yes, people speaking extemporaneously shouldn’t be expected to speak perfectly, but Hunley-Adossa was well below the bar for political candidates.
James spent most of her time clashing with Estiphanos, an energetic neophyte who lobbed criticims both off-base and cogent, leaving Hunley-Adossa mostly unscathed--not a wise tactic for the incumbent. The toughest questions for Hunley-Adossa came from Brooklyn Paper staffers, and she didn’t handle them too well.
(Note that the video, which lasts nearly 49 minutes, often cuts off the heads of the participants. The Democratic primary is September 15, and a victory then is tantamount to victory in November.)
Posted by eric at 9:32 AM
Politics: Candidate Baer Seeks ‘Leadership by Example’
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Howard Egeln
City Council candidate Ken Baer has been a stalwart opponent of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards boondoggle from early on.
It’s green thumbs up for a sustainable city from Ken Baer, one of seven candidates in the 33rd Council District Democratic Party primary election campaign, with an action plan growing from a “grassroots democratic vision” rooted in his civic, environmental and finance work.
“I am the only candidate among seven who does not use a car, so I won’t need a special parking permit. I travel by mass transit and favor bicycling,” said Baer. His background includes being the New York State Sierra Club leader, filing eminent domain lawsuits for “Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn” on Atlantic Yards and being an accountant.
Egeln mixes up his facts. Baer didn't file eminent domain lawsuits for DDDB; rather, the Sierra Club's Atlantic Chapter joined the suit challenging the environmental review of the Atlantic Yards project under his leadership.
Changing the way community board members are chosen and giving boards more clout is a major goal for Baer. “We may need some way to elect members. At Community Board 6, Borough President Marty Markowitz did not reappoint nine members he chose because they opposed him on supporting Atlantic Yards.”
Posted by eric at 9:07 AM
August 27, 2009
Our debate is a brawl! Candidates for Fort Greene seat get testy
Boro Politics
The Community Newspaper Group hosted a debate among the candidates for the 35th City Council district, incumbent Letitia James and challengers Delia Hunley-Adossa and Medhanie Estiphanos.
Forest City Ratner's anointed candidate didn't exactly shine.
Hunley-Adossa, who had not taken questions from The Brooklyn Paper until this debate, said far less than her opponents, often not even taking the 30-second allotment for her answers and referring to a binder full of newspaper articles, notes and other study aides.
...Later, Hunley-Adossa explained her close connections to Ratner, who pumped — in her words, “a little over a couple of hundred-thousand dollars” — into her group Brooklyn Endeavor Experience through a “community benefits agreement” that Hunley-Adossa and others signed in 2005. (Coincidentally, Bloomberg, in a separate interview this week with editors and reporters from The Brooklyn Paper and other outlets in the Community Newspaper Group, said he’s “violently opposed” to such agreements.)
Hunley-Adossa said her group, whose board is filled with many of her family members, helped “downsize” Ratner’s initial plan, though it is actually larger than when it was first unveiled in 2003, and negotiate high environmental standards for the buildings.
"Downsize?"
It also has an educational component, she claimed.
“We have attempted to educate young people on how to be little green people,” Hunley-Adossa said, but its work has been suspended while the construction project is stalled, showing its reliance on Ratner.
Posted by eric at 10:26 AM
Markowitz, endorsing Levin in the 33rd, joins Lopez (and Moses) in prioritizing results over process
Atlantic Yards Report
Process be damned.
The issue re-emerges in a Brooklyn Paper article regarding Borough President Marty Markowitz's endorsement of machine candidate Steve Levin, chief of staff to Assemblyman (and Brooklyn Democratic Party head) Vito Lopez in the crowded 33rd District Council race.
Levin is the only candidate to support the Lopez-backed Broadway Triangle rezoning, which Markowitz supports:
“I know Steve’s opponents think process is more important than results … but he understands that results are the most important thing,” said Markowitz.“By working closely with Vito Lopez, Steve Levin understands the necessity of delivering affordable housing to his community,” the Beep added.
...And, of course, Markowitz has long supported Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan, erroneously claiming, "The Atlantic Yards area has been available for any developer in America for over 100 years."
He hadn't suggested that the Vanderbilt Yard--or the privately-owned (and generally occupied) properties around it--be put out for bid or declared blighted.
Posted by eric at 10:18 AM
Bloomberg "violently opposed to community benefits agreements"
A couple of days ago, NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ranted against critics of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, while in the same interview he whined about Community Benefits Agreements... yes, the very same type of agreement that he supports (and pretended to sign) for Atlantic Yards.
The Brooklyn Paper, Bloomy still wants Gehry — plus other tidbits from the mayor in our endorsement sit-down
...[Bloomberg] also blasted the kinds of community benefits agreement that Ratner signed with several groups, some of which did not exist before they signed an agreement to support the project in exchange for some financial backing.
“I’m violently opposed to community benefits agreements,” he said. “A small group of people, to feather their own nests, extort money from the developer? That’s just not good government.”
NoLandGrab: It sorta makes you wonder if Bloomberg just forgets things, or isn't detail-oriented, or will take any side on an issue, as long as it serves his desired outcome.
[Photo: Mayor Bloomberg signing something at the ceremony for the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement, from The Brooklyn Papers, by Tom Callan, July 2005]
DDDB.net, Doubletake: Bloomberg "Violently" Opposes CBAs but Loves Atlantic Yards CBA
Yup, that is Mayor Bloomberg right next to Bruce Ratner signing the Atlantic Yards
Nest-feathering Developer Extortion AgreementCommunity Benefits Agreement (BUILD President James Caldwell on the right who, by the way, appeared in a Bloomberg campaign television ad last time he ran).No, the Mayor didn't sign the
Nest-feathering Developer Extortion AgreementCommunity Benefits Agreement but he and his friends sure have hyped it to the hilt.I guess we'd call that bad government.
Atlantic Yards Report, AY CBA witness Bloomberg blasts CBAs as extortion; signatory Nimmons brushes off questions from The Local
...it's unclear whether Bloomberg specifically targeted the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement. As reported in the Times, he began criticizing CBAs in April 2006, less than a year after he presided over the ceremony for the AY CBA.
(Despite the headline on the mayor's site, he was a witness, not a signatory. Moreover, the press release was incoherent, having the mayor declare, "This Community Benefits Agreement is the largest private sector investment in Brooklyn's history.")
So much for the "modern blueprint" to harvest community support for AY, as discerned by a Times reporter in October 2006, during his first weeks on the AY beat.
Posted by lumi at 6:48 AM
Bloomberg Opines on Atantic Yards, Coney Island
Brownstoner
Mayor Bloomberg spoke with reporters from the Community Newspaper Group, the parent company of The Brooklyn Paper, on Monday as part of his campaign tour, where they discussed everything from overzealous ticketing agents to Atlantic Yards. Concerning the latter, he hopes that developer Forest City Ratner can use the Frank Gehry designs for the arena and skyscrapers, as originally planned but later abandoned due to cost. It would make the arena—and Brooklyn—even more of an international draw, he reasoned: "Simon and Garfunkel on their tour would go to Brooklyn in a second before they go to Madison Square Garden. They’re New Yorkers." (Has MSG been airlifted out of NYC recently?) Concerning the epic legal battles and financial concerns behind the massive development, the mayor sided with Ratner. "One of the great sins here is this small group of people stalled it so long [that] the economy is different," he said.
Posted by lumi at 4:49 AM
August 26, 2009
A Near-Brush with Information
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Andy Newman
Back in March, we noted with interest an Atlantic Yards Report piece about the treasurer of Delia Hunley-Adossa’s City Council campaign, Charlene Nimmons.
The AYR post included a vain attempt to find out where Ms. Nimmons’s nonprofit, Public Housing Communtities, gets its money. That inquiry was in the service of the broader question (which several contributors to our growing list of questions for the candidates have echoed), “To what extent, if any, is Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s campaign bankrolled, directly or indirectly, by Forest City Ratner, the developer of the Atlantic Yards?”
Both Ms. Hunley-Adossa and Ms. Nimmons strongly support the project and, as heads of their respective nonprofits, are signatories of a community benefits agreement with Forest City. Ms. Hunley-Adossa has acknowledged that Forest City supported one of her nonprofit’s programs and Ms. Nimmons has cited a Forest-City-supported event sponsored by her organization.
But Ms. Hunley-Adossa has refused so far to answer questions on the subject, and in March, Ms. Nimmons would not even take calls from The Local or Atlantic Yards Report.
Well. (If you’re hoping for an answer to the big question, you might as well stop reading now.)
Actually, it's worth it to keep reading.
NoLandGrab: If Atlantic Yards is so great, why are some of its most ardent supporters so reluctant to talk about the developer's support for them?
Posted by eric at 5:48 PM
Bloomy still wants Gehry — plus other tidbits from the mayor in our endorsement sit-down
The Brooklyn Paper
In an interview with the Community Newspaper Group, Mayor Bloomberg whined about the loss of architect Frank Gehry and ragged on Atlantic Yards critics:
Mayor Bloomberg said on Monday that Atlantic Yards would be a better project if Bruce Ratner would bring back Frank Gehry’s much-hyped designs for the stalled and increasingly costly arena and 16 skyscrapers.
“If there’s any way Ratner can possibly do it, he should use the Gehry design, because he will get great events from around the world going directly to Brooklyn,” the mayor told a team of reporters and editors from the Community Newspaper Group, the parent company of The Brooklyn Paper. “Simon and Garfunkel on their tour would go to Brooklyn in a second before they go to Madison Square Garden. They’re New Yorkers.”
...
Like the developer himself — and the borough president he admires — Bloomberg argued that Ratner’s opponents, who have waged numerous court battles against Ratner and his government allies, were largely responsible for depriving Brooklyn of the vaunted architect’s vision.“One of the great sins here is this small group of people stalled it so long [that] the economy is different,” Bloomberg said.
“I tried to get Ratner to go ahead and do the Gehry design. I thought it would have been an icon, but the economy is just not there.”
But the mayor conceded that Ratner probably would have faltered during the real-estate bust, even without relentless opposition from groups like Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
“He might have been in trouble halfway through, but at least he would have a project in the ground, going up.”
