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A Big Day in Albany for Sheldon Silver ...
December 20th, 2006

Sheldon Silver will have a chance to block the Atlantic Yards project — or to delay it until Governor George Pataki is out of office — at a meeting of the Public Utilities Control Board, a previously obscure state panel controlled by the state’s three most powerful men that has become a graveyard for large-scale development projects in recent years.

The Atlantic Yards Report gives a good roundup of newspaper editorials on the subject, mainly so it can bring up the New York Time’s strange silence on the issue.

Noting that Silver has already used the panel to block two huge development projects — the West Side Stadium (killed outright) and Moynihan Station (delayed indefinitely) — the NY Post runs a new editorial this morning criticizing Silver for hedging his bets.

“Silver no doubt has eyed the plan as a potential hostage,” writes the Post. “That is, he’s calculated what ransom he can get by holding it up.”

Not everyone thinks that delaying an evaluation of the project’s finances would be obstructionist, though. NoLandGrab writes about some of the open questions about the money.

“Here’s the freaking joke on the taxpayer,” the blog writes. “The affordable housing subsidies are still being negotiated, so NO numbers are available. However, the details of the financing of the Atlantic Yards project are ready for a final-approval vote? Tune in this afternoon for the punchline.”

By Joshua Brustein on December 20, 2006, 8:34 am
In category: Albany, Gotham City, Land Use | 1 Comment »

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One Response to “A Big Day in Albany for Sheldon Silver ...”

  1. Larry Littlefield Says:
    December 20th, 2006 at 12:07 pm

    (Also, Empire State Development Corporation’s (ESDC) Chairman Charles Gargano said that developer Forest City Ratner would earn a “reasonable” rate of return, even as the potential return to the public had just plummeted by about a third.)

    Is that an projection, or a promise.

    I believe that Forest City will be lucky to come out of this OK, because I believe the market rate component will not sell for what it thinks. Will we be left with a $1 billion subsidy or more? I hope not.

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