Atlantic Yards Report

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207434592009-07-04T11:03:25.651-04:00Atlantic Yards ReportThis watchdog blog offers analysis, commentary, and reportage about Forest City Ratner's planned $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project, the largest ever in Brooklyn, to build a basketball arena plus at least 16 high-rise buildings. It follows up on my 9/1/05 report on New York Times coverage of the project and the TimesRatnerReport blog (links below).Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.comBlogger2450125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-57048718117556815362009-07-04T07:22:00.001-04:002009-07-04T07:23:47.305-04:00The "Ratner Unit" and the"Brooklyn Nets of New Jersey"

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-3898087048716677022009-07-04T05:54:00.001-04:002009-07-04T05:54:00.683-04:00In New York magazine, some (partly) misplaced regret for the lost Gehry design

Longtime critics of Atlantic Yards know that the removal of architect Frank Gehry is part of a pattern of not-so-trustworthy behavior by developer Forest City Ratner (whose reps swore for months that Gehry was still the architect), but New York magazine architecture critic Justin Davidson, like some other architecture aficionados, treats it as the ultimate betrayal.In a recent article headlined

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-37261010765143853122009-07-03T07:30:00.011-04:002009-07-03T12:53:22.134-04:00MediaStorm's "Hold Out" and a bit of fact-checking

Don't expect the brief video Hold Out, by the multimedia company MediaStorm, to provide a full sketch of the Atlantic Yards development, and don't even expect main character David Sheets (right), a crusty and compelling Dean Street resident and regular at Freddy's Bar & Backroom, to have all the facts.Backed by an ominous soundtrack, Sheets, a rent-stabilized tenant and plaintiff in the eminent

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-22788854070108472892009-07-03T02:35:00.002-04:002009-07-03T02:35:01.184-04:00Lawyer for footprint owners says ESDC effort to move tenants is premature

I wrote Wednesday that tenants and property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint have received letters from the law firm Berger & Webb, which represents the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in its pursuit of eminent domain, telling them it'll be time to move soon.Attorney Michael Rikon, who represents some footprint property owners, sent a letter of complaint to the ESDC, saying the

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-79970632006762715982009-07-03T02:10:00.003-04:002009-07-03T02:10:00.493-04:00ESPN The Magazine says Bruce Ratner is second-worst owner in pro sports

ESPN The Magazine via (NLG, which notes that the worst owner is bankrupt and is trying to sell his team to a guy who plans to move it out of the country!). The fans on NetsDaily are not optimistic.From the entry:Developer Bruce Ratner is starting to resemble that college friend who just wasn't ready to move on after graduation. Hey, Jersey, we're hitting snafus with that planned move to Brooklyn,

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-79407408098921824402009-07-02T02:12:00.002-04:002009-07-02T06:59:27.543-04:00Behind the state Senate turmoil: the real estate industry (with an AY angle)

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

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-67861047791713534962009-07-02T02:02:00.002-04:002009-07-02T02:02:04.553-04:00Atlantic Yards, 2010: the push for a second round of stimulus funds (I speculate)

Last week, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a new deal with Forest City Ratner for the Vanderbilt Yard and the Empire State Development Corporation took a crucial first step toward approval of a revised Modified General Project Plan.If the project does survive pending lawsuits, what then, given the uncertainty about any part of Atlantic Yards beyond the arena and one tower,

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-63627007093852819842009-07-02T01:40:00.000-04:002009-07-02T01:40:00.314-04:00The Times low-balls the total subsidies and tax breaks for Atlantic Yards

From a New York Times article yesterday headlined State’s Top Court Will Hear Appeal Against Atlantic Yards:Landowners and the group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn challenged the state’s plan to use eminent domain to acquire private property at Atlantic Yards on behalf of Mr. Ratner, who has received more than $300 million in cash subsidies and tax breaks.(Emphasis added)"More than $300 million"

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-20918702278472862972009-07-01T02:23:00.009-04:002009-07-01T02:23:00.568-04:00Right of way: ESDC letter warns AY footprint tenants/owners that relocation consultant will be knocking on the door

