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Atlantic Yards Faces Another Delay - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog
September 29, 2008, 5:35 pm

Atlantic Yards Faces Another Delay

By Charles V. Bagli

The developer of the ambitious Atlantic Yards arena and residential complex in Brooklyn said Monday that the project could be delayed for another six months after a state appellate court failed to dismiss a court challenge brought by opponents of the $4 billion project.

Earlier this month, the developer Bruce C. Ratner vowed that he would break ground in December on the long delayed project, where he plans to build an office tower, 15 apartment buildings and a basketball arena for the Nets.

The developer has fended off a number of lawsuits brought by critics of the project over the past two years. He and state officials had expected that the state Appellate Court would also dismiss the latest suit, which sought to block the state from using eminent domain to seize private property for Mr. Ratner’s project.

Instead, the court denied a motion to dismiss the suit, opening the door for oral arguments in the case next spring.

In a statement, Mr. Ratner said the court ruling “may” delay the project for six months. “Atlantic Yards will be built and it will create thousands of needed jobs and affordable homes,” Mr. Ratner’s statement said. “This is all the more important as our city and country confront one of the most difficult downturns in history.”

Opponents of the project, including the group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, were thrilled. “The seizure of my clients’ homes and businesses is unconstitutional,” said Matthew Brinckerhoff, a lawyer who filed the lawsuit. “We are pleased that the court has recognized the merit of our case and will now hear the arguments in full.”

Mr. Ratner, chief executive of Forest City Ratner companies, is also awaiting a ruling by the Internal Revenue Service on whether he can issue tax exempt bonds to pay for the $1 billion arena, which is the first project to be built.

Barclays Bank, which had signed a $20 million a year sponsorship and naming rights deal for the arena, said yesterday that it was still behind the project. A clause in its contract with Forest City requires the developer to close on the property by the end of November.

“We look forward to being in Brooklyn with our partners at Forest City Ratner and the Nets,” said Peter Truell, a spokesman for Barclays.

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A retraining revolt: Willets Point workers rally outside mobile classroom
A retraining revolt: Willets Point workers rally outside mobile classroom

BY NICHOLAS HIRSHON and JOHN LAUINGER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Wednesday, October 1st 2008, 9:06 PM


DelMundo for News

Workers waving signs protest in front of CUNY mobile classroom for job retraining in Willets Point Wednesday.

The city's ballyhooed push to retrain Willets Point workers got off to a chaotic start Wednesday as a swarm of angry protestors sparked a verbal clash inside a mobile classroom.

Carrying signs that read "Relocation, not Retraining" and "Retraining is an insult," a horde of furious workers surrounded the classroom on wheels shortly after it rolled into the gritty industrial strip near Citi Field.

"I got an education already," said Wilmer Tepan, 28, of Maspeth, one of more than 25 workers who showed up to rail against LaGuardia Community College, which won a bid to run the $2.5 million job-training program.

"My job is a mechanic - mufflers and tires," Tepan said. "I can't do something else."

As horn-honking trucks drove past, four protesters boarded the classroom and barked at LaGuardia officials, telling them the workers want to keep their current jobs.

"Our job is to give people options," Sandra Watson, LaGuardia's dean for workforce development, told the seething protesters. "We don't get involved in the politics."

Mayor Bloomberg's controversial plan to redevelop Willets Point into a glitzy residential and commercial zone is now before the City Council, which is expected to take a make-or-break vote in November.

A majority of City Council members are opposed to the plan. Their primary objection is the possible use of eminent domain to force some 260 businesses there out.

Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber has said retraining those currently working in the tangle of auto repair shops and other industries is a "critical component" of the redevelopment plan.

"It's important for us that we not forget the men and women who are working in Willets Point today," Lieber said last week as he unveiled the job program.

Workers also will receive a performance-based stipend to take classes at LaGuardia Community College. They also could get training through the Hotel Trades Council.

But Arturo Olaya, one of the protest organizers, called the job-training program an effort to "distract the people" and win Council support for the project.

