Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

Atlantic Yards has had its history of strange bedfellows, such as when opponents of the project allied themselves with libertarians challenging eminent domain. (Well, liberal jurisprudence, especially in New York, has stood for unfettered power for condemnors, including dubious "blight.")   Another example recently surfaced in this harsh tweet from the new, Bay Ridge-based Donald J. Trump Kings County Republican Club : The criticism is valid: Atlantic Yards was supposed to bring 2,250 affordable units to Brooklyn. Fast-forward nearly two decades... and 876 units are still missing. What’s the solution? Extend the deadline. Postpone the fines. Bend the rules. The people of Brooklyn were promised real homes. Instead, they’re getting real estate bait-and-switch. Let’s be clear: Penalties were meant to protect the public. Now they’re being “paused” to protect the developer. And you wonder why trust in government is gone? This is what systemic failure looks like, dressed in bu...

Last week, the Washington Post published a valuable investigative piece,  How Jared Kushner built a luxury skyscraper using loans meant for job-starved areas . It came a week after my similar but more limited article, published as a commentary (but really more reportage/analysis) in City & State, How Jersey City Unemployment Was Gerrymandered to Help Kushner Pitch Investor Visas . Did the WashPost rip me off? No. Their reporting started before my piece emerged. Did they go beyond my coverage? Yes, in some helpful ways, but also in part showing how (to me) EB-5 reporting is constrained. Did they fail at first to acknowledge my article? Yes, but after being nudged they did insert a minor reference. Did the WashPost article draw far more eyeballs and comments? Of course. The real question is, whose photoshop skills are better? pic.twitter.com/heungrfNl1 — Derek Evers (@derekevers) May 31, 2017 As the graphic shows, we both published maps, based on a records request to the...

Remember the "Bed-Stuy Boomerang" I uncovered in 2011 , which was used to gerrymander an area of high unemployment to enable cheap EB-5 financing from immigrant investors for Atlantic Yards? Well, such gerrymandering continues, and in my essay in City & State, I explain how that was done for a couple of very high-profile EB-5 projects, those involving the Kushner Companies in Jersey City, one branded as Trump Bay Street: HOW JERSEY CITY UNEMPLOYMENT WAS GERRYMANDERED TO HELP KUSHNER PITCH INVESTOR VISAS : It shouldn't be a surprise. Like some other real estate developers, the Kushner Companies, builders of two luxury apartment projects in Jersey City and owned by the family of President Trump’s aide and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have gamed the EB-5 investor visa system, getting their buildings officially located in zones of high unemployment – thanks to creative mapmaking. These maps, previously unreported, connect Kushner's 65 Bay Street project, marketed a...

Kushner family's reps in China were using Trump's name for months to guarantee green cards to investors. Our story: https://t.co/pD18tyDfNZ — Javier C. Hernández (@HernandezJavier) May 19, 2017 This seems either unrealistic or v sloppy. Big developers w/ EB-5 a) know Chinese firms exaggerate b) see material https://t.co/NduhvT3WST pic.twitter.com/cZkx6Eqazy — Eliot Brown (@eliotwb) May 20, 2017 @JesseDrucker Too bad NYT didn't get 2undermining of #EB5 premise. Middleman Nick M sed his projects don't need$. Thus no new jobs https://t.co/4nWpH0uvN8 — Norman Oder (@AYReport) May 19, 2017 #EB5 investigation #EB5IsARacket +Here's my coverage of shady Qiao Wai aka Qiaowai https://t.co/7Psf5tq38D #AtlanticYads https://t.co/WvbeNtUHuF — Norman Oder (@AYReport) May 13, 2017

From the New York Times, 4/20/17, From N.F.L. Owners to Florida Retirees, a Who’s Who of Inaugural Donors : A million dollars came from Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, whose family firm, the United States Immigration Fund, is a major force in the contentious federal EB-5 visa program . The program, which allows wealthy foreigners to seek United States residency in exchange for investments here, expires at the end of April; Mr. Trump has not yet taken a position on it. Updated and corrected version: Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, whose family firm, the United States Immigration Fund, is a major force in the contentious federal EB-5 visa program gave $100,000. The visa program, which allows wealthy foreigners to seek United States residency in exchange for investments here, expires at the end of April; Mr. Trump has not yet taken a position on it. Yes, indeed, EB-5 backers want the status quo--or a slightly modified version---to remain. As I wrote in City Limits,  Emerging Kushner Dea...

