Thursday afternoon, the Empire State Development Corporation announced that it had extended the public comment period on the Atlantic Yards draft environmental impact statement by one week.
The agency had been under fire by a host of elected officials — including prominent Atlantic Yards supporters such as Attorney General Eliot Spitzer — for giving the public only 66 days to analyze, and comment on, the highly technical 2,000-page breakdown on how the 16-skyscraper, hotel, arena, office and residential project will affect surrounding neighborhoods.
The one-week extension — from Sept. 22 to Sept. 29 — was announced in a one-sentence press release. No explanation for the extension was given.
“We thought it was appropriate, and wanted to give the public more time to review and comment on the project,” ESDC spokeswoman Jessica Copen later told The Brooklyn Papers.
Some local Atlantic Yards opponents were pleased … sort of.
“Any extension is a good extension, I guess,” said JoAnne Simon, a Democratic
district leader from Boerum Hill. “One additional week is somewhat underwhelming considering the volume of material that needs to be digested and responded to. But we’ll take it.”
Public comments, in written form, can be submitted by emailing atlanticyards@empire.state.ny.us or snail-mailing to Maria Mooney, ESDC, 633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017. Testimony is now due at 5:30 pm on Sept. 29.
