Atlantic Yards
Vito Lopez puts secret clause in bill to give Bruce Ratner tax exemptions
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Glad someone got around to posting this. Promoted to front page by mole333]
Everyone should read Juan Gonzalez's column today in the Daily News, in which he details Vito Lopez's attempt to sneak a massive tax abatement clause for Bruce Ratner into the new state property tax exemption bill. It is a sweetheart deal that will give Ratner, according to Juan, from $100 to $170 million in tax exemptions and allow him to charge hundreds of dollars more a month for the so-called "affordable" housing units he has to put into his new complexes. The article is reposted at DDDB's site (www.dddb.net)
This clause was so secret that Hakeem Jeffries, who represents that district up in Albany, didn't even know about it, and neither did the representatives for ACORN. They are backers of the Ratner project and *they* are upset over this.
The column also points out that Ratner has applied for $1.4 billion in state approved *tax-exempt* bonds to build his high rise condos.
DDDB is encouraging people to call or write Governor Spitzer urging him to veto this bill, to send it back to the legislature and force them to take out the Ratner clause.
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