Atlantic Yards Report, Bloomberg blames AY opponents for loss of Gehry, fails to analyze 50% leap in arena cost
For the Mayor's benefit, Norman Oder explains why Gehry is out:
The cost of the Gehry arena went up from $637.2 million in December 2006 to $950 million in March 2008, well beyond the cost of inflation, and in part because of the cost of security. Did AY opponents have anything to do with that?
Now the arena would cost $772 million. Maybe Bloomberg should be asking for a cost breakdown.
Moreover, given the longstanding slowdown in Downtown Brooklyn office space--well before the economic downturn--it would've been impossible to build Building 1 (once "Miss Brooklyn") in tandem with the arena and impossible to build the four towers integrated into the arena block as Gehry planned.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Bloomberg Maintains Out of Touch Stance on Atlantic Yards
Who is the Mayor callin' small?
Would a financial wizard have a problem understanding that Ratner can't afford Frank Gehry any more (if he ever could, which is doubtful)? Would a financial wizard miss a bait and switch if it bit him in the rear?
And would a master handler of the City's business really think that a "small group of people" could stop a $4.9 billion development project?
Some news for the Mayor: The opposition to Atlantic Yards is very big, the small group is the one including you that has tried to foist Ratner's boondoggle on Brooklyn.
Posted by lumi at 5:46 AM
Submit Questions to Council Candidates for the 35th District - Home to the Atlantic Yards Proposal
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn is encouraging Atlantic Yards critics to submit questions for the "virtual town hall" for candidates in the 35th District:
The three candidates running in the Democratic primary (Sept. 15th) for the 35th City Council District are incumbent Letitia James, Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement chair Delia Hunley-Adossa, and financial consultant Medhanie Estiphanos.
The Times "The Local" blog is asking you for tough questions to ask the candidates for the blog's "virtual town hall."
Go here to submit your questions in the comments section.
Posted by lumi at 5:34 AM
August 24, 2009
Looking again at the New Yorker's Bloomberg profile--what's missing?
Atlantic Yards Report
I took a second read of the past week's New Yorker profile of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, headlined THE UNTOUCHABLE: Can a good mayor amass too much power? and was struck by the absence of a significant critique.
Yes, as I wrote, had the profile encompassed public authorities reform and delved into Atlantic Yards, it could've been much tougher. But writer Ben McGrath gave Bloomberg too much of a bye.
Posted by lumi at 4:56 AM
August 23, 2009
De Blasio, Why Start Now?
Atlantic Yards Voter Guide
City Council member, Bill de Blasio , is now running for Public Advocate. He could never quite bring himself to say he was against the proposed Atlantic Yards project. For example, this month, he did request a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement for the project, but at the same time he says he supports the project, but just doesn't like the process moving it forward.
The Atlantic Yards Voter Guide wants to know why de Blasio now wants to portray himself as a stalwart against over-development when he never opposed Atlantic Yards.
Here is the front of one of Public Advocate candidate Bill de Blasio's (why is he running for this office?) recent literature:
...
The highlighted passage reads:
Fighting Overdevelopment in Brooklyn
All too often, development in our city is pro-big business and anti-neighborhood. As Public Adovcate, Bill will fight overdevelopment, making sure Brooklyn's development projects reflect community values. And he will always push for more truly affordable housing for hardworking New Yorkers.It's a good use of buzzwords by the Councilman. But why would he start doing all of this now?
Let's look at...Atlantic Yards, the consensus poster child for overdevelopment, the consensus poster child for "pro-big business" development, and the consensus poster child for "anti-neighborhood" development. Atlantic Yards is the consensus poster child for ignoring "community values" entirely. And Atlantic Yards would have barely any "truly affordable housing" even under the best case outcome.
Atlantic Yards has been controversial since 2003 and would be built right in de Blasio's backyard. Yet h has never gone past the most tepid criticism of small aspects of the project and when he has, he has done nothing beyond press statements or not-so-strongly-worded letters.
He supports Atlantic Yards, which demonstrates everything his literature says he "will fight." Or to be more accurate let's look at what de Blasio said about the Ratner project most recently at Public Advocate debate according to YourNabe.com:
...De Blasio said in the past he has supported the project for the jobs and affordable housing it would create, and that while he still supports it, he is against the way the process is moving forward.
De Blasio added he is against the project receiving more subsidies, and said there should be a new EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and a full disclosure of the current project plan.
Upon being pressed on the issue, de Blasio said the neighborhood around Atlantic Yards is rapidly gentrifying and without affordable housing it would be further gentrified.
So there you have it, more buzz words, more non sequitur and new improved gobbleydeegook.
He supports it and is against it.
So why, Mr. Councilman, would you start doing now (or, god forbid, in the Public Advocate office) what your campaign lit imagines you to have done in the past?
Or perhaps we misread. Perhaps the literature, all in the future tense, is an admission that he has done none of this fighting of "big-business" and "overdevelopment" in the past.
But we doubt that.
Posted by steve at 7:46 AM
August 22, 2009
David Yassky's Ad: Complete Bullshit
The Daily Gotham
Daily Gotham author Mole333 is seeing red over a television ad for Comptroller candidate David Yassky. The ad suggests that Yassky would be a good watchdog over taxpayer money. Three different episodes from Yassky's time on the City Council show that he's not always been terribly responsible. One episode concerns how an endorsement of Yassky by James Caldwell, the head of BUILD, soon led to Yassky's efforts to further fund Bruce Ratner's astroturf organization.
Yassky is claiming he will close loopholes and watch every dollar the government spends, yet those of us who are actually in his district knows he has NEVER watched where dollars went unless they bought him endorsements. I think, in honor of Yassky's latest ad, I should remind people of a couple of sleazy moves Yassky has done that shows he either can't keep track of dollars at all or knows very well where dollars go and uses them to buy political favors...
An article from the Brooklyn Paper is used to fill in the background for Yassky's association with BUILD.
Yassky bill would push $3M to Ratner crony
By Ariella Cohen
The Brooklyn PapersCity Councilman David Yassky is under fire for asking city taxpayers to underwrite a promise that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner made to a handful of community organizations.
Under the provisions of a "community benefits agreement" negotiated by Ratner and the groups, the developer and his supporters pledged to create a job-training program.
Thus far, Ratner has given $285,000 towards that worker-training program, which is being administered by Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD).
Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights) now proposes a city contribution of $3 million--more than 10 times what Ratner's given...
Experts on CBAs thought the Yassky bill was misguided.
"[Public funding] usually doesn't happen after the CBA is signed," said Roxanna Tynan, a spokeswoman for the LA Alliance for a New Economy, which was involved in a landmark CBA in that city...
Critics were quick to point out that Yassky submitted the budget request after BUILD President James Caldwell and other CBA signatories endorsed his bid to succeed retiring Rep. Major Owens (D-Crown Heights)...
So, BUILD President James Caldwell endorses Yassky and immediately afterwards Yassky proposes an unorthodox public funding (to the tune of $3 million of our taxpayer money) of BUILD. At about the same time, Steve DiBrienza endorses Yassky and right afterwards Yassky arranges $15,000 for DiBrienza's fake non-profit (which did nothing but paid salaries to DiBrienza and his cronies) even though it was out of Yassky's district. And Yassky wants to be the guy to keep an eye on the City's money???
...
To me this suggests three corrupt bargains Yassky has clearly been a part of. How many more such corrupt bargains are out there that Yassky was part of that we don't yet know about. Keep these scandals in mind as you watch Yassky's latest commercial. Also keep in mind Yassky is running a distant third in the race for Comptroller, so it seems like no one really is buying his bullshit.
Posted by steve at 7:33 AM
August 21, 2009
The Day: Big Boo$t for Hunley-Adossa
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Michael Szeto
The coffers of City Council candidate Delia Hunley-Adossa got a big boost yesterday with an infusion of $59,422 in matching funds from the city.
Her opponents, City Councilwoman Letitia James and Medhanie Estiphanos, did not receive matching funds in the round of payments announced yesterday, making Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s campaign the richest with less than four weeks to go before the Sept. 15 Democratic primary.
Ms. Hunley-Adossa, who only had $2,528 cash on hand on Wednesday, now has $61,950. Based on the latest finance filing made last week, Ms. James has $32,510 cash on hand while Mr. Estiphanos has $4,795.
Ms. Hunley-Adossa had been passed over for matching funds earlier this month by the Campaign Finance Board because of unspecified “compliance issues.” But Thursday, the campaign finance board said all compliance issues have been resolved.
...Ms. James did not qualify for matching funds this time around because her opponents had not raised or spent enough money.
Posted by eric at 12:16 PM
Advocate hopefuls talk turkey in debate
Yournabe.com
by Stephen Witt
The four Democratic candidates for Public Advocate, Norman Siegel, Eric Gioia, Mark Green and Bill de Blasio debated this week.
Among the most spirited discussions centered around the issue of the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project at the Atlantic/Flatbush avenues intersection.
Gioia claimed Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner sold a “bill of goods” to the people to move ahead with the project and he was against it receiving more subsidies. He also suggested the NBA’s Nets move to Sunnyside, Queens.
Siegel said he thought the arena was a ruse to gain control of the site and suggested a venue be built in Coney Island. Additionally, he said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the use of eminent domain for a private developer.
De Blasio said in the past he has supported the project for the jobs and affordable housing it would create, and that while he still supports it, he is against the way the process is moving forward.
De Blasio added he is against the project receiving more subsidies, and said there should be a new EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) and a full disclosure of the current project plan.
Upon being pressed on the issue, de Blasio said the neighborhood around Atlantic Yards is rapidly gentrifying and without affordable housing it would be further gentrified.
Green said he is against additional subsidies for the project, but noted that there is a substantial public benefit. He also pointed out that the Supreme Court ruled that the use of eminent domain is legal, even through private developers, if it is in good faith for economic development.
NoLandGrab: Someone needs to explain to us what being for the project but "against the way the process is moving forward" actually means. And we challenge Mark Green to outline Atlantic Yards' "substantial public benefit" (and the right of citizens to pay a lot of money for a ticket to a basketball game or even more money for a luxury apartment doesn't count).
Posted by eric at 10:53 AM
Infrastructure First, Development Second
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Harold Egeln
An interview with transit advocate and City Council candidate Gary Reilly, who's running in the 39th district.
