Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

So, what's the mission of the Empire State Development Corporation (aka Empire State Development)? I previously explained how the role of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) evolved from slum clearance to business development, at one point adopting the identity NYLovesBiz.com .As the Buffalo News reported 2/2/95, new Governor George Pataki "has proposed sweeping changes that would consolidate the Department of Economic Development and Urban Development Corp. into a new agency, known as the Empire State Development Corp. Thirty initiatives will be abolished as a result." New Mission Statement Well, the agency no longer uses the phrase "New York Loves Business," but its Mission Statement and Performance Measures, adopted this past April and embedded below, state the following: Mission Statement The mission of Empire State Development is to promote business investment and growth that leads to job creation and prosperous communities across New York ...

The Brooklyn Paper, breathlessly, reports : Call it Zen and the art of basketball! The Brooklyn Paper has learned that the Barclays Center will be the first sports arena to feature a meditation chamber — an intriguing element that is one of the few unreported details of the widely covered home of the future Brooklyn Nets. .. “The idea is to say to people there are values in reflection, contemplation,” explained Daughtry, who gave the convocation at the groundbreaking ceremony for the arena last month . That link goes back to the Brooklyn Paper's coverage, which neglected to point out Daughtry's claim that the project site was a "long-neglected, rodent-infested, garbage-strewn strip of geography." Nor did the Brooklyn Paper's coverage of the state Senate oversight hearing last May point out Daughtry's regular heckling . An "atrium" and the CBA Daughtry has previously (as reported ) called it an "atrium," but the Community Benefits Agr...

Who's in charge of the Atlantic Yards project at the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC)? Is there an in-house project manager, a point person, similar in function to the way, for example, Regina Myer serves as president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation ? Is there a board with oversight responsibilities and a process for seeking local input? Nope. For a while, though, depending on whom you talk to, the ESDC had a volunteer in charge. ESDC response I asked the "who's in charge" question to the ESDC, and got the following response from spokeswoman Elizabeth Mitchell: The Atlantic Yards project, like most of the projects large and small here at ESDC, does not have a specific project manager. The project utilizes a team of professionals in our legal, planning, environmental, and design & construction groups to monitor various aspects of the project as appropriate. In addition, we’ve contracted with various independent contractors to act as...

Below, a collection of videos culled from the official coverage of the 1/5/10 state Senate oversight hearing on eminent domain called by Senator Bill Perkins. ESDC General Counsel Anita Laremont on the standards for Blight Studies ESDC General Counsel Anita Laremont is asked if consultant AKRF always finds blight ESDC General Counsel Anita Laremont is asked if AKRF worked for Forest City Ratner, as well Attorney Norman Siegel, who won an appellate court victory challenging eminent domain for the Columbia University expansion David Smith, Siegel's co-counsel in the Columbia case Condemnation Attorney Michael Rikon Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein Christina Walsh of the Institute for Justice Michael White of Noticing New York Christabel Gough of the Society for the Architecture of the City

This week's Brooklyn Paper , in its article on streets being closed to further construction of the Atlantic Yards arena--before legal challenges are resolved--mentions, albeit almost as an aside, that the Carlton Avenue Bridge would not reopen until April 2012, far longer than originally promised, as I reported . And is that included in the report (posted first on the New York Post's web site) from the Courier-Life's notorious Stephen Witt ? No. A scoop? In fact, Witt, thanks to a source (the developer?) unwilling to be quoted by name, declares that Construction on Barclays Arena commences , a conceptual scoop somehow not grasped by anyone else in the media: If it looks like construction, sounds like construction and money is spent on construction, then it’s a good bet that the Barclays Center arena at the Atlantic/Flatbush avenues intersection is already under construction. ...“We’re in the process of setting up a ceremonial groundbreaking, but we’ve already begun the w...

Well, thanks to the oversight hearing last week, we finally have a public answer to a question I posed in July 2007, when I queried the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) about guidelines regarding hiring consultants who formerly worked on the projects that they will review. There are virtually no guidelines. Though there's a paper-thin conflict-of-interest policy, described below, the ESDC's policy encourages the practice, essentially ensuring it will continue, absent legislative action. If the consultant, namely AKRF, has already been hired by the project applicant--such as Columbia University or Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner--that gives them an advantage , because the knowledge gained gives AKRF a head start and thus provides a more cost-effective product in the ESDC's eyes. While state Senator Bill Perkins considers the ESDC's policy of hiring AKRF--while it was simultaneously employed by Columbia and after it had done work for FCR--a ...

Empire State Development is New York’s chief economic development agency," according to a press release from the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) regarding the Atlantic Yards project. In legal papers, plaintiffs in the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case called the ESDC "a quasi-governmental corporation comprised of unelected directors beholden only to the Governor," and said that argued for less deference compared to decisions by elected legislative bodies on eminent domain, as case law suggested. Given that the ESDC board consists mainly of team players and big donors-- now more the former--I wrote in December 2006 that is best seen as an extension of the office of Governor George Pataki. State law calls it "a corporate governmental agency of the state, constituting a political subdivision and public benefit corporation," which a federal judge has shorthanded to a "public entity." So ESDC General Counsel Anita Laremont was not incorr...

The state Senate has posted a full video of the four-hour-plus hearing held January 5, chaired by state Senator Bill Perkins, on eminent domain, spurred by the Appellate Division's ruling that overturned--for now--the state's use of eminent domain for the Columbia University expansion. I've covered several aspects, including the hiring of consultant AKRF ; the murky Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation , or BALDC; the fact that the blight determination is seemingly made by the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) board; and the need to reform eminent domain and the definition of blight. But the video, especially the first hour, is worth a look, since it shows the three ESDC representatives on the spot. General Counsel Anita Laremont, at center, did most of the talking, while Executive VP Darren Bloch, at right, chimed in occasionally, and Executive Director Peter Davidson remained silent. As the screenshot suggests, both Bloch and Davidson looked (un...

