With competing studies alternately painting a picture of Bruce Ratner’s
Atlantic Yards basketball arena and high-rise project as a major boon
to city coffers and a $500 million drain of taxpayer money, Prospect Heights
Councilwoman Letitia James is calling for the city to conduct its own
study of the plan.
On Friday, James, a vocal opponent of the Atlantic Yards plan, delivered
letters to both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Gifford Miller,
asking that they initiate an Independent Budget Office study of the $2.5
billion development deal.
“Such a study was conducted for the proposed West Side Stadium —
do the people of Brooklyn deserve less?” James wrote to Miller.
The city’s Independent Budget Office (IBO) conducted an analysis
of the proposed Jets football stadium earlier this month after the Bloomberg
administration was criticized for relying on a report by Ernst & Young
that was commissioned by the team.
While Gov. George Pataki, Bloomberg and Borough President Marty Markowitz
have all pledged their support for Atlantic Yards, nobody knows how much
public money Ratner is seeking.
In a City Council public hearing in May, a Forest City Ratner executive
said he expected the amount to be in the “hundreds of millions.”
Andrew Alper, president of the city’s Economic Development Corporation,
praised the project, saying the “benefits far outweigh the costs,”
although he could not say what the costs would be.
And in a study commissioned by Ratner, economist Andrew Zimbalist estimated
the cost to taxpayers at $449 million, although overall he projected a
net gain from Atlantic Yards.
But a study of Atlantic Yards released last week that was conducted by
Columbia University researcher Gustav Peebles and urban planner Jung Kim
revealed a $500 million net loss from the project.
“I support Council member James’ call for the Independent Budget
Office to analyze this project,” Kim said in a release Friday. “An
IBO study would be a key element of a comprehensive review process that
should also include ULURP, a detailed assessment of environmental and
socioeconomic impacts, an objective appraisal of the rail yards’
value, and an evaluation of alternative development schemes.”
Ratner, whose purchase of the New Jersey Nets for $300 million is expected
to be ratified by the NBA this month, wants to bring an arena at Atlantic
and Flatbush avenues. Gehry would also design office towers — including
the borough’s tallest building — and apartment buildings on
the 21-acre site stretching east into Prospect Heights. Those would include
4,500 apartments and more than 2 million square feet of office and commercial
space.
Ratner is asking the state to condemn more than two square blocks of private
property.
In the letter she sent to the mayor, James called for city oversight of
one of the largest development’s in Brooklyn’s history.
“Because this project requests hundreds of millions in city taxes,
will greatly impact the city, affects city-owned land and private property
of city citizens, I’m calling on you, the deputy mayor, and the speaker
to ensure that the project will be subject to City Council oversight through
the Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP),” the letter to the mayor
reads.
Calls to Bloomberg and Miller were not returned by press time.