One of his top issues is over-development and bringing in smart sustainable development emphasizing infrastructure work for basic services and schools along with community input before developers first present their plans. “This is a major concern I hear from voters all over the district after all the ‘wild west’ development we’ve seen,” said Reilly.
On the contentious Atlantic Yards issue, Reilly sees a better use. “I’m for the Vanderbilt Yards development. The open rail yards are a tremendous piece of real estate and the tracks could better serve the alphabet soup of subway lines that intersect there, which the MTA may need,” he said.
The Unity Plan is the best way to go and grow suitable development with affordable housing and right-fit public facilities and commercial uses “attractive to private investment,” Reilly said, rather than the troubled ambitious original plan. “Smart development has happened in other cities, so why not here?”
Posted by eric at 10:47 AM
August 19, 2009
Brodsky, Perkins fire back at objections to public authority reform raised by Paterson aide; are authorities really checked by elected officials?
Atlantic Yards Report
In a scorching letter issued yesterday, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and state Senator Bill Perkins slammed an attempt to gut public authorities reform legislation and charged that objections raised in a memo by Peter Kiernan, Counsel to Governor David Paterson, would gut authority reform.
Kiernan’s memo was dated August 14 but released yesterday by the legislators, who, protesting that no objections were raised while the bill was pending in the legislature, promised a detailed reply.
Notably Kiernan suggests, unreliably, that the elected officials serve as a sufficient check on authorities, and proposes that, in lieu of a requirement that property be sold at market rates, there be greater disclosure, including the appraised value.
While this would be fall short of the provisions in the bill, recommended by a bipartisan commission appointed by former Gov. George Pataki, it nonetheless would represent somewhat more disclosure than emerged in June when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a revised deal with Forest City Ratner for the Vanderbilt Yard.
NoLandGrab: Yes, that's right, the people who direct their appointees on the boards of public authorities to carry out their bidding and approve crooked deals like Atlantic Yards are the very same people who are going to act as a check against the abuses of public authorities. Excellent plan!
Is it any wonder that New York State's government is widely viewed as the nation's most dysfunctional? Please contact Governor Paterson today and tell him to sign the Public Authorities Reform Bill.
Posted by eric at 10:10 AM
August 18, 2009
Missing from the New Yorker's Bloomberg profile: public authorities and the real story of Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
A profile in this week's New Yorker, clocking in at more than ten thousand words, is headlined The Untouchable: Can a good mayor amass too much power?, and presents this tension:
Thanks to his money, Bloomberg has managed, perhaps more than any democratic politician ever before, to govern strictly with what he considers to be the greater good in mind. And, thanks to his money, the counterargument goes, he has essentially corrupted the system itself.
Is it always the greater good? In other words, should the Mayor be seen, at worst, as using questionable means for good ends, or do questionable means lead to questionable ends?
I think Bloomberg's record is mixed, but on Atlantic Yards and development issues, he's vulnerable to much criticism. So Ben McGrath's New Yorker profile, while reasonably thorough and hardly a valentine, could've been much tougher.
Notably, had McGrath waited until this week to write, he would've learned that Bloomberg is the prime culprit in an effort to stall reform of public authorities, as Assemblyman Richard Brodsky pointed out yesterday.
And if he'd dug further, he would've concluded that Bloomberg's appointees on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board provided the crucial, but dubious, justification in June for revising the Vanderbilt Yard deal with Forest City Ratner.
Posted by lumi at 5:45 AM
The Day: Cleaner Eateries, Louder Bikes
The Local: Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill
By Andy Newman
The Gotham Gazette has a large (1,500-word) piece this morning on the 35th District city council race, featuring interviews with all three candidates — incumbent Letitia James and challengers Delia Hunley-Adossa and Medhanie Estiphanos, also name-checking (who knew? not us) Republican/Conservative candidate Stuart A. Balberg and independent Osaretin Ighile.
In the article, Ms. Hunley-Adossa, who says the the Atlantic Yards project would bring affordable housing and jobs to the district, criticizes Ms. James, who opposes the project, charging that she “seems to have not engaged the developer into bringing forth some of these benefits to the community.”
Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s engagement with the developer, Forest City Ratner, includes securing funding from Forest City for her nonprofit, Brooklyn Endeavor Experience. She refused to tell Gotham Gazette how much Forest City had given her group and noted correctly that Ms. James had funded groups opposing Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: James's support for groups opposing Atlantic Yards is irrelevant to the fact that Hunley-Adossa is too ashamed to speak openly about receiving financial support from Ratner.
Posted by lumi at 5:38 AM
August 17, 2009
Perkins, Brodsky say Paterson should listen to the people, not Bloomberg, regarding the Public Authorities Reform Act
Atlantic Yards Report
Blaming New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for Gov. David Paterson’s apparent reluctance to sign sweeping legislation that would reform the governance of the state’s public authorities, state Senator Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) and Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), yesterday urged Paterson to sign the bill, offered forceful rebuttals to Bloomberg’s concerns, and said they were considering public meetings and hearings to focus attention on the bill.
“This bill is as American as apple pie,” Brodsky said of the Public Authorities Reform Act of 2009. “This is a power struggle between the needs of the people and the needs of a powerful mayor.” The bill has drawn broad support from editorialists and civic groups.
Perkins said Paterson should “return to his roots,” noting that, “when the governor had this office [state Senator from Harlem], he was a leading voice for reform.” They spoke at a hastily-called press conference at Perkins’s Harlem office, attended by journalists from the Associated Press, WNYC, and City Hall News, along with AYR. (News of Paterson's reluctance broke Friday.)
While neither mentioned Atlantic Yards by name, Brodsky made what could be interpreted as an indirect reference, noting that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) “has been pressured to... give away property to developers.” Without identifying specific projects, he said such sales represented a violation of the fiduciary duty required in the bill. (Note that the MTA bailout bill this spring allowed removal of board members if they breached their fiduciary duty, but the new bill would make the duty more enforceable, and more explicit.)
In July, Brodsky said that, in the case of AY, the West Side Yards, and the #7 line extension, “it seems to be me provable that... the MTA's fiduciary responsibility to the system and the riders was to maximize the value of the assets it was putting out. It could not do that in many of those cases. That struck me as a violation of the fiduciary duty.”
Perkins said his office was still looking into Atlantic Yards.
...“The cry for reform in this state is universal,” said Brodsky, nothing that authorities such as the MTA, the Thruway Authority, Long Island Power Authority, New York Power Authority, Empire State Development Corporation, and others constitute an unregulated “shadow government.”
Posted by eric at 9:38 AM
Atlantic Yards Dominates Debate in District 35
Gotham Gazette
by Alex Kane
Here's a thorough rundown on the race in the 35th Council District, in which incumbent and staunch Atlantic Yards opponent Tish James faces two challengers, including the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement signatory and Forest City Ratner-backed Delia Hunley-Adossa.
The starkest contrast between James and Hunley-Adossa surrounds Atlantic Yards, which would lie partly in this district. James vehemently opposes it, while Hunley-Adossa supports it. In one way, the election battle in this district can be seen as a community referendum on the Atlantic Yards project.
..."I oppose an outside developer's vision for this community. ... I oppose the fact that low-income residents and small businesses are being displaced," said James. "I oppose the fact that this project wasn't subject to a vote by the City Council."
Hunley-Adossa said that Atlantic Yards will create "a lot of economic development, affordable housing, and [James] seems to have not engaged the developer into bringing forth some of these benefits to the community."
Estaphanos had largely minimized Atlantic Yards as a campaign issue and, in interviews, kept a neutral position on the development.
Money is a multi-pronged issue for Ms. Hunley-Adossa:
The other challenger, Hunley-Adossa, has raised $28,429, but is not eligible for matching funds, because the New York City Campaign Finance Board is auditing her filings. [emphasis, ours]
...When pressed, Hunley-Adossa refused to say how much money Forest City Ratner provided her organization and fired back by saying James had funded groups opposed to the development.
James said that she has given City Council money to the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, a group that has criticized the project, and that she has personally contributed to Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, the main group opposing Atlantic Yards.
*NoLandGrab: One note — the caption under the lead photo says "Atlantic Yards." That photo, which documents Bruce Ratner's destruction of the landmark-eligible Ward Bakery building, would more accurately be captioned "the planned site of Atlantic Yards."
More Gotham Gazette election coverage...
Democratic Mayoral Candidates Would Plan from the Bottom Up
Hunter College urban affairs professor and stalwart Atlantic Yards opponent Tom Angotti looks at the Mayoral race and community-planning issues.
Avella has been a vocal critic of developer-initiated and controlled plans such as Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. He also opposed the plan for redevelopment of Willets Point in Queens, prepared by the city's Economic Development Corp. Avella's approach favors "bottom up" planning that involves local residents and businesses and does not resort to the use of eminent domain to promote private real estate projects.
To accomplish this, he has been a vocal advocate for community-based planning and has worked with the Municipal Art Society to craft legislation that would support communities that do their own plans. "I've been saying these things all along. Other cities are ahead of us. Community planning sets the stage for all of the issues in neighborhoods. We shouldn't just give neighborhoods opportunities to plan but also the funding to address their needs," he said.
There are around 100 community-based plans in New York City, but according to the citywide Task Force on Community-based Planning they do not receive sufficient support from city government. (I am a member of the Task Force).
Thompson also calls for more -- and more strongly supported -- community plans. "Community-based planning that includes input from local community boards, elected officials, and other stakeholders is incredibly important and, like community board budget priorities, should be better incorporated into an overall citywide framework," he said. "Once developed, zoning changes and siting of facilities should be considered in the context of these collaboratively created plans."
The Mayor, on the other hand, isn't so interested in what communities know or want.
Eight Candidates Run in a District Marked by Change
Eight candidates are vying to replace David Yassky in the 33rd Council District, and Atlantic Yards and other development issues are major topics in the race.
Posted by eric at 6:20 AM
August 15, 2009
Empowering Neighborhoods Is Candidate Simon’s Focus
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Harold Egeln
Jo Anne Simon, one of seven candidates for Brooklyn's 33rd City Council District is featured in the first in what is projected to be a series of profiles. Simon's stance on Atlantic Yards is mentioned.
