Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn2010-09-02T13:16:12.000-08:00Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyncontact@developdontdestroy.orghttp://www.dddb.net/MTA Also Mismanages Its Real Estatehttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27942010-09-02T07:12:00.000-08:00Atlantic Yards Report points out a "quote of the day" about the MTA and boy is it on the mark:
Quote of the day: quotThe M.T.A.An Inconsistent Editorial Page Is Worthlesshttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27932010-08-25T21:02:12.000-08:00What NoLandGrab said.Seven Years Later Atlantic Yards Gets an Official State Project Manager. But Who Is She?http://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27922010-08-24T13:47:35.000-08:00Norman Oder breaks the news that the Empire State Development Corporation will soon announce, for the first time, the state's project manager for the Atlantic Yards project.Look What Barclays Is Up Tohttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27912010-08-19T16:26:11.000-08:00Is Barclays really the kind of "corporate citizen" whose logo we want plastered all over the crossroads of Brooklyn
and that should benefit from taxpayer subsidies?Norman Oder reports:
Barclays, beneficiary of what judge calls "sweetheart deal," agrees to pay $298 million to settle prosecution for "trading with the enemy"
So Barclays Bank PLC, the "major global financial services provider," is in the news this week, and it's not because the company has committed more than $200 million to plaster its name on the in-construction Atlantic Yards arena, aka the Barclays Center.
Nor is it because Forest City Ratner has promised $4 million to add the Barclays Center name to the Atlantic Avenue/Pacific Street transit hub.
Rather, it's because Barclays has committed, as part of deferred prosecution agreements, "to forfeit $298 million to the United States and to the New York County District Attorney8217s Office in connection with violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA)," according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Essentially, the bank used subterfuge to let banks from Cuba, Iran, Libya, Sudan, and Burma, as well as prohibited persons, move money through the U.S.Watch the New "Battle of Brooklyn" Trailerhttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27902010-08-17T08:20:52.000-08:00The filmmakers at Rumur have posted a not-to-be-missed trailer for their in production Atlantic Yards film Battle of Brooklyn.
From Rumur:
We have been hard at work on the cut and are extremely happy with how the film is coming together.Markowitz Upset That Russian Oligarch May Not Be Into That "Brooklynish Thing"http://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27892010-08-12T19:26:57.000-08:00On the same day his buddies Bruce Ratner and Mikhail Prokhorov are laying waste to one of Brooklyn's great community barsFreddy's Bar and BackroomBEEP Markowitz is upset about reports of yet another Atlantic Yards bait-and-switch.In Court Argument Atlantic Yards Called An Embarrassment Of Democracyhttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27882010-08-11T08:09:55.000-08:00DDDB attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff took roughly one hour in court yesterday to lay out the "highlights" of the whole sordid Atlantic Yards partnership between Ratner and the ESDC.Guess What? Atlantic Yards "Affordable Housing" Won't Be Affordablehttp://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27872010-08-10T20:12:43.000-08:00No surprise here (and also no public statement of outrage from ACORN or its spokespeople, which is also no surprise). Norman Oder spells it out on his Atlantic Yards Report:
Orwellian, almost: that first Atlantic Yards tower most likely would have most quotaffordablequot units at market rate
Remember, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) asserts that "Whatever the pace may be for the delivery of the many public benefits of the Atlantic Yards Project, the nature of those benefits remains the same."
I wrote yesterday that such a claim was poppycock--of course affordable housing and tax revenues arriving at a vastly slower schedule would make a difference.
Here's another reason why: the nature of those benefits, at least when it comes to the first subsidized housing units, would in fact change.
Remember, the Atlantic Yards affordable housing was sold to the public and supported by ACORN as a way to help the poor.Judge to Grapple With Fundamental Atlantic Yards Issue on Tuesday (the 10th)http://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27862010-08-09T06:06:57.000-08:00Norman Oder surveys the issues at stake in tomorrow's (Tuesday the 10th) continued oral argument
(and in the other outstanding Atlantic Yards issue):
In court Tuesday, a continuation of the lawsuit charging that AY benefits have changed so much the eminent domain findings should be reissued
It looks like not one but two judges will have to grapple with a fundamental charge regarding Atlantic Yards: that the project has changed so much since its approval in 2006 that the findings at that time--regarding both the environmental impact of the project and its expected benefits--are no longer valid.
That doesn't mean the judges will rule in favor of those challenging the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).Atlantic Yards Timetable is "Complete, Utter Fantasy"http://www.dddb.net/php/latestnews_Linked.php?id=27852010-08-08T08:36:46.000-08:00Norman Oder takes a look at Friday's oral argument in front of Judge Gerges in Kings County Supreme Court. The plaintiffs' argument is that Atlantic Yards has changed so substantially from its approval in 2006 that New York State needs to issue new findings and determinations as to what is the public use of the project.