Progressive Democrat Issue 114: NYC FOCUS

If you wanted to buy some land to develop for your own profit, would you expect taxpayers to pay the entire bill for you? Well, if you are a law school buddy of Pataki, that is exactly the sweet deal you could get while Pataki was Governor...and the exact deal Bruce Ratner seems to have gotten with you and me footing the bill.

This comes via Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.

According to the March 9th 2007 Daily News New York City is spending $100 million to buy the property on or near the 22-acre Atlantic Yards site for developer Forest City Ratner.

Of the $205 million proposed to support the project in the Mayor's preliminary budget, $100 million is slated for land acquisition costs and $105 million for roads, utilities and other infrastructure needs, according to EDC officials.

The state is chipping in an additional $100 million.

David Yassky was pretty angry upon hearing this:

"There's no justification to spend public money like this," said Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights). "Government money should be spent on transportation infrastructure, schools and traffic calming - not subsidies for a private company.

Now, what is especially galling about this is that Bruce Ratner agreed to pay $100 million for the land, according to the September 07, 2005 issue of Commercial Property News:

Plans for Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards development continue to trudge along after would-be developer Bruce Ratner...yesterday offered to double his offer to develop a glass-walled arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team and a new rail yard. Ratner's $100 million bid, though still far short of rival bidder Extell Development Company's $150 million offer, plumps the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's budget by an extra $50 million.

Ratner's $100 million bid was finally accepted, part of the controversy where the low bid of a friend of then Governor Pataki was accepted over a higher bid. Now we learn that the city is planning to pay for the entirety of this land purchase?

Corruption runs deep in New York.

Contact your City Council member and the media to complain about this corruption surrounding Ratner and Pataki.


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