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Why the CBA Coalition is not like the ESDC

Two weeks ago, we saw the New York Times bizarrely try to compare the Brooklyn Public Library to Bruce Ratner because both might be involved in eminent domain cases.

Yesterday, in Metro, Delia-Hunley Adossa of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition, bizarrely tried to equate the coalition with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC).

Metro reported how Hunley-Adossa complained to local politicians that they should have gone through the coalition to express concerns about demolitions of buildings for interim surface parking:
“We told them, ‘Our concern is you never came to us. You jumped and went straight to the ESDC, to the new guy,” she said after the meeting. “Had you come to us, you would have known we are addressing these issues.”

CBA vs. ESDC

Well, the CBA signers have never held an open public meeting to answer questions from the community they represent. They are significantly funded by developer Forest City Ratner, though the developer won't reveal how much has been paid. They are represented by a p.r. firm paid for by FCR.

Hunley-Adossa's group, Brooklyn Endeavor Experience, is supposed to monitor environmental impacts during the construction process. The CBA states:
Therefore, the Developer shall be in compliance with this Agreement by following the state mandated process.

So maybe the elected officials should be talking to the ESDC, the overseers of the state-mandated process, after all.

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