A new design for the always controversial Atlantic Yards basketball arena was unveiled this week, just hours before a report by the city's Independent Budget Office revealed that the arena would actually cost taxpayers nearly $40 million over the next 30 years.
According to The Brooklyn Paper, the report also questioned whether the arena's developer, Bruce Ratner, will ultimately be able to repay the $726 million in "special government benefits" that came with the project.
The developers of Atlantic Yards have long argued that the project will ultimately benefit the merchants of Fifth Avenue, when it is complete. What do you think, is the project good or bad for Fifth? Also, if it's good for Fifth but bad for the City, is it really worth doing? Let us know what you think in the "Comments" below.
The full article in The Brooklyn Paper is available here.
You can read the IBO report here (PDF).
Photo via The Brooklyn Paper
I just dont see how this would have any affect on 5th avenue. Good or bad.
ReplyDeleteThis is complete bullshit. The fact that developers still say this is amazing. Across the country it's been proven (with a few exceptions) that arenas almost NEVER benefit the immediate area. People come in by train or car and leave immediately after the event.
ReplyDeleteInstead our community will be killed by the massive influx of traffic, and the fact that the footprint of the complex will be a giant parking lot for the next few years.