From Ben Adler's New Republic essay Why Lying Is So Easy for Trump: For New York developers, blatant deception isn't just good for business--it's completely legal : Bait-and-switch tactics are an everyday practice in Trump's industry. The real estate mogul Bruce Ratner dangled star architect Frank Gehry before city officials when seeking approval for the arena that would anchor his enormous Atlantic Yards development in downtown Brooklyn. Once the deal was in place, however, Gehry was booted off the project and a cheaper design was swapped in. And more than four years after the arena opened, local residents are still waiting for the eight acres of parks that Ratner pledged to create. I'd say that it's not "eight acres of parks," but rather "open space," and it's long been known it would take a while. The clear lie--part of what I call the Culture of Cheating --is describing the "park" as already in existence, as in promotiona...

A 1/13/17 letter to the Times: Apparently those cheering and applauding during President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference were Trump supporters invited by the Trump team who presumed that rather than attending a news conference they were at a Trump rally. Who decided this was a good idea? Is this the political equivalent of a laugh track for a sitcom?  STEVE HORWITZ Moraga, Calif. Why did that remind me of some Atlantic Yards events? No, they don't typically feature allies of the speakers heckling the press, but there's a lot of cheering and support. I remember the press conference before the August 2006 hearing on the environmental impact statement, or the December 2012 launch of the B2 (ala 461 Dean) tower, or the December 2014 groundbreaking for the B14 (aka 535 Carlton) tower. I'm not the only one to notice. Achitecture critic Karrie Jacobs called  the September 2012 Barclays Center ribbon-cutting ceremony "pageant of self-congratulatory bonhomie....

From The Hill, 1/3/17,  Celebs call on Congress to 'Stand Up' to Trump : A slew of high-profile stars — including Sally Field, former "The View" co-host Rosie Perez, “Westworld’s” Jeffrey Wright, Keegan-Michael Key and “Boardwalk Empire” actor Steve Buscemi — are calling on Congress to “vigorously oppose” any of President-elect Donald Trump’s “racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, anti-worker, anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-environmental policies.” ...The [video] message — which asks supporters to sign a MoveOn.org petition to be sent to members of Congress — was created by the social media campaign Humanity for Progress, formerly known as the pro-Hillary Clinton group, Humanity for Hillary. Here's the petition . Enter Ratner EW mentions that the video also " features an appearance by New York City developer Bruce Ratner." Indeed, there he is, at 20 seconds, somberly saying "hate crimes are rising" (since Trump won) and at 45 seconds say...

America’s First Real Estate Presidency , wrote Politico's Jack Shafer 12/7/16. Some excerpts: If you’re wondering what’s behind Trump's transition antics over the past few weeks—exaggerating the sticker cost of Air Force One, rolling the dice on an official phone call with Taiwan, sweet talking/shaking down Carrier to keep its factory in the United States—look no further than the real estate mind-set, which defines the way Trump thinks and acts. As a real estate guy, he always craved risk... Then there’s Trump’s unique relationship with the truth, which earned him a chart-busting 59 four-Pinocchio ratings from Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler during the campaign. That’s a whole lot of big, fat lies in a very short period; but by developer standards, it’s a modest haul.... Not all real estate lies are lies. Many are mere exaggerations, as when a landlord hypes a property’s sun-drenched patio that upon inspection turns out to be a grimy air shaft. Through his career, T...

Slate's Julia Turner 12/4/16 wrote The Stunt Presidency , subtitled "Donald Trump plans to replace governing with gimmickry. It’s already working." She pointed to the "many reasons to be skeptical" of Trump's claim to save 1,000 jobs at Carrier Corp., but says none matter: The incident shows how keenly Trump understands the power of a concrete example. The Carrier deal will be good for the workers whose jobs will stay in Indiana, yes, but it functions primarily as a stunt that expertly reinforces Trump’s brand. As a candidate, he promised to use his deal-making skills to improve the lot of the American worker. Now, nearly two months before he even takes the oath of office, he has delivered. No matter what happens on Trump’s watch—to Carrier, to the manufacturing sector, to employment numbers overall—there will be some set of voters, and not just Trump fans, who vividly remember this moment, thanks to its clarity, to its tangibility. Each critique of the...

Ok, maybe Forest City Ratner lost out on connections as the landlord for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin underestandably criticized Trump's posture toward women. Yes, Chairman Bruce Ratner reaffirmed that the city welcomes immigrants and "black lives matter." But despite whatever personal distaste executives and staff have, the company still has lots of links--and potential links--to Trump. (Both are  "creative with the truth," too.) And Forest City answers to shareholders and the bottom line. The D'Amato & Giuliani connection Politico reports that lobbyist (Park Strategies) and former Republican senator Al D’Amato is thrilled with the victory of President-elect Donald Trump and "suggested Trump should appoint former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani as attorney general." Not only is D'Amato one of the company's lobbyists in Washington, but Giuliani and Forest City Chairman Bruce Ratner have lon...