"This is not real. This is something they're doing just to pretend, to get people to approve the project," said Olaya, who also blasted city officials for only negotiating with larger businesses in Willets Point.

"They're only talking individually with people who own land here," he said. "They are not coming to talk to the small businesses. We are ready, we are waiting for them."

A city official said laws prevent the city from talking directly with tenant businesses.

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

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Price tag a sticking point in Willets Point project
Price tag a sticking point in Willets Point project

BY JOHN LAUINGER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, October 7th 2008, 6:34 PM

As the Bloomberg administration attempts to sell its plan to redevelop Willets Point, the price tag for the controversial project has become a major sticking point for the City Council.

Mayor Bloomberg earmarked $400million in this year's fiscal budget for Willets Point, but the city has refused to provide details about the five land deals it has inked at the gritty industrial zone near Shea Stadium.

The city also has rejected a Daily News request under the Freedom of Information Law seeking information on the deals, saying it would harm ongoing talks.

But Council members are wary of casting a make-or-break vote Nov. 12 without knowing how much the city has spent to acquire the land in question, or where the businesses on it will be relocated to.

As of now, the administration has inked deals with five property owners - about 3 acres of the 62-acre industrial zone.

"Ultimately, we don't know what those costs are going to be," said City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, who has introduced a bill to require financial transparency for city projects involving eminent domain. "Fleshing those numbers out through a hearing or a financial impact statement would be a good thing."

Monserrate (D-Jackson Heights), whose district includes Willets Point, said the 32 Council members opposed to the plan are also skeptical of voting for the project because a developer has not been named.

Business owners who have yet to sell are seeking leverage in contentious talks with the city. The business leaders have recently begun to attack the plan as an unnecessary expense during a time of economic turmoil.

"It is irresponsible for this administration to continue to promote a project that will cost the city upwards of $3 billion at a time when budgets are being slashed and services are being curtailed," said Jerry Antonacci, who is talking with the city about selling his Willets Point land.

In his weekly radio address on Sept. 27, Bloomberg said the Willets Point plan would create jobs and turn an "underutilized" area into a "much-needed boost to our local economy."

"City government can't solve the problems on Wall Street," Bloomberg said in his address. "But we can take steps to ensure that even as the financial services industry stumbles, New York City continues to move forward."

Dan Sambucci, the first Willets Point business owner to sign a deal, said he sold his salvage yard to ensure it would survive.

"I would rather work with them than against them," he said.

John Maltz, president of the commercial real estate brokerage Greiner-Maltz, said divulging the specifics of those deals would only drive up the asking prices for other businesses.

"They can't start talking about prices," he said. "They have to protect the city against a blown negotiation."

jlauinger@nydailynews.com

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NETS OWNER BRUCE RATNER PUMPED $680K INTO PROJECTS PROMOTING MARTY MARKOWITZ - New York Post
BEEP REAPING BIG AS YARDS BACKER ARENA-PLAN GROUPS BOO$T HIS PROJECTS

By RICH CALDER and CHUCK BENNETT

Last updated: 1:47 pm
October 10, 2008
Posted: 4:00 am
October 10, 2008



Being the biggest booster of Brooklyn's controversial Atlantic Yards project has really paid off for Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Since 2003, Nets owner Bruce Ratner and others involved in the $4 billion plan for an NBA arena and 16 apartment and office towers in the heart of Brooklyn have quietly funneled at least $680,000 to three nonprofit groups set up by Markowitz to run pet projects, a Post investigation found.

The pet projects -- which include promoting tourism and offering free concerts -- have been instrumental in boosting Markowitz's popularity and getting him re-elected, critics charge.

"Affiliated nonprofits should not be used as pseudo campaign accounts," said **** Dadey, of the government watchdog group Citizens Union. "One could argue that these nonprofits raise the profile of the borough president in a way that certainly aids his possible campaigns."

Dadey called it a "new area of potential conflicts of interest" that must be reviewed.