Atlantic Yards did not go through the ULURP process and the court appeals on eminent domain are being watched closely, she said, as well as the possibility of breaking ground by this year’s end.
“The Atlantic Yards plan is flawed in so many ways, a failed design idea, as well as horribly polarizing and wildly emotional,” Simon said. “Maybe there will be a chance to go back to square one. If the developer is limited in what it can do, there are a lot of good creative ideas out there.”
Posted by steve at 7:22 AM
August 14, 2009
The Day: Park Pork and Political Discourse
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Andy Newman and Michael Szeto
Good news! Delia Hunley-Adossa's campaign manager is going to let her answer some questions.
Hunley-Adossa to Take Part in Our Online Forum
Thursday afternoon, Musa Moore, Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s campaign manager, said his client would participate in the town hall.
Posted by eric at 12:09 PM
Steve Levin: How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Hate Atlantic Yards
Real Reform Brooklyn
With that said, we think it only fair to turn back to Steve Levin and his relationship to Atlantic Yards. If Jo Anne Simon can be accused of conciliation (BrooklynSpeaks) and inaction (not helping with the legal fight), Levin’s record is one of collusion and now (conveniently) religious conversion.
It all goes back to 2007 when Levin was Vito Lopez’s Chief of Staff. The District needs to be reminded about it now. (Some would say it is earlier in the fall of 2006 when Vito Lopez received a total of $6,200 in campaign contributions from Michael Ratner and his wife. Lopez was facing a non-contest primary. Michael Ratner is a bit of a sacred cow because of his great work at the Center for Constitutional Rights. But we will just leave it there.) In June 2007, however, Lopez final oversaw final negotiations of the revised 421-a program. He was literally designated by Assembly Speaker Silver and now-indicted Sentate Leader Joe Bruno to hammer out the final, final deal with New York Real Estate Board of New York executive Steven Spinola. The revision added to the exclusion area where developers would not get a tax break for building market-rate housing without including affordable units Unless, of course, you are Vito Lopez’s friend Bruce Ratner. Specifically, when the bill was being finalized, Lopez slipped in wording specifically tailored for Ratner. The language gave an estimated minimum of $100 million in real estate tax exemptions and as much as $170 million for the market-rate condos. The deal also provided no obligation to build affordable housing in Atlantic Yard condominium buildings, which added again to Ratner’s bottom line.
Levin has now supposedly professed found religion by opposing the project. But we seriously question his conversion given the sell out he presided over as Vito Lopez’s Chief of Staff.
Posted by eric at 10:14 AM
Here’s how to watch our TV debates!
The Brooklyn Paper
by Gersh Kuntzman
BCAT will be airing a series of taped debates next week, a collaboration between the Community Newspaper Group and Brooklyn Independent Television.
All the major races will be cablecast on BCAT, which is channel 56 on Time Warner customers and channel 69 for Cablevision subscribers:
City Council District 33 (currently held by David Yassky): Monday, Aug. 17.
City Council District 39 (currently held by Bill DeBlasio): Tuesday, Aug. 18.
City Council District 45 (currently held by Kendall Stewart): Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Comptroller (featuring Yassky, John Liu, Melinda Katz and David Weprin): Thursday, Aug. 20.
Public Advocate (featuring DeBlasio, Mark Green, Norman Siegel and Eric Gioia): Friday, Aug. 21 (repeated on Tuesday, Aug. 25).
All broadcasts will be at 9 pm. And all shows will be available online roughly 24 hours after its initial airing at www.bricartsmedia.org/BITspecials and the Community Newspaper Group’s new political Web site BoroPolitics.com.
It ain’t Lincoln vs. Douglas, but in the days after the debates were taped, several have made headlines, including the 39th Council debate, where leading candidates Brad Lander and Josh Skaller went at it over Atlantic Yards and the schooling of Skaller’s son, Wolf.
Posted by eric at 9:57 AM
So, was Jo Anne Simon an “early vocal opponent" of eminent domain for AY? Yes, but it's complicated
Atlantic Yards Report
So, did Jo Anne Simon, the 52nd District Leader, civil rights attorney, and fundraising leader in the race for the 33rd District Council seat, say that she was an “early vocal opponent of the use of eminent domain” at the debate on Tuesday, as noted by her anonymous critics on the Real Reform Brooklyn blog?
The answer, as far as I can tell:
- she said something at least pretty close
- she did announce opposition to eminent domain early on
- she has been less vocal than leaders of the AY opposition regarding eminent domain
Simon is not the most anti-Atlantic Yards candidate for the seat--Ken Baer and Ken Diamondstone are longstanding opponents standing with Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), and Doug Biviano and Evan Thies are making AY an issue--though she's far more critical and knowledgeable than the current officeholder, David Yassky. She also has endorsements from and ties to various Brooklyn political figures.
The question for voters seeking reform is whether the most important issue is the first order of reform--a candidate other than Stephen Levin, who's tied to Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez--or the second order of reform, the most "reformist" of the rest of the pool.
Posted by eric at 9:28 AM
August 13, 2009
Hunley-Adossa Surfaces
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Michael Szeto
Forest City Ratner-backed City Council candidate Delia Hunley-Adossa has turned up at last.
The Local got a callback from the City Council candidate Delia Hunley-Adossa on Wednesday after we wrote about our efforts to reach her and the mysteriously low profile of her campaign.
Ms. Hunley-Adossa, who is challenging City Councilwoman Letitia James, said she has been campaigning hard, knocking on doors and greeting voters on the street.
“I haven’t had many large fund-raisers and I obviously didn’t have any rallies,” Ms. Hunley-Adossa said. “What I do is meet-and-greets and go meet people throughout the community.”
She said she did not know how many doors she has knocked on or the number of voters with whom she has spoken. When asked where, specifically, she had campaigned, Ms. Hunley-Adossa would only say, “Around the community.”
Will Ms. Hunley-Adossa take part in The Local's online town hall for candidates?
She said we would have to wait for her campaign manager to decide if she would participate.
NoLandGrab: This isn't the first time Ms. Hunley Adossa has gone missing. As far as we know, the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement's Committee on Environmental Assurances, which she chairs, has been AWOL since its inception.
Posted by eric at 11:14 AM
Delia Hunley-Adossa's stealth candidacy for the 35th Council District; will there be a September push?
Atlantic Yards Report
Yesterday, The NY Times stopped short of posting a missing poster on The Local blog for Atlantic Yards supporter Delia Hunley-Adossa, who surely has had numerous opportunities to return the paper's call. [NoLandGrab's take: The Times might have better luck going through the Forest City Ratner switchboard.]
Norman Oder offers color commentary:
So, what to make of the stealth campaign of Delia Hunley-Adossa, known for her work as president of 88th Precinct Community Council and her questionable ties to the Atlantic Yards project? Perhaps because of the latter, she's avoiding the press and public debates. But is that the way to win a Council seat held by incumbent Letitia James, who won her last primary with 84% of the vote?
I don't think so. I doubt even the AY-loving Daily News could legitimately endorse her after her unwillingness to subject herself to public scrutiny.
Has Hunley-Adossa given up, concluding that the political fight is not for her? Maybe, but I doubt it. Perhaps she'll pour her remaining resources into a final push during the week before the election--remember (pro-AY candidate) Tracy Boyland's stealth campaign in 2006 for (anti-AY) Velmanette Montgomery's state Senate seat.
Posted by lumi at 6:22 AM
August 12, 2009
…And What About Jo Anne Simon? Atlantic Yards & Beyond
Real Reform Brooklyn
In Brooklyn politics, every yin has a yang. Yesterday, we posted a link to The Brooklyn Rail's flattering interview with City Council candidate Jo Anne Simon. But anonymous/pseudonymous blogger realreformbrooklyn is a critic.
So what does that all mean, exactly? Well, it appears to mean that she has gone to a lot of meetings, submitted written testimony at public hearings, and nothing really beyond that. For instance, and perhaps the best example, on Atlantic Yards, Simon claimed strenuously this evening to have been an “early vocal opponent of the use of eminent domain.” But her “Testimony to the Empire State Development Corporation on the General Project Plan, Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Condemnation of Real Property and terms for the proposed acquisition and conveyance of the Atlantic Yards Project Site”, dated August 23, 2006, never even mentions, let alone objects, to the use of eminent domain or condemnation. Her August 25, 2006 letter to the head of the Empire State Development Corporation about the project also make no mention whatsoever about the use of eminent domain. How vocal is that? It’s not. In reality, Simon is most identified with BrooklynSpeaks and its “mend-it-don’t-end-it” stance on Atlantic Yards.
Simon’s track record is even more troubling, however, because of who she is — a purportedly talented civil rights lawyer. The simple fact is that she has never lifted a legal finger to help litigate the numerous Atlantic Yard eminent domain cases. By way of sterling example, Develop Don’t Destroy has an active volunteer legal team that has worked pro bono for years against that project. Simon’s contribution to the effort: nothing.
NoLandGrab: While Ms. Simon has not volunteered her legal expertise to DDDB, she has certainly been engaged in the battle over Atlantic Yards. However, BrooklynSpeaks's push for an Atlantic Yards governance structure presupposes the project getting built, and the project won't get built without the eminent domain takings.
Posted by eric at 7:01 PM
The Day: Have You Seen This Woman?
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Michael Szeto
Interesting story from The Times's Brooklyn blog.
She’s running for City Council and has been since March. She must be running some kind of campaign because she has spent $23,392 and raised $22,585, according to her latest filing in July.
But Delia Hunley-Adossa remains oddly invisible, at least to the media.
Last week, The Local made many telephone calls to Ms. Hunley-Adossa and left several voice messages. All went unanswered and unreturned. In fact, The Local dialed her number so many times we can remember it.
Calls to friends and supporters didn’t help.
...Ms. Hunley-Adossa’s opponents do not seem to know what is going on, either.
City Councilwoman Letitia James says she hasn’t seen Ms. Hunley-Adossa for at least a month.
“It’s a bit perplexing,” said Medhanie Estiphanos, the other candidate in the race.
Nor are we the only news outlet that is having trouble contacting Ms. Hunley-Adossa.
