BREAKING NEWS - Atlantic Yards Vote Delayed Until '07

Subject: BREAKING NEWS - Atlantic Yards Vote Delayed Until '07

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/12/19/breaking_atlantic_yards_vote_delayed_until_07.php

Curbed is a blocked url at my office, can you post the text of the article

With all the speculation about an impending Atlantic Yards vote by the powerful Public Authorities Control Board, questions about financing and more groups calling for a time out, NY1 is reporting that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will not give final approval to the project before January 1st. The report says he "still has financial questions about Atlantic Yards" and that Silver is "ready to either vote no or not vote at all if the projects are put before him at a meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board this week." If nothing changes before tomorrow, the delay means the project could be revised before an approval vote under the incoming Spitzer administration

This is excellent news!

YEA!!!! Made my day...

it is good news
Silver was a major factor in stopping the jets west side stadium in Manhattan.
im not sure what his motivation was however.

with the approval of federal funds for the LIRR extension into grand central and the near approval of fed funds for the east side subway line in Manhattan it looks like the atlantic yards project and Moinihann station are going to have to be totally reconsidered.

i think it would be almost impossible for all 4 of those things to go on at once on top of the freedom tower project.

remember all the vicious anti west side stadium adds cablevison put out?
why cant DDDB get the Dolan families ear and get funding for some anti Nets stadium TV spots? it seems to me that a nets stadium would pose the same threat to cablevisions monopoly on large venue events in NYC.

I really don't see how this will make all that much difference. If anything, it illustrates just how starved AY opponents are for something remotely resembling a victory. Spitzer and Silver have stated their approval of this project, so I don't see how a delay of a few months (if it happens) will result in much more than a token reduction in density. In the end, the towers, stadium, and Times Square environment will still become reality.

This reminds me of when BUILD's financial ties to Ratner were revealed. It was trumpeted as though it actually mattered, but years later it has had zero impact.

I don't know about that, Jack. Is BUILD taken seriously, or do they do anything at all at this point? You used to hear about them frequently before the conflict of interest financial support from the Rat was disclosed, and they kind of disappeared into the woodwork. Perhaps they're just carrying out FCRs bidding behind closed doors, like any other FCR employee.

I think time does matter, partially because of this reason: the new luxury condos for sale RIGHT NOW are sitting unsold, it makes no sense to build thousands more at taxpayers expense when there is now a glut of them.

The project has been herded through at each level without a full disclosure or realistic tally of the cost to taxpayers and supposed "benefit" to the city. FCR is trying to avoid a close look at the finances, which simply don't add up to anything but profit for a private developer at taxpayer expense. Let's take a real, close, public look at that.

I do sincerely hope this scam is dead. And someone who really cares about Brooklyn develops something contextually correct and truly beneficial to more than a handful of wealthy old men there.

Out of curiosity, what exactly would be the scenario if Silver votes no? What exactly are the consequences of that? That the promised $200 million would not be allocated? Anything else? If we're talking about $200MM out of a $4B project, my unsolicited advice to Ratner would be: scale back the size of the development by $200 million by eliminating some (or better yet, all) of the non-market rate units. Then continue as planned.

I mean, he does own most of the land in question already, with or without Silver's money. So it's the eminent domain court case that will be a much larger issue, no? Of course, I'm sure it is not in fact this simple--Raulism, can you please break it down for me?

wow, eliminate all the non-market rate units? you're begging to get flamed, aren't you??

This is good news.

jgregorie wrote: ...i think it would be almost impossible for all 4 of those things to go on at once on top of the freedom tower project.
....

This is a funny comment. It is a big city with lots of construction workers. The city can manage with these projects going at once.

jgregorie wrote: remember all the vicious anti west side stadium adds cablevison put out?
why cant DDDB get the Dolan families ear and get funding for some anti Nets stadium TV spots? it seems to me that a nets stadium would pose the same threat to cablevisions monopoly on large venue events in NYC.

The Dolans have stated publicly that they do not have any plans to oppose the AY project. We'll see if they really mean it ...


But Jim Dolan recently said he isn't scared of the competition Ratner's arena would bring the Garden and has no intention of asking Silver to reject it.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202006/news/regionalnews/sheldon_close_to_brooklyn_arena_ok_regionalnews_fredric_u__dicker_and_rich_calder.htm

i was speaking from a financial standpoint not a logistical one.

look at how long the east side subway line has been in the works, it hasent been completed because of money not a lack of construction workers.

Jamzer wrote: This is good news.

[quote=jgregorie]...i think it would be almost impossible for all 4 of those things to go on at once on top of the freedom tower project.
....

This is a funny comment. It is a big city with lots of construction workers. The city can manage with these projects going at once.

ha

typical Manhattan elitism i guess.
brooklyn isn't part of the city.

ana.log wrote: [quote=jgregorie]remember all the vicious anti west side stadium adds cablevison put out?
why cant DDDB get the Dolan families ear and get funding for some anti Nets stadium TV spots? it seems to me that a nets stadium would pose the same threat to cablevisions monopoly on large venue events in NYC.

The Dolans have stated publicly that they do not have any plans to oppose the AY project. We'll see if they really mean it ...


But Jim Dolan recently said he isn't scared of the competition Ratner's arena would bring the Garden and has no intention of asking Silver to reject it.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202006/news/regionalnews/sheldon_close_to_brooklyn_arena_ok_regionalnews_fredric_u__dicker_and_rich_calder.htm

escap, its my understanding that the $200mm is for infrastructure costs necessary for the project. Essentially the city and state issue tax exempt bonds to pay for things like water and sewer lines, street construction, or other improvements that they would be responsible for as a result of the project. So there is the possibility that the failure of the government to undertake those improvements might have a bigger impact on the overall project.

homeowner wrote: escap, its my understanding that the $200mm is for infrastructure costs necessary for the project. Essentially the city and state issue tax exempt bonds to pay for things like water and sewer lines, street construction, or other improvements that they would be responsible for as a result of the project. So there is the possibility that the failure of the government to undertake those improvements might have a bigger impact on the overall project.

Ah, thank you, that makes sense. Still, I wonder what Ratner's "Plan B" is. I know he may move the stadium to Queens or leave it in NJ, but what about the land he's already paid billions for? If he tried to sell it he'd get slaughtered in the market, so that's not an option. I can't imagine he'd just want to sit on it for a decade or so until the political winds shift. I wonder....

Incidentally, the PACB's job is to ensure that those bonds can be repaid, no? It strikes me as inconceivable that Silver has legitimate concerns over the ability of this project to finance a mere $200MM in debt--which means that he is essentially grandstanding and using this unique position, once again, to wring some kind of horse-traded political benefit for himself. Frankly, I have to admit that I have increasing concerns about the project myself (I know, this is a shocker), mostly relating to the so-called "affordable" units, and some other aspects as well. But opinions of the project aside, I do find Silver's opportunistic misuse of his position to be pretty outrageous.

word on the street is that Ratner wooed Silver back into the fold - PACB will approve AY today.

Looks like all of the wishful thinking on NoLandGrab, brownstoner, and this blog was for naught. The project has been approved.

Atlantic Yards Project Wins State Board Approval

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 20, 2006

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A $4 billion redevelopment project that could reshape Brooklyn with an NBA basketball arena, office towers and thousands of apartments was approved Wednesday after months of maneuvering among New York state's top political leaders.

The state Public Authorities Control Board voted unanimously to authorize the Atlantic Yards development, a sprawling reuse of a downtown Brooklyn railyard that would include a new home for the New Jersey Nets.

The state would pay $100 million and New York City would pay $100 million toward the project.