Well, it is now on record in court records. Ratner has lied to us about the so-called "benefits" of his Atlantic Yards project. In fact, it sure sounds to me like Ratner's lawyer has admitted that he lied under oath:
From the Brooklyn Papers [1]:
Forest City Ratner now admits that its claim of a tax revenue windfall — a justification for the government’s support of the $4 billion project — was actually concocted by Ratner’s paid consultant, and was not based on an analysis by state officials as the developer repeatedly claimed.
“The $4.4 billion figure is in the report of a consultant who had been retained by [Forest City Ratner Companies] and does not appear in the state’s [Final Environmental Review Statement,]†said Ratner attorney Jeffrey Braun in a legal document that surfaced this week.
Braun himself previously stated in court that the $4.4 billion number came from the state.
“[M]y statement in my prior affirmation that the ‘environmental impact statement for the project estimates that the project will create … $4.4 billion in net tax revenues for the city and the state over 30 years’ is mistaken, because ‘[t]here is simply no projection at all regarding the net tax revenues contained in the EIS.’â€
In other words, it sounds like Braun committed perjury. And it sounds like one of the reasons put forward for taxpayers to foot the bill for Ratner is a bald faced lie.
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