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Park Slope Developers Gone Wild: Lessons from Conservatives (UPDATED)
Tonight Joy and I (with Jacob in tow) made our way to a protest against a developer who seems to want special treatment in the Park Slope area near 4th Ave. This is not far from where we lived, so, despite not knowing alot about the issue, we went. (Updated to Josh Skaller's public statement on the issue):
Statement from City Council Candidate Josh Skaller
(D-39th District) Regarding the Requested Zoning Variance at 580 Carroll Street"The entire process of development in our city has fallen apart. New York City has to grow, we all know that - but it has to grow in a way that works for communities. The current process is a rubber stamp for well-connected developers that goes on behind closed doors, with the community on the outside looking in.
"The City's Board of Standards and Appeals - also known as the BSA - should be part of the solution. Instead, it's a big part of the problem. The BSA often takes action on developments that disregard the interests of communities - and behooves the interests of developers. And that's what gets us to where we are today. read more »
Developers, Development and Conflict of Interest in NYC Politics
"Developer" is an oft cited bogeyman in NYC politics. I cite it often myself. But recent discussions I have had make me realize that focusing on developers can miss some critical points as to why developer money is such a problem and why developers are often political donors not to be trusted.
Development per se is not bad. It can be bad or good depending on how it is done. I remember when I was living in San Diego there was a huge controversy over the revitalization of downtown. Ultimately what they did with the downtown seems excellent to me. Similarly, redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles seems ultimately to have been done well. There are always problems about gentrification, changing historic communities, balancing profit and community benefit. If done right, with a strong local government calling the shots, development can be good. But if developers call all the shots, as they do in NYC, the results are disastrous for the community. read more »
Vito Lopez: Corruption and Cronyism
The lengthy lead story in the Real Estate section [of the NY Times] credited Lopez with sparking a massive rebuilding effort in Bushwick, way back when he was a graduate student in 1971, and then carrying it through. The story also mentioned that Angela Battaglia's agency is the developer for a $20 million component of the rebuilding effort. It even pictured [Vito] Lopez and Battaglia standing together in front of new housing construction. But the story omitted that Battaglia is Lopez's girlfriend. Does that connection at least deserve mention? Might the article have explained why there was or wasn't a conflict of interest present? Was it a coincidence that Lopez's girlfriend's outfit was put in charge of the $20 million deal? Inquiring minds would like to know. It may well be that everything was done on the up-and-up. But given Lopez's tendency to do favors for his friends-for example, he helped make his girlfriend's brother Jack Battaglia a Civil Court judge-the Times should have explored the question.
