Greg David (gingerly) and Michael D. D. White (righteously) look at the Kruger case and Forest City Ratner

Greg David of Crain's New York Business has always been an Atlantic Yards booster, which means he has to approach the charges against state Senator Carl Kruger a bit gingerly, in Albany's snooze button and business:

Real estate interests. One of the most fascinating sections of the charges details Mr. Kruger's efforts to find state funds to help Forest City Ratner pay for infrastructure improvements at its Atlantic Yards development and at the same time help the firm's chief government relations executive get money for Brooklyn's Prospect Park, where his wife served on the board. The U.S. attorney says Mr. Krueger's efforts were the results of bribes Mr. Lipsky paid him with his retainer from Forest City. This makes two black eyes for Forest City. It won approval for a major mixed-use developments in suburban Yonkers only after a city councilperson changed their vote, which the U.S. attorney charges was in response to a bribe from a Forest City consultants. Forest City has not been charged in either case.

Well, I'm not sure Kruger acted because of Lipsky, but it's curious that David merely calls it "most fascinating."

Tougher stuff

By contrast, in Lightning Keeps Striking: It Couldn’t Happen To Some More Deserving People . . Over and Over, Again- Ratner, Illegal Bribes and Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Noticing New York blogger Michael D. D. White writes:

It may also be described as the couldn’t happen to a better person phenomenon. That is to say that sometimes when you have watched the operations of a firm like Forest City Ratner closely for a long time you have found yourself wondering for just how long they are going to escape the consequence of a certain style of heinously cynical conduct. Looks like the answer may be not much longer. . . or, at least, not forever.