In February, I pointed out that Mayor Mike Bloomberg, on his campaign web site, neglected to mention two new baseball stadiums and a long-stalled basketball arena, much less that subsidies for the latter might make the arena a money loser for the city.
Indeed, since then, the Independent Budget Office has estimated that the arena would be a loss for the city. In the latest issue of the free newspaper Fed Up New Yorkers (FUNY), Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Daniel Goldstein focuses on AY, writing:
On June 24th he pressured the MTA Board into approving a new sweetheart land rights deal for Forest City Ratner. Just after the MTA had been bailed out, purportedly fiscally prudent Bloomberg pressured the Board to accept $20 million up front and $80 million over 22 years from Ratner for the rights to the valuable 9-acre rail yard portion of the Atlantic Yards site in the heart of Brooklyn. Never mind that the yards had been appraised at $214.5 million and Ratner had originally agreed to pay $100 million in cash at closing, after a non-competitive, sham of a bidding process.
Sole-source, no-bid contracts and cronyism for a money-losing, publicly funded arena do not demonstrate sound economic stewardship.
Bloomberg's Waterloo?
I don't think that "the fight against Atlantic Yards, with victory in reach for the community, may very well be Bloomberg’s Waterloo," as Goldstein suggests. After all, Bloomberg--barring much stronger campaigning by leading Democratl Bill Thompson and/or some sort of game-changing event--has the advantage of incumbency as well as extremely deep pockets.
And Thompson, unlike less-funded Democratic rival Tony Avella or the Green Party's Rev. Billy Talen, has shown no appetite for making Atlantic Yards an issue. But it deserves continued scrutiny.
Indeed, since then, the Independent Budget Office has estimated that the arena would be a loss for the city. In the latest issue of the free newspaper Fed Up New Yorkers (FUNY), Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Daniel Goldstein focuses on AY, writing:
On June 24th he pressured the MTA Board into approving a new sweetheart land rights deal for Forest City Ratner. Just after the MTA had been bailed out, purportedly fiscally prudent Bloomberg pressured the Board to accept $20 million up front and $80 million over 22 years from Ratner for the rights to the valuable 9-acre rail yard portion of the Atlantic Yards site in the heart of Brooklyn. Never mind that the yards had been appraised at $214.5 million and Ratner had originally agreed to pay $100 million in cash at closing, after a non-competitive, sham of a bidding process.
Sole-source, no-bid contracts and cronyism for a money-losing, publicly funded arena do not demonstrate sound economic stewardship.
Bloomberg's Waterloo?
I don't think that "the fight against Atlantic Yards, with victory in reach for the community, may very well be Bloomberg’s Waterloo," as Goldstein suggests. After all, Bloomberg--barring much stronger campaigning by leading Democratl Bill Thompson and/or some sort of game-changing event--has the advantage of incumbency as well as extremely deep pockets.
And Thompson, unlike less-funded Democratic rival Tony Avella or the Green Party's Rev. Billy Talen, has shown no appetite for making Atlantic Yards an issue. But it deserves continued scrutiny.
while a defeat of AY may not end Bloomberg's rule as Emperor of NY, it may force (or be) an end to his 8 year mega-development policy, and the signature failure for his legacy.
ReplyDelete