“We at The Brooklyn Paper have been astounded by the lack of response to our questions from Delia and her campaign,” said Gersh Kuntzman, editor of The Brooklyn Paper. “She aspires to a very lofty position –- public servant –- and, as such, she needs to answer questions from independent media.”
...Ms. Hunley-Adossa, 52, was last spotted on July 30 next to State Senator Marty Golden and Bertha Lewis, an organizer for the activist organization, ACORN, at an Atlantic Yards hearing. The three of them were at the hearing to show support for the Atlantic Yards project.
NoLandGrab: It's more than highly unusual for a candidate challenging a popular incumbent in a primary race less than five weeks away to disappear, or at least to appear to disappear. Let us offer our sincere hope that Ms. Hunley-Adossa is ok and missing only from the media.
Posted by eric at 1:08 PM
August 11, 2009
Woman vs. the Machine: Jo Anne Simon
BrooklynRail.com
by Theodore Hamm
Brooklyn Rail editor Ted Hamm sits down with City Council candidate Jo Anne Simon.
Brooklyn Rail: And what about Atlantic Yards—have the opponents also been right in forecasting the problems with the project?
Jo Anne Simon: Yes, the community has been right: Atlantic Yards is fundamentally a flawed plan. It follows almost every failed urban design approach, cutting off streets from the surrounding neighborhoods and so on. Obviously the use of eminent domain for private enrichment is very, very bad public policy. The level of public subsidy is problematic—almost no arena has ever been built without public dollars. And the level of the affordability in the housing is too high: very few people from the area will be ever to come back to the new development, if and when it ever happens.
Rail: So should the project go forward? If not, how would you respond to those who say that by not doing so, we’re just left with a giant hole in the ground?
Simon: I didn’t want the project to go forward in the first place, and that hasn’t changed. But nobody who opposed this project wanted a giant hole in the ground. In fact, we warned against allowing demolition to occur ten years earlier than necessary, because there was never a real expectation that Phase Two of the project would begin in the next ten years. They started that demolition in order to gain site control and to create the perception that they had to build here. So the developer (Forest City Ratner) created blight, whereas the neighborhood surrounding the project had been bringing itself back without the need for public investment. Arenas do not stimulate the economy—we know this from other cities’ experiences. The kinds of jobs created are low-level and seasonal. And the infrastructure problems would be tremendous, especially since this is already the most congested area in Brooklyn.
Posted by eric at 4:17 PM
In the 33rd: Levin vs. everyone else, AY & Broadway Triangle, and the argument for IRV (Instant Runoff Voting)
Atlantic Yards Report
If you're interested in some insight into the race in the 33rd Council District, be sure to read this excellent analysis by Norman Oder.
Let’s face it. Despite some lively debates, and clear differences in style, experience, policy (only somewhat), and geography among the seven candidates vying to succeed David Yassky in the bizarrely-shaped 33rd City Council District, the race--to be resolved at the Democratic primary September 15--comes down to one thing: Stephen Levin versus everybody else.
That should matter to those following Atlantic Yards. Despite Levin’s expression of “serious concern” about the project, he supports the affordability ratio proposed by Ratner--without pointing out that it was part of an essentially private rezoning, which ACORN has unquestionably supported--and works for the Brooklyn Democratic Party boss who's done Ratner's bidding. The other candidates are all more critical of Atlantic Yards.
(Map from Gotham Gazette)
Related coverage...
The Brooklyn Paper, Candidates savage the front-runners in Brooklyn Paper debate
The Brooklyn Paper hosted a debate of the candidates for the 33rd District Council seat last night, and, of course, Atlantic Yards figured into the discussion.
Posted by eric at 9:43 AM
August 8, 2009
The case against Mayor Mike.
Pinko Magazine
A section of this criticism of Michael Bloomberg includes mention of the proposed Atlantic Yards project. But the the author only seems dissatisfied that the project as originally proposed will never be built.
(3) He can’t get the big things done. When I look at my bulleted list above (and I LOVE a bulleted list) I can almost convince myself to vote for the Mayor. But the reality is that the visionary, big-picture projects haven’t been accomplished. Congestion pricing failed, not just because Albany wouldn’t allow it but also because the Mayor wasn’t able to win over key allies in the outer boroughs, or make a persuasive public case. The Penn Station overhaul? Didn’t happen. West Side Redevelopment, Atlantic Yards, downtown/ground zero? No, no no. They’re worse than failures actually – in the case of Atlantic Yards, the entire project has been stripped down to the bare essentials needed for the developer to make back his investment – a cookie-cutter arena and some over-priced condos. The features that could remake a city, or that showed some innovation have been stripped away.
NoLandGrab: The question is whether we should believe that any of the features used to gain public support for this land grab (i.e. affordable housing, open public space, starchitect) were ever anything more than empty promises.
Posted by steve at 7:40 AM
August 6, 2009
ELECTIONS 2009: THE RACE FOR MAYOR
Queens Ledger
The Ledger interviews mayoral challenger Bill Thompson and the incumbent himself.
Thompson
On development in the city:
I'm not against large-scale development, but I will cite two of the biggest announcements over the last ten years: Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan and Atlantic yards in Downtown Brooklyn. How many units of housing are there? How many jobs? What has happened since the ribbon cuttings and the big announcements? You haven't seen anything that has occurred there. I'm not against large-scale development, but I'm for smart growth in conjunction with communities and not by going around them. This mega-project that you give all to one developer isn't working. There are other models that work better...like Battery Park City.
On Atlantic Yards:
It's starting to look like a basketball stadium and one building.
NoLandGrab: Thompson has a chance to really differentiate himself from Bloomberg on projects like Atlantic Yards and issues like eminent domain (the use of which, for purposes of "economic development," is opposed by about 90% of Americans), but he just can't bring himself to actually do so.
Bloomberg
On whether the city's large-scale development projects are overly ambitious:
No, the zoning for Willets Point was started for the 1964 World's Fair and we just got it done. So for the next 10 or 15 years, I don't know how fast the economy is going to come back, but when you want to build, the zoning will have been done. That's the tough part.
NLG: In the case of Atlantic Yards, there was no rezoning — New York State has overridden local zoning. And "the tough part?" Hardly, when City Planning acts like puppets on a string and the City Council rolls over for the Mayor at every turn.
Additional coverage...
Atlantic Yards Report, Bloomberg (implicitly) misleads on AY: "the zoning will have been done"
In an interview in the Queens Ledger, headlined ELECTIONS 2009: THE RACE FOR MAYOR, Mayor Mike Bloomberg implicitly lumps Atlantic Yards, where he permitted a state override of city zoning, with other large-scale projects for which the City Council has approved a rezoning.
As for Thompson:
If Thompson were truly a critic of Atlantic Yards, he would've shown up--or sent a surrogate--to the public hearing last week.
Posted by eric at 1:41 PM
Brownstoner: Hold off on angry letters and glassed up
City Officials Call for Atlantic Yards Disclosure
If you have an angry letter for City Council Members David Yassky and Bill de Blasio regarding their apathy towards the Atlantic Yards development, hold off on stamping and sending it.... According to the press release from the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, they are "calling on the Empire State Development Corporation to fully disclose plans for the Atlantic Yards project, including an updated site plan, and prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for public review."
Development Watch: 80 Dekalb Getting Close
The 36-story development that Forest City Ratner is building at 80 Dekalb Avenue topped out in May and, according to this photo we snapped yesterday, is almost all glassed up. It looks like they changed the facade a little on the upper floors, replacing the exterior panels with windows, doesn't it?
Posted by lumi at 6:39 AM
August 5, 2009
After Myrick's off the ballot, no clear option for an anti-Markowitz protest vote in Borough President's race
Atlantic Yards Report
Long-shot candidate Eugene Myrick, who was trying to challenge Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in the Democratic primary, has been kicked off the ballot for having invalid petitions, leaving the only alternative to the incumbent a Republican (!) or a write-in.
(That's Markowitz, host of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series at Wingate Field in Crown Heights, joined on July 27 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and performers Anita Baker and Charlie Wilson. Photo by Kathryn Kirk. Three of the seven series sponsors are Forest City Ratner, Nets Basketball, and Barclays.)
The integrity of the process
Markowitz's lawyer, former state Senator Martin Connor, asserted (as per the Brooklyn Paper) that the challenge was to protect the validity of the process, and the Board of Elections agreed.
Now, the elimination of Myrick means that the significant slice of Brooklynites who might want to lodge an anti-Markowitz protest vote have no clear option.
Posted by eric at 8:54 AM
August 4, 2009
Candidates waste big chance to be king of Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Paper
by the Politicrasher
I’ve finally got my candidates for public advocate and comptroller, thanks to last night’s Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce debate.
While most of the Democratic candidates for those esteemed offices missed the gift-wrapped opportunity to court Brooklyn’s 2-1/2-million residents by showing off a keen understanding of the city’s most populous and best borough, only Queens Councilman John Liu (running for comptroller) and civil liberties lawyer Norman Siegel (public advocate) had the guts to hit me where it counts.
In my Brooklyn gut.
...Earlier in the night, Siegel showed the broadest awareness of Brooklyn issues.
He said he “would challenge the use of eminent domain” in development projects, saying that the state’s plans to condemn homes and businesses for Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project is “developer driven,” rather than providing a clear public benefit.
NoLandGrab: Siegel, who in many ways has been NYC's de facto public advocate for decades, has deep support among critics of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project.
Posted by eric at 9:01 PM
TERM LIMITS BACKLASH: INCUMBENTS IN TROUBLE
From the central Bronx to the North Shore of Staten Island, an unusually high number of incumbent City Councilmembers are in tough races this year. A look at some of the issues -- and seats -- in play.
City Limits
by Jarrett Murphy
Prospect Heights Councilwoman Tish James voted against the extension of term limits, but City Limits characterizes her re-election race as "more competitive."
Other more competitive races in Brooklyn include that of incumbent Diana Reyna, the target of challenger Martiza Davila, a protégé of Brooklyn Democratic chairman and Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Letitia James, a leading opponent of the Atlantic Yards arena and housing project, is being challenged by a project supporter, Delia Hunley-Adossa, who heads a local precinct council. Al Vann also faces a potentially challenging race against seven opponents led by Drum Major Institute executive director Mark Winston-Griffith (a board member of City Limits' parent organization, City Futures, Inc.) and former police detective David Grinage.
