Bruce Ratner has finally admitted that he can’t build Atlantic Yards in its current incarnation as a 16-skyscraper hotel, residential and basketball arena project, a stunning admission that contradicts years of assurances from the developer. Of course, any reader of The Brooklyn Paper could have seen that Ratner’s project has been a disaster in the making for years. Here’s a look back:
Ratner to bar public from promised park
A glorious, 52,000-square-foot publicly accessible recreational space on the roof of Bruce Ratner’s proposed Frank Gehry–designed basketball arena will not be open to the public, according to a document released last week by the state authority acting as lead agent for the project.
Oct. 1/8, 2005
Ratner exec admits funding supporters
A top Forest City Ratner official for the first time this week acknowledged that the development company has been paying large sums of money to organizations offering what they’ve presented as grassroots neighborhood support for the proposed Atlantic Yards development.
Oct. 22, 2005
Ratner’s jobs numbers fall short
The number of retail jobs that state officials say will be created by Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-development ignores … his two existing shopping malls directly across the street, where job performance has fallen short, according to Ratner’s own data.”
Nov. 11 2006
Ratner’s $500M slip is showing
The Atlantic Yards project approved last week by state officials would generate almost $500 million less in tax revenues than its developer and its Albany boosters promised just five months ago.
Dec. 16, 2006
Atlantic Yards cost skyrockets
The city has doubled its contribution to Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project — and Mayor Bloomberg admitted that there was no limit to how much the city could spend on “infrastructure improvements” in and around the developer’s 16-tower mini-city.
Feb. 3, 2007
When will Yards be done?
The Nets arena will open a year later than promised — and the rest of Atlantic Yards won’t be done until 2022 — six years behind schedule — two officials said this week, contradicting promises by Bruce Ratner that the mini-city would be completed by 2016.
March 10, 2007
State: We never saw Yards numbers
State officials admitted that when they approved Atlantic Yards they were relying on documents that were incomplete — and may have been in violation of Bruce Ratner’s pact with the state and city.
March 31, 2007
Doctoroff: Yards process was flawed
Departing Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff took a parting shot at the Atlantic Yards mega-development, offering the stunning admission that if the city had to do it all over again, it would have demanded a proper public review of the $4-billion project.
Dec. 15, 2007
It’s true! Ratner a big liar!
Forest City Ratner now admits that its claim of a tax revenue windfall — a justification for the government’s support of the $4-billion project — was actually concocted by Ratner’s paid consultant, and was not based on an analysis by state officials as the developer repeatedly claimed.
Feb. 9, 2008
