Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report

The transactional relationship between Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner, a self-described liberal Democrat, and political operative Al D'Amato, the former Republican Senator, is more extensive than previously reported.  Beyond the article below about D'Amato's city/state lobbying on behalf of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, also see coverage of   D'Amato's federal lobbying and a curious campaign contribution .   Forest City Ratner has paid D'Amato's Park Strategies more than $3 million for lobbying and consultation related to Atlantic Yards and the Nassau Coliseum. Atlantic Yards developer has spent at least $1.7 million even more to pay Park Strategies for state/city lobbying and consultation on Atlantic Yards: at least $1.7 million since 2009. It's not clear exactly what they lobbied about, but it looks like Park Strategies had a hand in Forest City's 2009 renegotiation of the deal to buy Vanderbilt Yard development rights. The includes $...

The transactional relationship between Brooklyn developer Bruce Ratner, a self-described liberal Democrat, and political operative Al D'Amato, the former Republican Senator, is more extensive than previously reported.  Beyond the article below about D'Amato's federal lobbying on behalf of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, also see coverage of   D'Amato's city/state lobbying and a curious campaign contribution .   Forest City Ratner has paid D'Amato's Park Strategies more than $3 million for lobbying and consultation related to Atlantic Yards and the Nassau Coliseum. Nice work if you can get it. Since 2009, Brooklyn developer Forest City Ratner has paid $40,000 per quarter to its long-time federal lobbyist, Park Strategies, even though the firm, led by former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, has reported lobbying on issues in only seven of the 21 nine quarters. Forest City has spent nearly $1.2 million on the firm for federal lobbying since 2006. In 2011, ...

Brooklyn Assemblyman Walter Mosley, as I've reported , has already introduced Bill A5334 , which would authorize the Urban Development Corporation (aka Empire State Development) to create a "subsidiary corporation for the purpose of the further planning, design, and oversight of the Atlantic Yards land use improvement and civic project." That bill was inherited from his predecessor, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries. It has five co-sponsors and remains stalled in committee. Mosley also just introduced a bill to establish a project oversight entity known as the Atlantic Yards Development Trust to supervise the project so as to create increased accountability and oversight. The bill,  A09752 , is the same as the 2008 bill. A11395 , which was introduced by Jeffries. The previous bill had Assemblymembers Joan Millman and Jim Brennan, who represent neighboring districts, as co-sponsors. The new bill doesn't have co-sponsors yet.  The role of Assembly Speaker Sheldon...

Remember how, as the Times reported 4/19/14 about another subsidy push for Atlantic Yards: In recent days, [Forest City Ratner CEO] Ms. [MaryAnne] Gilmartin has met with Alicia Glen, the deputy mayor for housing and economic development, to talk about the next three buildings and the possibility of additional housing subsidies for apartments for poor and working-class families.“We’re going to drive a tough but fair bargain so we can get this project moving,” Ms. Glen said. “We’re not happy about the pace of construction. But we think that modular is something we should continue to pursue across the city.” Hyping rents to immigrant investors As I wrote 5/5/145, one thing to watch is whether the additional subsidy will be designed for Atlantic Yards exclusively or whether it will be a new citywide policy--perhaps to ensure larger apartments--applicable to all developments. After all, the next three towers are supposed to be built via conventional construction, not modular. ...

Yesterday's DNAInfo reported in  'Fight Club' Outside Atlantic Center Mall Eyed by NYPD : A corner behind Atlantic Center Mall  is home to an organized "fight club" in which dozens of kids gather for daytime brawls organized on social media — including one recently where someone fired a gun, according to police and residents. Hanson Place and South Elliott Place — at the northeast corner of the complex that includes a Burlington Coat Factory and OfficeMax — has been the site of fights between as many as 30 teens for almost a year, resident Stephanie Seto said. Police are closely monitoring the fights organized on Facebook and other social media, and the mall is working with police to stem the violence. ...88th Precinct commanding officer Capt. Peter Fiorillo said officers are trying to thwart the fights. The  88th Precinct  and nearby 77th and 78th precincts are collaborating to stop the fights, the commanding officer said. ..A spokesman for  Forest City Ra...

