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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park FAQ, timeline, and infographics (pinned post)

"Orwellian, almost": ESDC says construction schedule = "useful timetable," but Bruce Ratner admits "projects take a long time"

Yet another "Orwellian, almost" explanation from the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), in Response to Comments document issued at the September 17 board meeting.

Comment 24: The ESDC has not provided a useful timetable for full project build-out.

Response: The Technical Memorandum provides an updated detailed construction schedule for the Project.

Is a construction schedule a "useful timetable"?

Ratner: "projects take a long time"

Just today, Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner acknowledged to Alexis Glick of Fox Business News, "And our track record as a company is that projects take a long time, they're large, that's what our company does--we do development, that's our business--it takes a long time but we finish what we do. This is I think another example of that."

That echoes words from cousin Chuck Ratner, CEO of parent Forest City Enterprises, who told investment analysts in March 2007, "We are terrible, and weā€™ve been a developer for 50 years, on these big multi-use, public private urban developments, to be able to predict when it will go from idea to reality. All we know is that if we pick the right place and weā€™re in with the right people, that over time weā€™re going to create tremendous value."

After all, despite an official timetable (and construction schedule) of a decade, the deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority establishes a 22-year schedule and the ESDC gives Forest City Ratner 25 years.

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