Atlantic Yards Development - Commercial, Residential, Retail, NBA Arena

^ Maybe you're right. However, don't the Dolans stand to benefit from a possible relocation of MSG a block or so to the west, opening the way for a new Penn Station? I think they'd accept a direct competitor in another borough as long as they can realize the potential windfall that would come with a remaking of that area. Anyway, back on topic:

http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/artic...ote_/6245.html

Atlantic Yards future unclear on eve of vote

by amy zimmer / metro new york
DEC 20, 2006

MANHATTAN — A vote on developer Bruce Ratner’s $4 billion Atlantic Yards plan is down to the wire.

All eyes are on Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. He has killed the West Side Stadium, delayed Moynihan Station, and may derail the plan to bring the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn at today’s meeting of the Public Authorities Control Board.

The plan, which would create an arena and 16 high-rises, needs unanimous assent from board members Gov. George Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and Silver.

Yesterday, news reports cited sources claiming the speaker was planning to vote “no” or to delay the final vote until Gov. Eliot Spitzer takes office.

Silver’s spokesman Skip Carrier denied those reports, but he did not say the speaker would vote “yes” either.

“We have a significant amount of information that was provided today and discussions continue,” Carrier said. “We wanted a better understanding of the financial aspects because the project has changed recently, even significantly.”

For example, the state revised projected tax revenues from $1.4 billion to $944 million.

Earlier this week several local politicians and organizations called on the PACB to delay until Spitzer’s term begins on Jan. 1.

Pataki’s spokeswoman Joanna Rose said Atlantic Yards “is on the agenda” and there were “ongoing meetings” with Silver.

In response to rumors circulating that Silver may delay the vote, Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency overseeing the project, said, “You never know with Silver. He has been doing that of late. We’ll answer any questions he might have. Whether the project is delayed this month, it will certainly go forward next year.”

NY Post

SHELDON CLOSE TO BROOKLYN ARENA OK


By FREDRIC U. DICKER and RICH CALDER
December 20, 2006

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202006/photos/news002.jpg

SILVER LINING: Sheldon Silver could approve yards plan today.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today is set to give the nearly $4 billion Atlantic Yards project for Brooklyn a green light.


The Manhattan Democrat told the Post he'll likely have his appointee vote in favor of the controversial project at today's Public Authorities Control Board meeting, with one caveat: that Gov. Pataki not link it to "pork barrel" projects Silver opposes.

The move would allow a lame-duck Pataki to take credit for the project - which would include an NBA arena and 16 skyscrapers filled with residential and commercial space - before Eliot Spitzer replaces him as governor on Jan. 1.

But Silver cautioned that his mind could change if the Pataki administration mixes $100 million in state funding for Atlantic Yards into a bigger pot with funds for other projects.

"If [Pataki] puts it on the PACB agenda as an individual item, not one item that is contained in a big package of pork and everything, it's a good bet that I would support it," he said.

Jessica Copen, a spokeswoman for the Empire State Development Corp., said Atlantic Yards would be presented to the PACB "on its own."

Besides the public project funding, the board will be asked to back the development company's decision to condemn private property by eminent domain for Atlantic Yards.

Silver, at the request of Madison Square Garden owners Jim and Charles Dolan, previously ordered his PACB appointee to block approvals of two other Pataki-backed projects: the Jets' West Side Stadium and the Moynihan Train Station.

But Jim Dolan recently said he isn't scared of the competition Ratner's arena would bring the Garden and has no intention of asking Silver to reject it.

Unanimous approval of the three-member board is needed, and the other two seats - controlled by Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno - support Atlantic Yards.

Ratner has acquired 85 percent of the 22 acres in downtown Brooklyn eyed for the project through private real estate transactions - including the Atlantic rail yard from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The remaining 15 percent - which includes 57 households and 13 businesses - would have to be condemned, and project opponents have already filed two lawsuits trying to block the process.

