(UPDATED)*
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the anti-Ratner/Nets Stadium organization, just released a letter it sent to M.T.A. chairman Peter Kalikow last Friday, cosigned with 44 other city groups.
The neighborhood group wants the M.T.A. to release information about bids the agency is receiving to develop the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.
Extell–the developer that’s also pursuing a controversial (and recently deadly) development on Brodway and 100th Street–recently put in a bid for the property, setting the stage for another Cablevision/Jets-like showdown with Ratner and the Nets.
“The people will not accept a repeat of the West Side process,” wrote Daniel Goldstein in the accompanying press release. “We are expressing very clearly to the MTA that there are two legitimate proposals that they must give equal consideration. The MTA and Ratner have been negotiating for two years, the least they can do is refrain from rushing to a decision in two weeks. Also, the land they are
dispensing is public land and therefore the bids should be made public before a decision is made.”
No response yet from the M.T.A.
Rumors the Carlyle group was involved in the Extell bid were prevalent in the conversation about the Atlantic Yards, though a recent report carries a statement from the controversial organization isn’t working with Extell on the Brooklyn project, though they have helped Extell acquire property in the past (see second-last graf).
* Original posting omitted 44 signatories to the letter besides DDDB; also asserted Carlyle Group’s involvement with the Nets project.
– Matthew Grace