Forest City Ratner's contributions in 2008 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee 's Housekeeping account and last year  to the New York State Democratic Committee are just the tip of the iceberg, with many, many donors giving such unrestricted "soft money" contributions. Though state law says party housekeeping accounts are supposed to be reserved for party-building administrative expenses but not to promote specific candidates, Common Cause/NY has shown that housekeeping expenditures somehow spike each election season for spending on political consultants and campaign-related advertising. "There are no contribution limits on housekeeping accounts, nor does the Board of Elections conduct any meaningful auditing or enforcement of how soft money funds are spent, making them an ideal outlet for New York's most powerful and entrenched special interests to influence New York State government," said Common Cause last August. In 13 years, sp...

A look at the state campaign finance database shows that Forest City Ratner Chairman Bruce Ratner, and his wife, Pamela Lipkin, have given a total of $29,000 to the re-election campaign of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls Empire State Development (ESD), the state agency overseeing and shepherding Atlantic Yards. ESD is about to approve changes to the Atlantic Yards plan as well as a court-ordered Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement that indicates no major impacts from a potential 25-year project buildout. Ratner's line to Cuomo makes it less likely that the state will welcome community pressure for more oversight of both the project as a whole and the process of construction. Ratner also gave $5000 toward the re-election of state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who's "responsible for ensuring that the taxpayers’ money is being used effectively and efficiently to promote the common good," including audits of agencies like ESD. And Ratner and Lipkin each gave...

According to the latest state lobbying report , Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards Development Company spent $490,000 on city and state lobbying in 2013, with the state totaling $203,000, the city $287,000. (I reported on the city total in March.) The list: LoCicero & Tan $48,000 ($16,000 state, $32,000 in city) Geto & DeMilly, $46,000 (all in city) Kasirer Consulting, $240,000 ($80,000 state, $160,000 in city) Park Strategies, $60,000 ($20,000 state, $40,000 in city) State & Broadway, $60,000 (all state) Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker $36,000 ($27,000 state, $9,000 in city) In 2012, Forest City spent $448,000 on city lobbying, plus another $104,000 on state lobbying (the latter number may be fuzzy, since  state figures are a little tough to read), for a total of at least $552,000.  In 2011, the AYDC spent $503,000 in total, while Forest City itself spent $15,000 on an outside lobbyist. In 2010, Forest City spent about $345,000 on lobby...

On June 12, the day after Forest City Ratner Chairman Bruce Ratner and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin get the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal, the Municipal Art Society's highest honor, Ratner will be honored at the Long Island University (LIU) 2014 gala , held at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. Last year, LIU held the first commencement ceremony ever at the Barclays Center, with Ratner and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz honored.  The mutual relationship between university and developer includes public support for Atlantic Yards from LIU and basketball games played at the Barclays Center. Missing, however, is any mention of the once-promised role for LIU as the presenting partner of the Barclays Center Community Platform, a public service effort announced but, as far as I can tell, never actually launched. At the gala Sponsorships for the gala range from $15,000 to $150,000. At the latter figure, the Presenting Sponsor gets two prime tables of ten, two custom...

Could the name Barclays Center be temporary, and not last the 20-year tenure of the $200+ million naming rights deal the British bank signed with arena developer Forest City Ratner? Any answer is speculative, but the question's worth asking since Barclays has made dramatic moves to cut costs and business operations, and in doing so is re-evaluating its many sponsorships. (The Brooklyn arena has not been specifically mentioned as a target, but as we know, Atlantic Yards is full of surprises: who expected the Russian oligarch, the Chinese government-owned investment group, or the EB-5 investments?) Barclays has already announced plans to end its sponsorship of London's bike-hire program and is considering not renewing its sponsorship of a major soccer league in the U.K. The Barclays Center name certainly helped put Barclays on the map in America, but it hasn't done much for overall business growth and profits. The United States remains a key business location fo...

Ah, Atlantic Yards down the memory hole, more than once... In today's Daily News, columnist Linda Stasi slams the idea of another Olympics bid: Dear Gov. Cuomo, I’m writing to applaud your announcement last week that you’re considering a bid to bring the 2024 Olympics to New York City under the leadership of Mayor Bloomberg’s failed Olympic point man, Daniel Doctoroff. ...Doctoroff has been quoted in the New York Times, among other outlets, stating that Bloomberg’s bid for the 2012 Olympics actually helped New York so much it’s nearly incalculable. For instance? Well, he believes it was the catalyst for the new Yankee Stadium, as well as for the development of the Atlantic Yards (including Barclays Center) and, yes, the High Line. Well, so what if Yankee Stadium planning began well before Doctoroff and Bloomy were in office? And who cares that Bruce Ratner had already bought the Nets with a plan to move the team to a new facility in Brooklyn before the Olympics bid was in play? ...