Silver also disputed a NY1 report yesterday that said he planned to hold the project up until after Spitzer takes over as governor. Spitzer has said he favors Atlantic Yards, but has questions about its financing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NYguy

Silver, at the request of Madison Square Garden owners Jim and Charles Dolan, previously ordered his PACB appointee to block approvals of two other Pataki-backed projects: the Jets' West Side Stadium and the Moynihan Train Station.

But Jim Dolan recently said he isn't scared of the competition Ratner's arena would bring the Garden and has no intention of asking Silver to reject it.

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Realpolitik.

How it is. He who calls the shots.

^ Exactly.

Silver is a weasel. Thankfully, this project can proceed. His disingenuous "fighting for the people" self-image is what really gets me. I think Spitzer is more authentic and less corruptable. I hope that when these two inevitably butt heads, Silver loses.

Silver is approving it only because Dolan told him to. I find it funny that MSG was afraid of a football stadium and convention center but dont feel moving a team that is better run and managed like the Nets wont hurtthem . Moer people will go see the NEts since there ticket prices will be much better then the Knicks and there team will be much better!

What I want to know is why corrupt goons like Silver and Bruno have unattested power to block such projects? I know who these people are, but why do they get a say over such things, something seems wrong...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kliq6

Moer people will go see the NEts since there ticket prices will be much better then the Knicks and there team will be much better!

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Perhaps. Both pretty much suck right now.


amny

Silver, Pataki to support Atlantic Yards plan

By Michael Clancy
December 20, 2006

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Gov. George Pataki apparently have an agreement that will lead to approval of a giant redevelopment project that could reshape Brooklyn.

Silver said he will cast his vote for the Atlantic Yards project Wednesday afternoon if Pataki doesn't tie it to other projects, a Silver spokesman said.

"The Atlantic Yards project will be advanced as a stand-alone resolution for consideration by the board's members," Pataki spokesman Scott Reif said moments later.

An obscure state panel controlled by Silver, Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Brunswick) meets to discuss it today.

Through his vote on the Public Utilities Control Board, Silver has killed Mayor Michael Bloomberg's West Side Jets stadium project and indefinitely delayed plans to convert the James A. Farley post office on Eighth Avenue into Moynihan Station.

Opponents of the 22-acre, $4 billion Brooklyn project were hoping Silver mad it a triple play and stopped the Atlantic Yards.

Outside of pending litigation, the five-person panel, which was created to oversee how public authorities spend money, represents a final hurdle for Bruce Ratner's 8-million-square-foot arena, housing and office complex. The panel's approval must be unanimous.

Earlier this month, the Empire State Development Corp. approved the overall project, its environmental impact statement and its use of eminent domain.

Opponents of the plan question it financing and are asking for a delay for the 10-year project so it can be reviewed by the incoming administration of Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer. The development corporation recently scaled back its estimate of tax revenue created by project from $1.4 billion to $944 million.

State lawmakers have also asked the development corporation to turn over an cost-benefit analysis done by the accounting firm KPMG detailing the profits Ratner stands to make on the project.

http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/apps/.../61220016/1040

Silver backs revised Atlantic Yards plan

By: Erik Engquist
Published: December 20, 2006 - 12:42 pm

Forest City Ratner Cos. has revised its Atlantic Yards project -- including trimming the project's signature tower -- to win the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

While Mr. Silver is prepared to approve the $4 billion development at Wednesday afternoon's Public Authorities Control Board meeting, he will do so only if the governor separates the project’s financing plan from unrelated items on the board's agenda. As of Wednesday morning, the Atlantic Yards financing was still grouped with $8 billion in "pork" for various projects across the state, sources say.

Forest City agreed early Wednesday to reduce the height of Miss Brooklyn, a proposed 620-foot office tower, so that it will not rise higher than Brooklyn's tallest building, the nearby 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank building. The developer will also change 200 of the market-rate condominium apartments into "affordable" units, and will also build 400 to 800 more elsewhere in the borough.