NoLandGrab: We'll see how competitive the Ratner-backed Hunley-Adossa is against the popular James. It's worth noting, too, that Winston-Griffith is an opponent of Atlantic Yards, too.
Posted by eric at 12:55 PM
August 3, 2009
King Marty! Markowitz’s Dem challenger booted off the ballot!
The Brooklyn Paper
by Jared Foretek
Borough President Markowitz locked up a third-term in a Manhattan board room this afternoon as the Board of Elections kicked the Beep’s Democratic challenger off the ballot.
The 10-member Elections commission unanimously ruled that political newcomer Eugene Myrick had not collected the required 4,000 signatures to earn a spot on the ballot.
Myrick had handed in more than 10,000 John Hancocks, but the vast majority were ruled invalid because the signers were either not registered voters or did not live in Brooklyn (or both!).
In the end, the commissioners credited him with just 2,637 valid signatures.
“There is nothing we can do to help you, sir,” said Board of Elections President Frederic Umane.
NoLandGrab: The Brooklyn Paper may be underestimating the depth of pro-Atlantic Yards support ;-) for Republican challenger Marc D'Ottavio, who has accused Markowitz of not being vociferous enough in his support of the floundering boondoggle.
Posted by eric at 7:27 PM
CHOCOLATE KISS-OFF: JIMMY MACK'S CHOCOLATE BRIDE DITCHES HIM AT THE ALTAR
Gatemouth's blog [Room 8]
by Howard Graubard
Gatemouth correctly calls us out for referring to him as "anonymous" (we meant to type "pseudonymous" but the day after the ESDC Atlantic Yards hearing was way busy here at NLG and we got a wee bit sloppy) last Thursday.
But Gatemouth's reflexive dislike for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn seems a wee bit obsessive, as he cites fellow-pseudonymous blogger J. Cheever Loophole's (no, Mr. Graubard, we're not going to spend time tracking down Mr. Loophole's real identity) post about amicus briefs:
I do not think that opposing Atlantic Yards makes one reflexively anti-development. I just think that DDDB has shown itself to be so. I think a joining with far right-wig [sic] ideologues in their blunderbuss crusade against eminent domain, which the right uses to mask a far more pernicious agenda, proves it.
NoLandGrab: If the Institute for Justice is going to file an amicus brief, they're going to file an amicus brief. And if the left is going to play deaf, dumb and blind when it comes to the abuse of eminent domain for a bloody private developer's money-pit basketball arena, then one can hardly lay the blame for the gutting of environmental regulations by right-wing nuts and the likes of Scalia, Alito and Roberts at the feet of DDDB. If so-called progressives won't reform eminent domain laws (let's remember that the vast majority of Americans find fault with the Kelo decision), which disproportionately victimize poor people of color, then the door is going to be left wide open for Conservatives to do so.
Posted by eric at 3:06 PM
Stepping out, and stepping up: the absence of de Blasio and Yassky; the louder voices from Brennan and BrooklynSpeaks members
Atlantic Yards Report
Wanna know who is really for and against Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards project? Never mind the stump speeches, Norman Oder has a quick check-up on which politicians showed up and which politicians stayed home:
Notable absences at the two-day Atlantic Yards public hearing held last week by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) were two Council Members, Bill de Blasio of the 39th District and David Yassky of the 33rd District, whose districts border the AY footprint.
(Whatever their other obligations, they could have sent surrogates, as did some loyal elected officials in Forest City Ratner's camp.)
...
As I've noted, de Blasio has completely muted his criticism of Atlantic Yards, and likely will not resume, given endorsements in his race for Public Advocate by several AY-supporting unions and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.Yassky, however, had kept up criticism until fairly recently, but not after he was endorsed by Markowitz.
Sure, I'm speculating here on the political calculus, but consider that both de Blasio and Yassky, in their campaigns, stress independence and fiscal rectitude.
NoLandGrab: de Blasio has hardly wavered from his original position, that Atlantic Yards is an opportunity to build a lot of affordable housing (even though the devil is in the details). However, the hallmark of Yassky's political career has been to stand with his constituents and then abandon them to strike an ineffectual compromise and declare a win for the community.
Posted by lumi at 5:37 AM
July 23, 2009
They’re off! Fields are set for September primaries — and The Brooklyn Paper is there
The Brooklyn Paper
By Mike McLaughlin and Ben Muessig
District 35
Parts of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, parts of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant
Democratic incumbent Letitia James would have been eligible for re-election even without the term limits extension, but that hasn’t stopped two challengers from entering the political ring to unseat her.
Delia Hunley–Adossa, a pro-Atlantic Yards neighborhood activist, and Medhanie Estiphanos, an unknown newcomer, seek to defy the odds — no sitting councilmembers lost in 2005 — and beat James.
James is popular in her district and holds all the advantages of incumbency, but her Achilles heel could be her paltry fundraising, making it tougher to flood the district with a pro-Tish message. Unlike other legislators, she had not focused on fundraising, and has raised just $31,030 compared to the surprisingly strong $22,585 raised by Hunley-Adossa.
Her support for the troubled Atlantic Yards project has helped her .
NoLandGrab: Expect Pro-Atlantic Yards candidates to give opponents a run for "the money."
Posted by lumi at 5:29 AM
July 21, 2009
Electallujah! Reverend Billy Takes on Bloomberg, Corporate Hegemony and Consumerism
Fog City Journal
By Sunny Angulo and Andy Blue
Atlantic Yards is Reverend Billy's posterproject for Bloomberg-supported boondoggles:
“We’ve shopped ourselves to death. The enormous shopping utopias that Mike Bloomberg had envisioned - just huge projects, some of them the biggest urban renewal projects ever seen in history - they’re killing us. One of them here in Brooklyn involved 16 skyscrapers, the Atlantic Yards Project, a very controversial project. It’s getting smaller and smaller over time, but that’s because the community continues to rise up against it. The government is in such a state of chaos out here in New York now, the community is actually becoming emboldened. It’s a very encouraging time for facing down abusive development. In the case of Atlantic Yards, it was tax-payer financed and led by a billionaire, through a very narrow kind cultural design, really created for 28-year old stockbrokers. Shopping, shopping, shopping - no street lights at all, all glassy, metal and stone hard fronts, with additional space for the 20,000 new cars expected everyday.
Posted by lumi at 4:55 AM
July 19, 2009
Support Tish James on July 27th at Moe’s
The Real Fort Greene
The author of this blog entry reviews the candidates challenging Atlantic Yards opponent, Councilwoman Letitia James and argues why James should be returned to the City Council.
In my opinion the choice is obvious. Two relatively unknown, inexperienced candidates who haven’t shown (at this point) a great deal of understanding regarding the myriad of issues facing this community. One candidate in the pocket of Bruce Ratner who seems to be one issue candidate. An experienced incumbent with history of fighting the good fight to stand up for her constituents.
Please attend the fundraiser and show your support.
Posted by steve at 8:57 AM
July 17, 2009
The money primary, updated; James nudges ahead; Simon's rivals have cash on hand; Lander leads, Skaller also ready to spend
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder updates the fundraising efforts in the 35th, 33rd and 39th district City Council races.
The latest fundraising reports to the New York City Campaign Finance Board are out.
In a contrast to the reports from May, City Council Member Letitia James has raised more than $8000 more than rival Delia Hunley-Adossa in the race for the 35th District, though the totals raised by each would put them well behind candidates in the nearby 33rd and 39th Districts, where there are vigorous contests for open seats to succeed David Yassky and Bill de Blasio, respectively. In terms of cash on hand, the race is closer; James has about $3000 more.
...James has raised $31,030 and has spent $27,713, including $8500 on office rent, $4410 on her fundraising treasurer, and $2000 on the Rosa Parks Democratic Club for petitioning.
James's largest contributor, giving $1000 is Trevor Wilson of Prestige Management, which manages the three Mitchell-Lama towers of Atlantic Terminal II. She also got $500 each from Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union and Local 702 of the Board of Education employees. She gave $500 herself.
Hunley-Adossa has raised $22,585 and spent $23,392, including $7000 to election lawyer and former state Senator Martin Connor.
After in-kind contribution of $2300 from Idris Abdullah for office expenses, Hunley-Adossa's next-largest donor, at $1135, is herself. Also, giving $1000 each are the New York City Council of Carpenters, Willard Hawkins, and Dorothy Bembry-Guet.
Also giving $1000 is Alan Weisberg of One Stop Promotions, an Atlantic Yards supporter (and, perhaps, the same Alan Weisberg associated with the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in south Brooklyn that spawned Forest City Ratner public affairs VP Bruce Bender).
Posted by eric at 10:05 AM
July 16, 2009
Diamondstone: Over 5,000 Brooklynites Call for Real Reform
Hot Indie News
City Council candidate Ken Diamondstone announces petitioning results in a release that touts his long-standing and well-documented opposition to Atlantic Yards.
“I am the only candidate in this race with a record of real reforms,” Diamondstone said. “I’m not afraid to stand up to the powers that be. Borough President Markowitz tried to force me off the Community Board when I dared to question Atlantic Yards, and I fought back and won. If elected I will continue to fight for the people, not the powerful.”
Diamondstone has a well-earned reputation as a reformer willing to take risks and standing on principle. He has always opposed developments that put community interests second, including the Dock Street project that blocks views of the Brooklyn Bridge and his opposition to luxury housing in Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Posted by eric at 11:00 AM
July 10, 2009
A Street Encounter Raises Questions About The Working Families Party, ACORN and Atlantic Yards That Seem To Lack Satisfactory Answers
Noticing New York
A Working Families Party canvasser's claim that the WFP and ACORN had parted ways sets Michael D.D. White on a quest for answers (here's one: he got bad info from that canvasser).
Interesting, we thought. This was worthy of investigation. What better way to investigate than to go directly to the Working families Party and ask. A split would be interesting. The Working Families Party was formed by ACORN (and by the auto and communications workers’ unions) in 1998.
...We contacted Dan Levitan, spokesperson for the Working Families Party. This is how our discussion unfolded.