Tenants and property owners in the Atlantic Yards footprint have received letters from the law firm Berger & Webb, which represents the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in its pursuit of eminent domain, telling them it'll be time to move soon.One complication: the letter offers only services of a real estate agent and a modest $5000 stipend for residential services, not mentioning the

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-86640817846262031742009-06-30T09:30:00.011-04:002009-06-30T14:14:57.033-04:00State's highest court accepts eminent domain appeal; oral arguments in October, thus complicating AY end game

The Atlantic Yards end game just got a whole lot more complicated.Despite claims May 15 by Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner that the unanimous dismissal of the state eminent domain case in May "is really the last hurdle," the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, has accepted (PDF) an appeal in the case and won't hear oral arguments until the middle of October.While eminent domain law

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-86238671562516506602009-06-30T05:51:00.003-04:002009-06-30T05:57:44.300-04:00Read the fine print: Investment analysts in bed with Forest City look positively on post-dealmaking Forest City

A New York Observer piece yesterday, headlined Analysts: New Atlantic Yards Deal A 'Significant Positive' for Forest City Ratner, brought highly unsurprising news.From the report by investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW):While many of the details have not been completely outlined publicly, we believe staging a takedown of the land and paying for the air rights portion starting in 2012 is a

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-75016829593655942012009-06-30T02:15:00.003-04:002009-06-30T09:32:37.038-04:00The Partnership for New York City's evolving (and misleading) support for Atlantic Yards

The Partnership for New York City (PFNYC), which exemplifies the business community, is sure straining in its support for Atlantic Yards, dropping previous enthusiasm about Frank Gehry and affordable housing to focus on the goal of building an arena, while misleadingly suggesting that the project as it stands would generate many permanent jobs.The PFNYC is essentially the city's Chamber of

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-64374195981353519562009-06-29T13:27:00.004-04:002009-06-29T13:54:43.792-04:00In "Why Atlantic Yards matters" editorial, Crain's ignores inconvenient facts

In an editorial headlined Why Atlantic Yards matters: Mr. Ratner must act quickly, or it will be too late, Crain's New York Business goes to bat for Forest City Ratner.I've bolded sections for emphasis.The editorial states:Amid an outcry that the state and the MTA have given Forest City Ratner a sweetheart deal to keep alive its Atlantic Yards project, it's time to recall how this scheme

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-30991842577928435302009-06-29T06:36:00.003-04:002009-06-29T17:17:30.015-04:00Public hearing set for July 29 & 30; arena due 2012, 25 years to get Phase 2 started

A Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) legal notice (below; click to enlarge), which takes some three-quarters of a page in today's New York Post announces a public hearing on the Atlantic Yards Modified General Project Plan to be held from 2-5 pm and 6-8 pm on July 29 and July 30. The location: the Klitgord Auditorium (285 Jay Street) of New York City Technical College, where the epic 8/

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-70068883383999341792009-06-29T06:00:00.001-04:002009-06-29T06:00:16.258-04:00MIA again: The Times editorial page on the MTA's bailout of Ratner (except for the naming rights deal)

It wasn't surprising that the New York Daily News, whose editorial page supports Atlantic Yards without question, published a erroneous and disingenuous editorial on Saturday that justified the MTA's bailout of Forest City Ratner, allowing the developer to defer payments of $80 million over 22 years, at a generous interest rate, and to build a replacement railyard that would cost $100 million

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-91095376771881510092009-06-29T02:19:00.001-04:002009-06-29T02:19:00.655-04:00Video: MTA official say FCR's arena plans were "principal driver" of "cramped" timing for board to vote on revised deal

I now have video of a remarkable exchange during the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Finance Committee meeting last Monday, about which I wrote on Tuesday. The transcript below is more precise, and includes MTA Chief Financial Officer Gary Dellaverson explaining that if the board members felt cramped because they had less than 48 hours to evaluate a more generous deal with Forest City

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-71289763034727198922009-06-29T02:16:00.005-04:002009-06-29T06:27:52.773-04:00The Times's "arena glut" story suggests Barclays Center is on the way, marginalizes IBO's analysis as the work of "critics'

An article in today's New York Times, headlined As Arenas Sprout, a Scramble to Keep Them Filled, makes some valuable points, including the money-losing (Newark) Prudential Center's need to attract the Nets and/or have the Izod Center close down, but deserves several footnotes, since it in some places frames the Barclays Center too generously.The article begins:In the inaugural season for the new

