Flashback: in May 2009 renegotiation, Bloomberg aide promised the MTA could get development rights back if nothing were built at the railyard. Not quite.
As I wrote May 12 ( link ), no one official seemed to take seriously the deadline that day to start the platform--which would support six towers--over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard. That meant a seemingly generous 15-year window was waved away. So it's worth going back to the June 24, 2009 renegotiation of the deal by original developer Forest City Ratner to buy development rights from the MTA over and in the three-block, 8.5-acre railyard. Notably, as explained below, a key MTA board member who defended the renegotiation suggested it was at no risk, because the state authority could always get the development rights back if nothing were built. Not exactly. The reality today is that the set of transactions is more complex than discussed, and the state authority is not in line to get the development rights back, even though the deadline--set by a different state authority--has been breached and nothing's been built. Deal contours Instead of pa...