The state Senate hearing Tuesday chaired by Senator Bill Perkins mainly concerned eminent domain reform, blight, and the curious case of ubiquitous environmental consultant AKRF. But some significant questions also were raised about the murky Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation (BALDC), which issued $511 million in tax-exempt bonds for the arena. Notably, a BALDC board member--Anita Laremont, the Empire State Development Corporation's (ESDC) general counsel--seemed unsure she was on the board, and offered questionable explanations about why the BALDC was created and why review by the Public Authorities Control Board (PACB) was not required. ( Photos by Tracy Collins. At bottom is the full four hour-plus hearing video .) And while the BALDC was described as "lessening the burdens of government," it also appears to be a way to avoid some governmental responsibilities, given that all the board members are governmental officials. "We know that the effort was ...

There was a telling moment last night during state Senator Bill Perkins's oversight hearing on eminent domain. I'll have more coverage tomorrow, but the statement below by Anita Laremont, general counsel for the Empire State Development Corporation, is worth consideration. Laremont was responding to a series of tough questions about AKRF, the ubiquitous environmental consultant that consistently delivers the reports that government agencies need to get projects past legal challenges. Notably, ESDC was criticized in a plurality decision blocking the use of eminent domain for the Columbia University expansion, given that both the ESDC and Columbia had hired AKRF simultaneously . (With Atlantic Yards, the relationship was merely consecutive ; AKRF first worked for Forest City Ratner before working for the state.) Laremont says AKRF just does research "Let me just say though, to clarify one thing," Laremont told Perkins. "AKRF does not find blight. Our board finds...

So, whatever happened to the Atlantic Yards fiscal impact analysis promised by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYC EDC) last June? It's a trade secret, given that the agency rejected my Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request. And that's odd, because the NYC EDC cited the document in an effort to convince the public that the arena and project made fiscal sense. Nor has the Empire State Development Corporation released a credible cost-benefit analysis. Despite significant questions about the benefits of the project to the public, judges--such as the one in the case regarding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's revision of the Vanderbilt Yards deal--have deferred to agency projections that are fantasies. IBO vs. NYC EDC Remember, at a state Senate oversight hearing on May 29, an IBO representative offered testimony that asserted the AY arena would be a money-loser for the city. )That testimony was followed up in a September report .) I criticiz...

The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) said yesterday , in response to my report , that, though it "was at one time considering additional tax exempt bonds for infrastructure financing," it ultimately "decided not to pursue that type of financing." (It was the plan as recently as September, given the 9/11/09 date of the Inducement Resolution adopted by the Brooklyn Arena Local Development Corporation.) Still, as I wrote yesterday, the 2009 Modified General Project Plan, passed by the ESDC in September, budgeted $717 million for project infrastructure, with $205 million coming from government funds but no particular source for the rest. So, where's the money going to come from? Private sector builds infrastructure? Seth Pinsky, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, testified at the 5/29/09 state Senate oversight hearing , "It is only by moving forward with projects such as Atlantic Yards that use a few million dollars fro...

In his radio address last Friday ( transcript , audio ), Mayor Mike Bloomberg saluted new infrastructure projects, agreements with construction unions, and new efforts to broaden access to construction trades--and then connected that to Atlantic Yards. He said: And last week, New York State's highest court moved us closer to realizing a major piece of that future, in its 6-1 decision concerning Brooklyn's proposed Atlantic Yards development. The court's ruling was a long step forward for a project that will spur extensive investment in new offices, stores, and thousands of units of new housing. It will also produce a new Brooklyn home arena for the Nets professional basketball team. All told, Atlantic Yards is expected to create some 8,000 new permanent jobs in Brooklyn. More immediately, building it is also going to produce nearly 17,000 of the new union construction jobs that New Yorkers need. (Emphases added) Some factchecking Well, not exactly. Those figures--17,00...

"Money is fungible, Judge Robert Smith declared during the oral argument on the Atlantic Yards eminent domain case October 14 at the Court of Appeals in Albany. His point was that $100 million in state subsidies for arena infrastructure made it easier for Forest City Ratner to build the rest of the project. Empire State Development Corporation attorney Philip Karmel responded with a verbal shrug. But the issue deserves more attention. The CBA signatories Money is fungible. That's why the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) signatories were in Albany, proxies for the project and better for p.r. than a Forest City Ratner executive. They were shepherded by a public relations representative from The Terrie Williams Agency--which has represented CBA signatories off and on since 2005. (As I wrote in October 2005, BUILD's James Caldwell told the New York Observer he didn't know who was paying for the agency that was representing his group.) Forest City Ratner is spending a ...

In the absence of any effort to update the flawed fiscal impact reports from the city and state on Atlantic Yards, the Independent Budget Office (IBO), at the request of several elected officials, has updated its September 2005 Fiscal Brief on Atlantic Yards, with far more pessimistic results. Unlike the previous report, which found a modest net gain for the city over 30 years, the new report, titled The Proposed Arena at Atlantic Yards: An Analysis of City Fiscal Gains and Losses , estimates that net revenues would be negative for the city and modestly positive for the state and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)--at least until significant lost opportunity costs were added. Moreover, the losses for the city would be far greater--another $180.5 million--were opportunity costs to be calculated. Such opportunity costs--foregone gains thanks to tax exemptions and other below-market benefits--were not fully calculated in the 2005 report. Indeed, the combination of su...