From a front-page Real Estate section article in today's Times, Chinese Developers Step Up , subtitled "Chinese Real Estate Developers Take the Lead on New York Projects": Perhaps the highest profile project involves the Greenland Group, which is based in Shanghai and is an arm of the city’s government. Greenland ventured into its first New York project when it bought a 70 percent stake in much of the residential portion of Brooklyn’s  Atlantic Yards project from Forest City Ratner for $200 million. The site is also home to Barclays Center. The deal between Greenland and Forest City still awaits approval from the Chinese government, Forest City officials say, though they added that the federal government in this country has agreed to allow it. Specifically, the Treasury Department’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews deals that could involve foreign entities taking control of American businesses, signed off on it this spring, said Joe...

In an Observer interview, KINGDOM OF NEW YORK: Jonathan Butler on the Boom That Ate Brooklyn : Jonathan Butler’s Brooklyn empire includes Brownstoner, the real estate blog he founded in 2004, along with Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg, both of which he co-founded with Eric Demby. Most recently, Mr. Butler led a group of investors, including Goldman Sachs, in renovating a Studebaker factory in Crown Heights. His recently opened 1000 Dean, a 150,000-square-foot commercial space, is emerging as a Dumbo alternative for creatives. Bloggers love to declare Brooklyn over. Is there anything to it?  Brooklyn is clearly getting less affordable, but the more mobile creative class is going to keep finding places to go. It’s hard to say Bushwick or Sunset Park is over. It’s just that the lag time for when developers show up is shorter. The retail boom, and promise Maybe Brooklyn's not over, because, according to CPEX Real Estate Services, as noted in the Crain's article  9 B'klyn r...

Well, the Brooklyn Nets had a pretty good season, at least compared to last year, when they lost in the first round of the playoffs, and compare to cross-town rivals the New York Knicks, who didn't even make the playoffs in a diminished Eastern Conference. After all, the Nets had a terrible start--injuries to star Brook Lopez, chemistry issues, stumbling by rookie coach Jason Kidd--but recovered hugely by January. The Brooklyn Game praised them for continually rising from the dead. But after sweeping the defending champion Miami Heat in the regular season--a season in which the Heat were notably inconsistent--the Nets lost to the Heat in the second round of the playoffs 4-1, triggering all sorts of post-mortems. It also, as shown at the right, triggered another selling opportunity. But isn't a 30% off "thank you" a suggestion that people who played full-price were suckers? The ever-spinning CEO Brett Yormark  wrote  to fans that "Our goal this season was...

After failing to prepare / release an event calendar for May, the Barclays Center has released its June 2014 public event calendar, with more than two weeks' lead time. The roster includes seven events: five concerts, plus a boxing event and the 2014 NBA draft. (As noted by @NetsDaily's Bob Windrem, the 10,000 expected for the 2014 draft is twice that last year, though neither New York team has a pick. This year tickets are $15/$20/$35, while last year they were $20/$35. I'm not sure that pricing will get them to 10,000 people. There might have to be some giveaways.) Though the arena can seat up to 19,000 for concerts , the largest crowd expected is for Avicii , a Swedish DJ, remixer, and record producer, with an estimated attendance of 13,000. Some of his output is classified as electronic dance music (EDM), the genre that has sometimes led to loud bass leaking from the Barclays Center into neighbors' homes. Unlisted events The calendar does not list ev...

The Barclays Center is hiring again ( sign up here ), with priority to locals. This periodic announcement indicates not that the arena is adding total staff but experiencing regular turnover among security and guest services personnel. As I wrote on Twitter , it would be nice to know about the pay, benefits, and average weekly hours worked, but the arena won't say . If arena developer Forest City Ratner hired the Independent Compliance Monitor required by the much-touted Community Benefits Agreement, we'd know. From the arena's  jobs website : The Barclays Center is a newly opened state-of-the-art sports and entertainment arena that is now making the neighborhood the pride of Brooklyn. You need to be Brooklyn's Best at Barclays. Believe in Barclays. Believe in Brooklyn. Barclays is currently recruiting candidates for positions on the Security & Guest Services teams. If you are a Brooklyn, Community Board 2,3,6,8 or NYCHA resident, you'll be the firs...