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Published on The Daily Gotham (http://dailygotham.com)

Ratner Lies Now on Record

By mole333
Created 08.02.2008 - 08:50

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.’”

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.


Source URL:
http://dailygotham.com/blog/mole333/ratner_lies_now_on_record