Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

From Devotion NYC This is among multiple articles covering issues raised at the March 15 Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation (AY CDC) meeting. It came near the end of the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation meeting, and generated only mild follow-up. But in the board's one year existence, the few community members willing to comment at a daytime meeting have mainly addressed community impacts. This time, Michael West of the fledgling organization Devotion NYC , came to excoriate Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park developer Forest City Ratner (now part of Greenland Forest City partners) for exploiting Central Brooklyn communities that once supported the project's Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). It's not the first expression of disillusionment by a former supporter, or even the loudest, but it may be the most sustained (though perhaps tamped down if Forest City responds with more information and funds for CBA implementation, though I wouldn...

I wrote 2/24/16 how Michael West of Devotion NYC, the fledgling organization pushing for community accountability, met with Forest City External Affairs executive Ashley Cotton, reporting that she "confidently communicated a number of stats regarding employment, construction contracting, post-construction contracting, business development and more." West said the "figures sounded overwhelmingly positive upon first listen. She agreed to send us [a written record]! This is a huge for the community." I responded skeptically that Forest City had not even hire the Independent Compliance Monitor required by the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement. Well, Devotion NYC followed up, reporting  2/29/16: We gave Ashley additional time. We asked her for a full report on F.C.R.C.’s C.B.A. work in the area of economic development. She agreed to deliver the statistics in writing. Ms. Cotton was given a week to produce this report, but she’s failed to produce anythi...