A dispute over the number of affordable housing units planned for Forest
City Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards mega-development surfaced several
times in a short speech given Oct. 28 by Fernando Ferrer, Mayor Bloomberg’s
Democratic opponent in next Tuesday’s election.
“I found the 50-percent affordable housing agreement powerful, the
[community benefits agreement] powerful, but aspects are emerging that
are not what they originally seemed,” he said on the corner of Atlantic
and Fifth avenues.
As part of an agreement with the Association of Concerned Residents for
Reform Now (ACORN), Ratner promised to make 50-percent of the new housing
constructed as part of his Atlantic Yards project available to low-to-middle-income
residents. Since the agreement was struck, the percentage has fallen to
30, as FCR changed its proposal to include additional housing where office
space was once planned.
“When I am mayor, I’ll halt this project,” said Ferrer,
nearly shouting to be heard over the jeers of union construction workers
who support Ratner’s plans for skyscrapers and a basketball arena.
A small group came out to hear the mayoral candidate speak for 10-minutes.
Ferrer complained about mayoral policies that he said favor developers
and landowners over ordinary New Yorkers.
“The only thing we know for sure is that this deal helps Mike Bloomberg
and his wealthy developer friends,” said Ferrer, speaking with his
back to the Forest City Ratner-constructed Atlantic Terminal Mall.
Ferrer also cited concerns about how the plan’s scale would impact
Brooklyn’s traffic and infrastructure.
The former Bronx borough president skirted a reporter’s query into
how the project could be halted if he was elected.
“Even Borough President Marty Markowitz has realized this project
is not about what it started as,” he said.
Only after pressing from a reporter did Ferrer address the plan’s
basketball arena element. Even then he did not voice overall objection
to the concept of an arena in central Brooklyn.
“Well, let me tell you this. I’ve expressed consistent concerns
about the city and the state putting in $200 million for the arena. I
don’t think we should be using taxpayer money in that way,”
he said in his last comment before closing the conference with a round
of handshakes.
The city’s shortage of affordable housing is a primary platform of
the Democrat’s campaign.
