tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post39332355108422050..comments2024-03-28T05:19:17.215-04:00Comments on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report: Doctoroff's resignation draws praise, but AY is conspicuously ignoredNorman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-82390806987912816812007-12-07T23:42:00.000-05:002007-12-07T23:42:00.000-05:00While I'm not as anti-Doctoroff as some, it seems ...While I'm not as anti-Doctoroff as some, it seems to me that he, the Bloomberg administration and, indirectly the public sector, are all being greatly overpraised!<BR/><BR/>People talk as though boom times have never, ever occurred in New York City before, and that such boom times are impossible unless they are first directed and/or financed (directly or indirectly) by City Hall! Which is especially odd, since most of Doctoroff's supposed successes haven't even come to fruition -- for good or bad -- yet.<BR/><BR/>And in addition to the Atlantic Yards boondoggle, there are the West Side stadium boondoogle and the Olympic bid boondoogle. (Yes, I do think it's fair to count them as two separate boondoggles.) It seems to me that the Bloomberg administration (along with the Pataki administration) was actually more of an obstruction to the redvelopment of Lower Manhattan rather than a catalyst!!! And did the Republic convention scare away or divert as much economic activity as it was said to have generated?<BR/><BR/>Overall it seems to me that Doctoroff, and the Bloomberg administration that he represented, were/are more interested in meddling in the city's economic development than truly helping it along. So much so that, as with Atlantic Yards, they were/are willing to actually throw out TRUE economic development (which isn't likely to be as photogenic) in order to foster faux economic development (which often is photogenic).<BR/><BR/>Plus a lot of the rezonings that Doctoroff is being praised for (and which appear to account for a large bulk of the praise) may have actually been the work of Amanda Burden.<BR/><BR/>It still seems to me that the biggest public sector contributor to the city's economic growth has been Rudy Giuliani's restoration of a sense of public safety -- which seems to me to have enabled a great blossoming of many city districts and businesses.Benjamin Hemrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02774747428869052111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-18988007837558021862007-12-07T12:42:00.000-05:002007-12-07T12:42:00.000-05:00In his interview on WNYC the morning of 12/07/2007...In his interview on WNYC the morning of 12/07/2007 Mr. Doctoroff stressed, as he has done other times, that part of the legacy he leaves behind is a greater appreciation that New York City is a city that goes through real estate cycles (does this observation portend a cooling?). But, to the extent that this is so, the Bloomberg administration’s stress on success and prosperity via income from the cyclically closing of real estate transactions rather than increasing real estate values and therefore general tax revenue is inconsistent. Decisions that disregard or discount the interest of neighboring full tax-paying properties in favor of the interests of closing individual real estate transactions (for properties that will be off the tax rolls for an extended period of time thereafter) are an example of this inconsistency.MDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-67875631114045083692007-12-06T21:58:00.000-05:002007-12-06T21:58:00.000-05:00And where is possible to find the elephant in the ...And where is possible to find the elephant in the room legacy item for Doctoroff’s City hall career not reported on just as if the Mayor’s revision history press release, scrubbed clean of Atlantic Yards, were an accurate guide to his tenure? The New York Times managed to run an entire article on Doctoroff’s departure that doesn’t mention Atlantic Yards. Does that seems strange or just a recurring theme?<BR/><BR/>See: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/nyregion/07doctoroff.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin<BR/><BR/>“Deputy Mayor Leaving to Run Bloomberg L.P.” (Published: December 7, 2007)MDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-59018964720563546592007-12-06T19:06:00.000-05:002007-12-06T19:06:00.000-05:00Just how conspicuously the Mayor’s press release i...Just how conspicuously the Mayor’s press release ignores Atlantic Yards is incredible, very telling and should be an extraordinary caution to NYC politicians. Because it will be so extraordinarily blighting and such an unjustified diversion of City funds (is the City Council listening to this?- The funds can be reclaimed!) Atlantic Yards is arguably the most important and pivotal thing happening in New York City at the moment. Many other things would probably be happening in some form or fashion anyway just as the West Side was underway before Doctoroff arrived and just as much of the impetus for the High Line preservation has grass roots origin and sustenance. But without Doctoroff/Bloomberg and Pataki/Spitzer (and Markowitz) Atlantic Yards would not involve such a devastating aberrant and destructive proposal. Much of the Mayor’s 2030 Plan is an in futuro baby-in-the-womb. The Mayor and Doctoroff deserve credit with respect to it but the future we face will inevitable have to bring much of this sustainability approach to the fore anyway. Others were ahead on this curve and it would have been nice if this could have been embarked upon in time so that it would not largely have to be some other mayor footing the bill after the real estate boom has cooled and Atlantic Yards has helped rob the kitty.<BR/><BR/> Notwithstanding that, very much for the worst, Atlantic Yards is Doctoroff’s biggest legacy item, the Mayor’s press release mentions Doctoroff accomplishment items, including THIRTEEN bulleted items all of which are less significant than Atlantic Yards and does not mention Atlantic Yards. But because Atlantic Yards is the big one, everyone reacting does.<BR/><BR/> So, it is time for other politicians to think. When their time comes, will their failure to be effective in the face of the Atlantic yards debacle be the elephant in the room that goes unmentioned as smaller resume-filler stuff is shuffled up to the front as a distraction? An ineffective distraction- because ineffectiveness (in stopping Atlantic Yards) will beget such ineffectiveness.MDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.com