September 13, 2005
MTA and Ratner to Brooklyn Tomorrow
Various public interest groups are protesting the MTA's likely acceptance of Bruce Ratner's bid to develop the Atlantic Rail Yards into a glittering complex of luxury apartment, retail space, and a Brooklyn Nets arena. Their constant, consistent complaint has been that the Ratner bid won't put enough back into the community and will just line his pockets. Ratner's bid was recently doubled to $100 million, only after the MTA had to ask for more because a dope would be able to understand that a cash bid of $50 million is less than Ratner's rival bid of $150 million in cold hard cash money. So it's likely that the bid will go through, as the MTA's real estate division recommended the Ratner plan yesterday.
The MTA will be meeting about the Vanderbilt Yards tomorrow at 9:30AM, on the 5th Floor of the MTA headquarters at 347 Madison Avenue. We wonder if Jay-Z will be outside, in a stretch Hummer, celebrating that his Brooklyn Nets have a home, maybe with Frank Gehry because he'll get a NYC building at last.




And you, oh lucky New Yorker, will have the privilege of paying part of the bill for this complex of businesses and homes for the rich! They'll even let you visit, as long as you give them more of your money. Bloomberg and Jay-Z need your money.
And press coverage of this, as usual, had its lapses. See the link to my blog/report for an analyis of New York Times coverage, and more.