The concessions fall far short of what critics of Atlantic Yards have sought. Four local Assembly members had sent letters to Mr. Silver asking him to delay today's PACB vote so that more substantial changes could be negotiated. But other Brooklyn members of Mr. Silver's caucus are ardent supporters of the project and wish to see it proceed without further delay.

In addition to office space, stores and nearly 6,500 apartments, the project would include a 19,000-seat arena that would be home to the Nets of the National Basketball Association.

The Assembly speaker controls one of the three PACB votes, and since board votes must be unanimous, he has effective veto power. The holders of the other two votes, Gov. George Pataki and state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, favor the Atlantic Yards project.

Mr. Silver's vote for Atlantic Yards had been in doubt not only because of pressure from some of his members, but because the speaker had not been given all of the information about the project he had requested from the Empire State Development Corp., the agency in charge of the state approval process. Ultimately, the speaker retrieved the information he was seeking directly from Forest City.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kliq6

Silver is approving it only because Dolan told him to. I find it funny that MSG was afraid of a football stadium and convention center but dont feel moving a team that is better run and managed like the Nets wont hurtthem . Moer people will go see the NEts since there ticket prices will be much better then the Knicks and there team will be much better!

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I've always suspected that "the brooklyn nets" (and therefore the loss of Basketball in NJ) actually gives the Dolans a bargaining chip.

Think about it - Cablevision wants a new MSG, but only if New York gives them various tax breaks. Once NJ loses the Nets, the state could be looking to recruit a new franchise. So the Dolans threaten to leave NYC if their demands aren't met.

And a close move like that would keep the team in the same advertising market

The Patriots pulled the same move when they wanted a new stadium - threatening to move to Hartford

damn, shorter than the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building...

I'd be able to live this these yes votes had the revelations of the cooked books not come to the fore. Regardless of where one stands on this project, such a deviation in financial projections on a project set to receive so much public (tax-payer) money would seem reason enough to hold it up until the books are audited.

I never really formed an opinion of Sheldon Silver, but I sure have one now. Corrupt and willing to use his Assembly-leader position to sell out other parts of the city to his own districts advantage.

I do hope we see an insurgency in the Assembly in 2007 that replaces him once and for all.

Like most I have mixed feelings about this project, but the one thing I DID NOT want to see was them shorten Ms. Brooklyn. It's stumpy as it is and now they're gonna make it shorter than the WBT? Just seems so foolish...

I actually think the height made less difference to opponents than the bulk - which sadly remains. It could've gone taller and lost some bulk in my opinion.

^ Guess you can blame that on the people who screamed about the height...

Quote:

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Forest City agreed early Wednesday to reduce the height of Miss Brooklyn, a proposed 620-foot office tower, so that it will not rise higher than Brooklyn's tallest building, the nearby 512-foot Williamsburgh Savings Bank building.

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Never understood the logic to that. There's at least one taller tower planned for Brooklyn. What kind of victory is this that Miss Brooklyn won't be taller than the Williamsburgh? Exactly how old is the Williamsburgh? And more importantly, does it really show progress that Brooklyn's tallest was built so many years ago? We're in a time when many cities are producing new tallest of their own, yet some in Brooklyn want to remain in the dark ages. As if 100 years from now, the Williamsburgh should still be the tallest in Brooklyn.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fahzee

I've always suspected that "the brooklyn nets" (and therefore the loss of Basketball in NJ) actually gives the Dolans a bargaining chip.

Think about it - Cablevision wants a new MSG, but only if New York gives them various tax breaks. Once NJ loses the Nets, the state could be looking to recruit a new franchise. So the Dolans threaten to leave NYC if their demands aren't met.

And a close move like that would keep the team in the same advertising market

The Patriots pulled the same move when they wanted a new stadium - threatening to move to Hartford

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If i was the city id let the Knicks move, that ownership has completely disgraced a once proud franchise, there not worth the tax breaks