Markowitz has said he would seek a third term if the City Council supports Mayor Bloomberg's plan to revise term limits. If not, he has expressed interest in running for mayor.

While political candidates face strict limits on how much they can receive in campaign funding from donors, a loophole in the law allows donors to be as generous as they want for a politician's pet projects.

Since 2003, Markowitz's three nonprofits received between $680,000 and $1,075,000 from Atlantic Yards-affiliated companies, according to city Conflicts of Interest Board records.

This includes $275,000 to $590,000 combined from the Nets; Ratner's development company, Forest City Ratner; and its subsidiaries.

The nonprofits also received another $385,000 to $425,000 from Turner Construction Company, Ratner's construction adviser for the Atlantic Yards, the records state.

And Barclays Bank, which agreed to pay Ratner $400 million for naming rights to the arena, donated $20,000 to $60,000 to the nonprofit overseeing Markowitz's Martin Luther King Jr. Concert Series in East Flatbush.

The other groups include one overseeing his Seaside Summer Concert Series in Coney Island and a third called Best of Brooklyn Inc., which promotes tourism, organizes cultural events and assists youth.

Markowitz last month came under fire from the city Comptroller's Office for directly awarding no-bid contracts through his office to partially fund his Best of Brooklyn organization with $680,496 in public money since 2004.

Markowitz said yesterday that "no matter what The Post wants to imply," he was "absolutely proud of everything" his nonprofits do for Brooklyn.

Regarding his Best of Brooklyn group, he said "I'm thrilled that it has received the public and private support it has and proud of what we've been able to accomplish" with it.

Forest City Ratner spokesman Joe DePlasco said the company was "very proud" to support the Beep's charities.

But Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for the Atlantic Yards opposition group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, said the findings by the Post show Markowitz is "clearly bought and paid for" by Ratner and his partners for Atlantic Yards.

"This allows Ratner to support Markowitz's political interests outside of campaign finance rules," he said. "In return, Markowitz unconditionally supports Atlantic Yards. It's a conflict Markowitz has chosen to ignore."

Markowitz is such a proponent of Atlantic Yards that last year he bounced nine longtime members of Community Board 6 from their posts for failing to back the project. .

While Ratner and officials for both the Nets and his development company have avoided directly giving money to Markowitz through political campaign committees, at least two smaller investors in Atlantic Yards did so anyway.

Markowitz has received $16,200 combined from Dolly and Adonijah Williams and employees at the couple's construction company since 2002.

Dolly Williams, a former Markowitz appointee to the city Planning Board, was fined $4,000 by the Conflicts of Interest Board last year for voting in support of Atlantic Yards even though she invested in it. Markowitz later replaced Williams on the planning board.

When Ratner announced his plan for Atlantic Yards in 2003, he had hoped to move the Nets to Brooklyn by the 2006-07 season. But mounting litigation and a credit crunch has continued to push the project back, with the $950 million arena's construction not set to begin until at least the middle of next year.

This means Ratner's New Jersey Nets won't be able to move to Brooklyn until at least 2011.

rich.calder@nypost.com

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Sun will finally shine on Willets Point, city says
Sun will finally shine on Willets Point, city says

By Adam Lisberg

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, October 18th 2008, 1:00 AM

Redeveloping the dilapidated Willets Point industrial section in Queens will clean up decades of contamination and improve the waters of Flushing Bay, Mayor Bloomberg's top development official told the City Council Friday.

"For more than 50 years, there's been a lot of discussion in Queens and around the city about how to clean up and develop this site," said Robert Lieber, deputy mayor for economic development.

The 62-acre site is home to body shops and crumbling streets. The Bloomberg administration wants homes, shops, a hotel and a convention center.

The plan faces opposition ahead of a Nov. 12 Council vote because Lieber said the city would take the land by eminent domain.

"The city has purposely neglected this area," said Councilwoman Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn). "The property owners have never left the city of New York, and this is the way we repay them?"

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