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-15788960195819320812009-06-29T02:05:00.002-04:002009-06-29T02:05:01.935-04:00And how did the Courier-Life's Witt twist last week's news? With a head count

So, after three board meetings (with opportunity for public comment) in which state agencies advanced Atlantic Yards, how would the Courier-Life's notorious Stephen Witt sum it up?Well, his main story, headlined Bruce Ratner seals sweetheart deal with MTA, was better than the worst of the coverage, since it mentions the deferred payments and the generous interest rate, while ignoring the approval

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-85165777672705084752009-06-28T12:29:00.006-04:002009-06-28T16:41:59.246-04:00When the MTA's Hemmerdinger called the AY arena a "public good," he was fantasizing

"And I think, in this economy, jobs and an arena in Brooklyn is a public good.”--Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger, June 24"On Thursday, we made some critical personnel decisions to secure financial flexibility for player moves now and in the future in order to give you the best product on the court."--Nets president Rod Thorn, e-mail to season ticket holders, June

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-26962573098159459182009-06-28T11:45:00.007-04:002009-06-28T16:42:35.456-04:00The Bloomberg and Ratner dodge on indirect subsidies for Atlantic Yards

It was last December when the New York Observer broke the news that Forest City Ratner was seeking additional direct and indirect subsidies, the latter including a delay in paying the Metropolitan Transportation Authority the $100 million it pledged to pay for the Vanderbilt Yard.This week, after 48 hours after the deal surfaced, the MTA approved it.Noticing New York's Michael D.D. White points

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-24812164742059607012009-06-27T06:42:00.008-04:002009-06-27T09:19:20.859-04:00Daily News disses straphangers, endorses Ratner bailout

The Atlantic Yards-loving Daily News editorial board, in an editorial headlined Build, Bruce, build: Developer Ratner presses ahead on Atlantic Yards, ignores the economic impact on straphangers in its uncritical endorsement of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) bailout of Forest City Ratner, as well as the MTA board's unwillingness to negotiate from a position of strength.(See my

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-13776436170562536252009-06-27T02:07:00.004-04:002009-06-28T07:16:44.072-04:00"Fair market value," from 2004 to 2009

[F]or the land, the public land, the MTA land, is that, what we have agreed to is that we will lease or buy that land at the fair market value... by whatever independent process that they normally use.--Forest City Ratner executive Jim Stuckey, New York City Council hearing, 5/4/04 (transcript)Below are some quotes from the MTA board meeting on Wednesday in which the Metropolitan Transportation

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-61476085726635385342009-06-26T09:28:00.010-04:002009-06-28T07:17:25.765-04:00Nets for sale? SI says rumors explain Carter trade; deal contingent on Brooklyn move

So, Sports Illustrated reports that the Nets might be for sale, but not to an ownership group--as Newark Mayor Cory Booker contends is in the wings--that would keep them in New Jersey.Rather, the sale is contingent on the move to Brooklyn, which certainly makes sense. Should a new arena be built, there would be new revenues and the value of the team would go up. I just thought the [added:

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-59718026690707067152009-06-26T09:17:00.004-04:002009-06-26T09:23:28.821-04:00WNYC, following the Times, gets conclusory: "basketball arena... will soon be built"

WNYC apparently read the New York Times story Wednesday about the naming rights deal signed by Barclays, but not the corrective comment posted on the online article or on my (and others') blogs.So, just as the Times could declare "There will, however, soon be a Barclays Center," so an WNYC reporter could reference (starting at about 1:38 of the report) "the Nets basketball arena that will soon

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-20221691387052449882009-06-26T06:42:00.003-04:002009-06-26T06:50:55.715-04:00Crain's : blame Amanda Burden for the leaked "hangar" renderings

From Crain's Insider, under the headline Fixing Atlantic Yards:Forest City Ratner is hoping changes to its Brooklyn basketball arena will stop people from likening it to an airplane hangar. Renderings were leaked—by Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden, sources say—prompting ridicule. But the leak was early enough to allow time to amend the design. Forest City needs to break ground this year.The

Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.com0