ESD board meets Thursday, but comments required *the day before.* Will the Atlantic Yards stall be discussed? The Agenda hasn't emerged.

There's a monthly meeting this Thursday, March 23, at 9:30 am, of the Directors of the New York State Urban Development Corporation d/b/a Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that, among other things, oversees/shepherds Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.

It's probably wise to keep an eye on ESD meetings since that's where discussion about the murky future of Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park might surface. 

You'd think it would be appropriate to alert the board that developer Greenland USA has lost its Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park point man and has paused or discarded plans to start the platform--and likely wants to renegotiate the looming fines for missing the May 2025 affordable housing deadline.

The meeting is hybrid--in person at ESD offices in midtown Manhattan, and viewable via webcast.

Limited transparency

Either way, however, they're using the pandemic to limit the ability to comment. Pre-pandemic, members of the public at the meetings could get up and comment after hearing the discussion.

Now the procedure requres comments on Agenda items in writing to ESD@esd.ny.gov by noon the day before the meeting. 

That comes with two limits on transparency. First, it's unclear when the Agenda will be posted, which means the window of opportunity to comment is unclear.

Second, of course, a comment on an Agenda item is not the same as a response or reaction to the ESD Directors' discussion of those Agenda items.