Mr. Levitan told us that despite the information we had received on the street, the Working Families Party has NOT disaffiliated from and still maintains relations with ACORN. More specifically, Mr. Levitan informed us that "the scandals at ACORN" at had not caused any disaffiliation.
Clearly Distinguishing Scandals in Actual Question
We had to be clear in our discussion to confirm with Mr. Levitan that by “scandals,” we were not talking about anything like the Fox News attacks on ACORN about their voter registration activities. We were specific that we were instead talking about the embezzlement that was concealed from various people, including the ACORN board and interested government agencies with which ACORN transacts business. We said that we were also talking about the huge loan that ACORN received from Forest City Ratner that was reportedly similarly concealed. We expressed to Mr. Levitan that we believed that when New Yorkers think of the ACORN scandals this is what we think typically jumps to mind.
Will the WFP answer Michael White's questions? Read on for the answer(s).
NoLandGrab: Our own experience with WFP canvassers is that they're quick to claim disavowal of Atlantic Yards, but the reality is a lot messier.
Posted by eric at 9:45 AM
July 9, 2009
Markowitz: "Please, please, please" get AY started (because he'd never support anything not in the interests of Brooklyn)
Atlantic Yards Report
[At last month's MTA Finance Committee meeting, the] only elected official to offer pro-project views was Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who sent Chief of Staff Carlo Scissura, who presented several questionable arguments.
One of the lines was so classic Markowitz that it deserves its own excerpt.
"As we all know, the Borough President would never support anything that is not in the interests of all of Brooklyn and all Brooklynites," Scissura declared.
He wouldn't? Have the interests of Brooklyn been distilled into the consciousness of one enlightened BP? Can they be?
Check out the rest of the article for some stunning lies and developer propaganda delivered by Marty's representative.
NoLandGrab: Since the interests of NY State has been distilled into the consciousness of one enlightened developer, could the BP be right?
Posted by lumi at 6:10 AM
July 8, 2009
Newcomer Bids to Deny Markowitz a Third Term
The Local [Fort Greene/Clinton Hill]
by Michael Szeto
Eugene Myrick has a message for Fort Greene: Slow down.
Mr. Myrick, an online entrepreneur who is hoping to challenge Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in his bid for a third term, said the neighborhood is developing too quickly.
“On the Fort Greene side of town you have to slow down,” he said in an interview. “Fort Greene is becoming more like Clinton Hill.”
The yield message includes the Atlantic Yards project, which Mr. Myrick strongly opposes, arguing in his campaign that it has received too much support from Borough Hall.
NoLandGrab: Though New York City's electorate twice voted for two-term limits, Markowitz is happily seeking a third, courtesy of Mayor Bloomberg, Christine Quinn and the Bloomberg 29.
Posted by eric at 4:59 PM
July 6, 2009
Who didn't show up at the MTA meetings? State Senator Carl Kruger and his topsy-turvy view of Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report reviews summer ficition...
Everyone, including the Mad Overkiller Norman Oder, missed State Senator Carl Kruger's May 13 press release "accusing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of intransigence as Forest City Ratner tried to reduce its obligations to pay cash and provide and upgraded railyard." In this alternate parallel universe, Kruger hilariously demanded that the MTA meet with him to show its financial records for Atlantic Yards or "he'll take the matter to the next step."
For a good beach read, check out the rest of the article where Oder provides color commentary as Kruger declares that "all of Forest City’s project obligations will be honored" and bolsters the "MTA’s widely-held image as a secretive entity that works not for the good of the public but for its own financial benefit."
Posted by lumi at 6:05 AM
July 2, 2009
Behind the state Senate turmoil: the real estate industry (with an AY angle)
Atlantic Yards Report
In an article headlined Senate Coup Plotters' Hidden Agenda: Tabloids call it a circus, but the lobbyists' goal is to squelch reforms, the Village Voice's Tom Robbins connects the state Senate's dysfunctions not to no-good legislators but to the real estate industry's desire to stymie long-awaited reforms in the city's rent regulations.
Also jeopardized are efforts at campaign finance reform and gun control. And, yes, a further look at Atlantic Yards.
In a nutshell, under Democratic control, local State Senators have held one public hearing on Atlantic Yards. If the Republicans have their way, there's little hope that State legislators would lift a finger to find out more about Bruce Ratner's highly subsidized megaproject.
The Village Voice, Senate Coup Plotters' Hidden Agenda
Democratic control of Senate committees also brought the power to shine a spotlight in places Republicans had preferred to leave dark. On May 29, 10 days before the coup shut everything down, Harlem Senator Bill Perkins, new chairman of a committee overseeing state authorities, held the Senate's first public hearing on the massive $4 billion Atlantic Yards project.
The Forest City Ratner deal was made possible by an official sleight of hand that allowed it to skirt city land use regulations. Under Republican control, the Senate asked no questions. Even at the hearing, they still offered protection. Brooklyn's lone GOP senator, Marty Golden, burst into the hearings late and, backed by cheers from building trades workers, proceeded to mock Perkins and Montgomery, in whose district the project sits, for "holding the project hostage."
Posted by lumi at 6:41 AM
June 29, 2009
RIVAL RIPS MARTY OVER YARDS WORK
NY Post
by Rich Calder
An East New York activist is trying to parlay the contempt many Brooklynites have for the embattled Atlantic Yards project into unseating Marty Markowitz as borough president.
Eugene Myrick, 37, recently became the first candidate to announce he's challenging the powerful two-time incumbent on the Democratic line in this September's primary. The underdog has yet to raise a cent but is already seeing a groundswell of support.
And it's mostly over Myrick opposing Bruce Ratner's $4.9 billion project to bring an NBA arena and 16 residential and office towers to Prospect Heights while Markowitz is widely considered its biggest booster.
...The challenger -- who runs a bridal website with his wife, ex-Kiss-FM deejay Kesha Monk - told the Post he's upset with "sweetheart" cost-saving deals cut last week by the state and MTA to bail out Atlantic Yards and ripped Markowitz for openly supporting it.
He also pointed out a Post investigation last October that found Ratner since 2003 funneled more than $680,000 to nonprofits set up by Markowitz to run pet projects and said the beep "is obviously indebted to the developer."
NoLandGrab: With Republican Beep candidate Marc D'Ottavio criticizing Markowitz for not supporting Atlantic Yards enough, it's clear that Eugene Myrick has the anti-boondoggle vote all to himself.
Posted by eric at 1:46 PM
June 27, 2009
Deciphering Words of a (Campaigning) Bloomberg on Atlantic Yards: “Enough Already” Means, “Bruce, We Have Another $180 Million Plus To Give You!'
Noticing New York
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly states that there will be no more public subsidies for the proposed Atlantic Yards project, and then pushes through more goodies for blight-inducing developer Bruce Ratner via the MTA.
It says a lot about the unpopularity of Atlantic Yards that, even though Bloomberg has a seeming lock on a third term as mayor (given his extraordinary ability to spend on his campaign, mobilizing perhaps a half billion toward that end), Bloomberg still deems it politically prudent to disguise and downplay his support for Atlantic Yards.
Ergo, the mayor has basically been dishonest. Case in point? We offer to decipher Mr. Bloomberg’s words. Just weeks ago Bloomberg told the press it was time to turn off the spigot and that no additional public funds should be poured into Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards. What did Bloomberg really mean? He meant that he was about to ram through a deal to give his friend Bruce Ratner more than another $180 million out of the public till.
On Wednesday, May 20th the mayor reportedly “dashed Ratner’s hopes for more” money than the “$230 million for infrastructure and land-acquisition costs” the city is putting up for the project. (See: May 21, 2009, Bloomy to Bruce: Enough already, by Mike McLaughlin, The Brooklyn Paper.) This is actually, a typical understatement of the acknowledged cost to the public of the proposed Atlantic Yards. Its true total cost needs to be calculated in terms of billions.
...
That was May 20th. On May 29th it was revealed that a deal was in the works to give millions more, what turns out to be more than $180 million more, to Ratner. That day at hearings on the Atlantic Yards held by State Senator Bill Perkins it was disclosed that there was a deal proposed for substantial additional giveaways to Ratner. Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (who works for Bloomberg) participated in presenting the parameters of the package of handouts to Ratner and it was announced then that the MTA’s board would be addressing the handouts at its June 24, 2009 meeting. Indeed, that meeting where the MTA, in fact, did approve the handouts occurred this past Wednesday, just as then disclosed.
Consistent with what was indicated on May 29th, the MTA at that Wednesday meeting approved the more than $180 million in giveaways for Ratner (without any corresponding givebacks, quid pro quos or return obligations from Ratner. In fact, the MTA went so far as to relieve Ratner of obligations to build anything other than the arena and extended to Ratner a low-cost, very long-term option on developing the rest of- the bulk of- the site. That is a blight-inducing (not blight-preventing) decision on the MTA’s part.
Posted by steve at 7:27 AM
June 22, 2009
Plus Ça Change, (The More Things Change,) Plus Une Chose En Particulier Ne Change Pas: La Transaction Fixée (The Wired Deal)!
Noticing New York posted a preview of the issues facing today's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Finance Committee Meeting.
Here's an overview of the terms of the MTA bailout of Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner:
- Letting the developer construct a project of significantly lesser public value under rubric of "value engineering" (translated, that means, among other things, constructing a train yard with 7 tracks rather than 9 or the original 10, delivering a project of much lesser quality, and with less “green space”).
- Giving the MTA’s property to the developer (property for which the developer did not bid in the first place) for a considerably smaller payment despite this currently being a time of financial need for the MTA. (We are now talking in terms of the pathetically paltry. See Atlantic Yards Report “What could $20 million buy?” series.)
- Less will be done by the developer up front, and
- Postponing, even further, the borrower’s obligation to deliver the ostensible benefits of the project. For instance, one housing tower that would be front-loaded with luxury units while others will be postponed.
The article continues by analyzing how the politics and economy have changed... and how little that matters, when the only one getting things done in Albany seems to be Bruce Ratner.
Posted by lumi at 5:38 AM
June 20, 2009
Brennan, other elected officials ask IBO to update its report on Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Testimony given by George Sweeting of The New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) indicated that the proposed Barclays arena will be a money loser for the City. The IBO is being called upon to complete its cost/benefit analysis of the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
Assemblyman Jim Brennan and five other elected officials have asked the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) to extend its testimony at the May 29 state Senate oversight hearing by completing a new analysis of the Atlantic Yards project.
