NEW YORK, NY— Over 3,600 letters, signed by Brooklynites and other New Yorkers, were hand delivered today to Governor George Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the three men who control the votes on the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB). The letters were also delivered to Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
The letters, collected over a four week period, urge the postponement
of any PACB vote on the “Atlantic Yards” project until after the federal
lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the project’s use of
eminent domain is resolved in court. That lawsuit was filed on
October 26th in the Eastern District.
The letters state:
If the PACB were to approve the project prior to judicial
resolution, substantial numbers of buildings at the site could be demolished.
If at a later date, however, the courts were to disallow the
use of eminent domain, many aspects of the project, including the arena,
could not be built, and the community would be left with a demolition
site amid acres of vacant land. This uncertainty regarding
the project’s viability, prior to a court decision, requires a postponement
of any decision by the PACB.
A copy of the letter can be found here
www.dddb.net/pacb/letter.pdf
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein said, “The thousands of people who signed this letter expect the members of the PACB to do the responsible and wise thing by postponing their vote until there is legal resolution of the eminent domain lawsuit. A project whose entire legality is in question should not be approved unless that matter is resolved and the project is shown to be constitutional.”
Just last week the Assemblymembers representing districts surrounding
the proposed project siteJim Brennan, Joan Millman, and Annette Robinsonalso
requested postponement of the PACB vote. Their letter can be found here:
www.nolandgrab.org/docs/pols/MillBrennanRobinson.pdf
Approval of the $4.2 billion, 8 million square foot “Atlantic Yards” proposal
requires a unanimous vote by the PACB.
