December 12, 2006

NYS moves to seize arena land

New York's state Empire State Development Corporation has issued condemnation letters to property owners on the site of Bruce Ratner's proposed Brooklyn Nets arena, the first step in seizing the buildings by eminent domain. (Lame duck ESDC chair Charles Gargano said last week that no eminent domain proceedings were imminent - whoopsie!) The dispute will now head to court - well, actually, it already is in court.

The big question on everyone's minds, meanwhile, is: Will state assembly leader Sheldon Silver ride to the rescue and delay next week's vote of the Public Authorities Control Board on Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan, thus stalling things until new governor Eliot Spitzer, who has generally backed the plan but expressed qualms about the undemocratic process, takes office next month? (The PACB, you'll recall, is the same three-member board that eighty-sixed the Manhattan Jets stadium.) The city councilmember and both state legislators representing the planned arena site (if you count the newly elected state assemblymember who takes office in three weeks) have called on Silver to stop the clock on the project.

Not to be outdone, outgoing Gov. George Pataki is reportedly threatening to deny Silver and his legislative colleagues pay raises if Atlantic Yards and other projects aren't swiftly approved. We'll find out who wins this battle of the wills next Wednesday.