The letter to Director Ronnie Lowenstein was signed by Assemblymembers Hakeem Jeffries and Joan Millman; State Senator Velmanette Montgomery; and Council Members Letitia James and David Yassky.
IBO spokesman Doug Turetsky responds, "We are considering how best to follow up the testimony with an updated fiscal impact analysis."
Posted by steve at 10:25 AM
June 18, 2009
David Yassky Weasels on Atlantic Yards
Daily Gotham
Among Atlantic Yards watchdogs, David Yassky is notorious for trying to have it both ways (aka "The Yassky-Nossky"). These days, he's not too proud of his track record and is trying to recast himself as an anti-project crusader.
Daily Gotham blogger "Mole333" takes readers down memory lane:
During the campaign for Congress, Yassky had a habit of doing favors for supporters.... Similarly, right after Yassky was endorsed by BUILD President James Caldwell, a Ratner ally, Yassky proposed relieving Ratner of his promise to fund BUILD and instead funding it with city money. This second devil's bargain seemed to ally Yassky with Ratner, and given his weak language regarding Atlantic Yards, most voters assumed Yassky was pro-Atlantic Yards.
I always said that had Yassky been stronger on that one issue, he could have won the Congressional race. Instead he weaseled, and lost.
NoLandGrab.org: This should come as no surprise. Remember, this is the City Councilmember who first proposed that the extension of term limits be decided by a voter referendum. That didn't pass, so he (naturally) cast his own vote in support of the extension.
Posted by lumi at 6:29 AM
June 11, 2009
Dean backs Josh Skaller for council seat
PWW.org
by Dan Margolis
Atlantic Yards pops up as a key campaign issue in this People's Weekly World story about the race to replace Bill de Blasio in the NY City Council.
Skaller has distinguished himself as being the only candidate to have always been fully against Atlantic Yards, a project to be funded with billions of public dollars, though it is a for-profit project by private mega-developer Forest City Ratner. Forest City wants to build luxury condos and a sports arena, and would seize private homes and businesses through eminent domain. Since the area’s median income is $29,000, the plan to replace exiting housing with expensive condos has been termed “instant gentrification.”
NoLandGrab: The "plan" also includes affordable units — some day, some way, maybe, maybe not.
Posted by eric at 8:32 AM
June 7, 2009
Markowitz Embraces New Arena Design
The New York Post catches Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz in a contradiction as he praises the new design for the proposed Barclays Center. Norman Oder hopes that this is the beginning of new wisdom for the Post.
New York Post, Brooklyn Beep's Big Basketball Spin
Now that star architect Frank Gehry is out as designer for the Nets' planned Brooklyn arena, Borough President Marty Markowitz is flip-flopping and claiming it's for the best.
In December 2003, when developer Bruce Ratner first unveiled his plans for the Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights, Markowitz called the Gehry design "world class."
But yesterday, a day after Ratner announced that Missouri-based Ellerbe Becket had been tapped to replace Gehry so arena costs could be shaved, Markowitz told The Post he now believes Gehry's glass-and-steel design was "too ultramodern."
"I think the new design is actually better for Brooklyn," said Markowitz, the project's biggest booster.
Gehry declined comment.
Atlantic Yards Report, The Post says Markowitz flip-flops (and what about the Mayor?)
So, a local newspaper is playing "gotcha," calling out one piece of AY hypocrisy. Let's see if there's more.
The New York Post reports: Now that star architect Frank Gehry is out as designer for the Nets' planned Brooklyn arena, Borough President Marty Markowitz is flip-flopping and claiming it's for the best.
In December 2003, when developer Bruce Ratner first unveiled his plans for the Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights, Markowitz called the Gehry design "world class."
But yesterday, a day after Ratner announced that Missouri-based Ellerbe Becket had been tapped to replace Gehry so arena costs could be shaved, Markowitz told The Post he now believes Gehry's glass-and-steel design was "too ultramodern."
The Post could have pointed to Mayor Mike Bloomberg's flip-flop, as well, but quoted Bloomberg's statement without comment.
Posted by steve at 8:17 AM
May 31, 2009
Council candidate Lander, in testimony prepared for Senate hearing, gets tougher on AY, saying deal should be canceled
Atlantic Yards Report
City council candidate Brad Lander alters his stance on Atlantic Yards to one that begins to look more like that taken by his rival Josh Skaller. Skaller has maintained an anti-Atlantic Yards stance from the time he first announced his candidacy.
It was notable that, at the State Senate hearing Friday, the only legislators to appear in favor of the project were three (one via proxy) from Southern Brooklyn, far from the project site and the area from which Forest City Ratner executive VP Bruce Bender can always call in chits. Even Borough President Marty Markowitz neglected to show up or send an emissary.
And, though there was much extraneous testimony that had nothing to do with the hearing's ostensible purpose of government oversight, there were several people who didn't get to testify.
One would-be elected official, 39th District Council Candidate (and urban planner) Brad Lander, submitted testimony calling for legislators to pressure Governor David Paterson and the Empire State Development Corporation to cancel the AY deal. The issues he raised were ones the legislators barely touched.
His reasons:
- a need for a full accounting of public subsidies
- a need for a new economic and cost-benefit analysis
- a need to investigate whether land valuation for the PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes) deal would be as questionable as the one for Yankee Stadium.
Follow the link for further details and excerpts from Lander's testimony.
Posted by steve at 9:29 AM
Atlantic Yards Combatants Finally Forced To Sit Through State Senate Hearing
The Village Voice
By Neil deMause
Here's an excerpt of a story covering Friday's state hearing by the expert of arena/stadium financing from Field of Schemes.
Yesterday was the long-awaited — like, six years long — first state legislative hearing on Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, with State Senator Bill Perkins convening his Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Committee (think of him as the Senate version of Richard Brodsky) at Pratt Institute.
While there were lots of questions that could have been raised, the one most everyone is wondering was: Is it still happening, and if so, does it bear the slightest resemblance to the vision that Ratner and then-architect Frank Gehry unveiled back in the Friends era?
Or will it now be a stripped-down arena surrounded by what the Municipal Art Society has dubbed Atlantic Lots?
Unfortunately, those best able to answer this question — Forest City Ratner, the Nets owner's family development company — were announced to be a no-show. Errol Louis in Thursday's Daily News claimed that Forest City Ratner wasn't invited to testify; Perkins said he did too invite them, by fax, mail, and email. At least one Forest City rep was spotted in the audience, but he declined Perkins' entreaties to come on down.
In their absence, it was left to various unelected officials to make the case that the project is still on track, just with some, um, adjustments. Empire State Development Corporation chief Marisa Lago said that the "value engineering" Ratner is now engaged in — including, reportedly, ditching Gehry for off-the-rack arena designers Ellerbe Becket — didn't represent "downsizing" of the arena plus office tower plus affordable housing plus unaffordable housing that Ratner originally agreed to: "You're getting a new kitchen, just some of the shiny chrome finishes are going to be changed." Metropolitan Transportation Authority interim president Helena Williams noted that Forest City has "proposed revisions to some of the deal terms" it agreed to in 2006, including "a smaller up front payment for the land" than the $100 million the developer originally promised (Louis reported this as a $20 million down payment; Williams declined to name a figure), something she said the MTA board will discuss at its next meeting on June 24th.
This piece ends by noting of one of the most remarkable moments of the day from Independent Budget Office deputy director George Sweeting:
"Most of the new tax revenue that's generated from the project comes from the office space," added Sweeting. "If the project that finally emerges has less commercial office space, then presumably that tax revenue piece that's spun off from there will be lower."
Nobody booed, but that could have just been because they weren't paying attention.
Posted by steve at 6:59 AM
State Lawmakers Hold Hearing on Atlantic Yards
WNYC
by Matthew Schuerman
State lawmakers have held a hearing on the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, even though the project was approved three years ago. As WNYC's Matthew Schuerman reports, Friday's gathering was a raucous one.
Sound: Crowd booing...
REPORTER: Construction workers and other supporters of the project packed the 200-seat auditorium in Brooklyn where the hearing was held. Throughout the four hour hearing, they shouted down the lawmakers holding the hearing and accused them of trying to delay the project, which is three years behind schedule. One man told Senator Bill Perkins to go back to Harlem.
SPEAKER: We want the project. You should go back to Harlem
REPORTER: Perkins heads the legislative committee that oversees the state agency that oversees Atlantic Yards and said he had a responsibility to ask questions. The developer, Forest City Ratner, is promising to break ground finally this fall.
Posted by steve at 6:52 AM
May 30, 2009
Locals, Lawmakers Still Divided Over Atlantic Yards
NY1
At a Friday hearing in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, state officials called to separate fact from fiction when talking about the future of controversial Atlantic Yards project.
"Bring transparency to this process and to understand not only where we are, how we got here, where we're going, but also for the future, how we can do better," said Manhattan State Senator Bill Perkins.
The economy is not just threatening to change the scale of the plan, but the benefits it might deliver for the city.
Back in 2005, a basketball arena alone was expected to yield some $25 million dollars in economic benefits, according to the city's Independent Budget Office.
Now that the cost of financing the project has nearly doubled for the city, the office predicts that financial boost will disappear. Its numbers suggest the arena will become a money-loser in the end.
Posted by steve at 7:26 AM
May 26, 2009
A closer look at the Borough President's budget, his marquee Coney project, and the off-books funding via the mayor's office
Atlantic Yards Report
It's 10 a.m. Do you know where your Borough President is spending your tax dollars?
City Council Member and Comptroller candidate David Yassky is on to something with his It's Your Money NYC web site showing recent City Council earmarks. We need a lot more transparency, and it should go beyond the City Council.
After all, do we know what Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz does with his operating budget? Sort of, but it takes a little digging.
Do we know what Markowitz does with his discretionary budget? Not quite.
Do we know what Markowitz does with his capital budget, by far the greatest pot of money he controls?
People might be surprised to learn that some $24.6 million, more than a third of the total this year, is directed to the $64 million amphitheater planned for Asser Levy