Develop
Don't Destroy Brooklyn
For
Immediate Release: March 30, 2006
State
Legislators Bury $33 Million for Ratner Arena in Education
Fund
"Atlantic Yards" Developer, Seeking $100 Million,
Receives Subsidy
While
Proposal Remains a Financial, Planning and Environmental
Mystery
ALBANY, NY–As a sign that political support for its proposal
is waning, State legislators have proposed to grant $33 million
for Forest City Ratner's "Atlantic Yards" development
proposal in Brooklyn. Ratner had requested $100 million.
Developer Forest City Ratner (FCR) requested $100 million for
its 16 tower and arena proposal, but both houses have granted
and buried
$33 million of it in the proposed budget in an amendment
to the Education, Labor and Family Assistance Budget. The budget
item is lined "Atlantic Yards Railway-Nets project."
Develop Don't Destroy spokesman Daniel Goldstein said, "It appears
that Albany has put a basketball arena in the education budget.
To make matters worse, this giveaway has been made without
any knowledge of the proposed development’s: cost-benefit analysis,
scale, density, design, environmental impact, cost of mitigation,
financial viability, and security measuresto
name just a few of the unknowns about the development plan.
Goldstein continued, "Granting a single cent to Ratner at this
point is grossly premature. We'd like to know what other backroom
politics were at play 150 miles from the people of Brooklyn
who would have a front row seat to Ratner's destructive, publicly-subsidized,
sweetheart, backroom deal."
Brooklyn assembly members, such as Roger Green who represents
the district where the development is proposed and is an avid
Ratner booster, lost their one chance at using the Ratner request
for $100 million as legislative leverage to gain any meaningful
concessions or mitigations from the developer. In November,
Mr.
Green said, “"I didn't sign the C.B.A. and that was intentional,
because my position was that my ultimate endorsement on behalf
of this project would be the state legislation, the legislation
that would authorize the resources that they would need to complete
this project."
"We want an explanation about this giveaway from Assemblyman
Green and his colleagues, and we want it before this budget
item is voted on," Goldstein concluded.
The state has proposed this giveaway despite the fact that Forest
City Ratner has only provided this indecipherable, meaningless
20-year profit/loss financial projection to Albany and the
MTA (a real 20-year projection was required in the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority's Request For Proposals for Vanderbilt
rail yards.).
Reports say the body will vote on the budget package on Friday.
DEVELOP DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN leads
a broad-based community coalition
fighting for development that will unite our communities instead
of dividing and destroying them.
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