I know that in New York, the developer reigns supreme. But no one reigns as supreme as Bruce Ratner, a New York developer who has been handed one of the largest development deals in New York City history.
Just yesterday, I attended a screening of the film "Brooklyn Matters" by Isabel Hill. Its a documentary of how and why Bruce Ratner with the help of City and State officials, single-handedly is allowed to screw Brooklyn.
The movie is being screened at several locations around Brownstone Brooklyn and is a must see for anyone living in this borough. For a clip and video schedule, go to:
"http://www.brooklynmatters.com"
"No single event will have a more drastic and long-lasting impact on Brooklyn than the proposed Atlantic Yards development. This uncommon proposal, however, is mostly misunderstood. Brooklyn Matters is an insightful documentary that reveals the fuller truth about the Atlantic Yards proposal and highlights how a few powerful men are circumventing community participation and planning principles to try to push their own interests forward"
Some background informaton from the group DEVELOP, DON"T DESTROY. BROOKLYN http://dddb.net/php/aboutratner.php
What is Forest City Ratner?
Forest City Ratner is a subsidiary of Cleveland based Forest City Enterprises, the largest publicly traded real estate development corporation in the United States. Bruce Ratner is the CEO and President of Forest City Ratner (FCR). FCR's headquarters are in the Metrotech office complex in Downtown Brooklyn. FCR is best known in Brooklyn for constructing Metrotech, the Atlantic Center Mall, and the Atlantic Terminal Mall.
What is Bruce Ratner's "Atlantic Yards"Proposal?
16 Skyscrapers and an Arena that will cost taxpayers nearly $2 billion, according to independent analysis. While the arena is most of what you hear about the project, it is a very small part of this plan. 90% of the scheme is skyscrapers which would rise up to 53 stories high, taller than the iconic Williamsburg Savings Bank, and cast shadows as far as DeKalb Avenue in Fort Greene.
Besides relying on the use of taxpayer subsidies, the project relies on an abusive use of eminent domain which would allow the State of New York to seize private properties, homes and businesses, and hand them over to Forest City Ratner to demolish. The use of eminent domain has been called unconstitutional and is currently under review in federal court.
This project would fill seven large blocks, from Flatbush to Vanderbilt Avenues, and from Atlantic Avenue to Dean Street. That's almost 1.5 times the size of the entire World Trade Center site. If built, "Atlantic Yards" would be the densest residential community in the country by a factor of two.
3-5 additional skyscrapers are also proposed by the developer on Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush, on the current sites of the Atlantic Center Mall, PC Richards, and Modells.
More Than 20 Skyscrapers?!
If you live in Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Park Slope, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Crown Heights, or Bedford-Stuyvesant, get ready to kiss your neighborhood goodbye. (Everyone else get ready to see your tax dollars given to a developer instead of your schools.)
No democracy: the biggest development ever proposed in Brooklyn has had no input from the local community and will have no input or oversight from our city council, community boards, or the state legislature. The city will condemn homes and businesses, tie up tax dollars for the billionaire developer, but refuse the input of the people. An unaccountable state public corporation, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), will oversee the project and override ALL local zoning.
What a Deal (for Mr. Ratner)
Bruce Ratner, the developer who wants to build this project, would lease the arena and take all its profits for the next 99 years at a bargain price: $1.00 (The government will throw in, for free, entire city streets and millions of square feet of development rights). Just like the Jets, he's buying the rail yards from the MTA for far less than they're worth, and for less than the competing bid, at a time that the MTA is raising fares, closing token booths and cutting service. (The MTA accepted Ratner's bid of $100 million $30/sq. foot, despite the competing bid of $150 million from Extell and the MTA's own apppraised value of $214.5 million. THAT is a sweetheart deal.)
He will not pay taxes (property, mortgage transfer or sales tax) into the NYC treasury. Instead, he will pay Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) which will go directly into an unaccountable slush fund, robbing NYC of hundreds of millions in revenue. The government is ready to use eminent domain to take people's property and give it to Ratner.
The city and state will compel taxpayers to support his profits by giving him at least $550 million in tax-exempt bonds (loans), and close to $2 billion in taxpayer money. It is likely that the public will be on the hook if the bonds are not paid back. (New York City and State have each promised to give Ratner $100 million in cash but that is only the tip of the iceberg).
0 comments:
Post a Comment