On the heels of the Mayor's call for a veto of the 421-a bill the two state legislators who represent the districts which encompass the Atlantic Yars project site, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Senator Velmanette Montgomery, wrote a letter to Bruce Ratner on July 6th and made it public today.

The letter (reproduced in full below and here) makes two blunt demands of Forest City Ratner's President and CEO: first that he confirm in writing that there is an affordable, on-site home ownership component to the project, and second that the developer must abandon the special Atlantic Yards 421-a "carve-out" and comply with the new legislation as all other developers must. The two legislators state that: "Anything short of publicly abandoning the special treatment set forth in the Atlantic Yards carve-out provision would justify a complete re-examination of the project by all appropriate government entities."

As the Atlantic Yards Report states, these two legislators have not been consistently allied when it comes to Atlantic Yards, but in the case of the demands in this letter they are precisely allied:



July 6, 2007

Bruce Ratner
President and Chief Executive Officer
Forest City Ratner Companies
1 MetroTech Center North
Brooklyn, New York 11201

Dear Mr. Ratner:

As representatives of Prospect Heights in the New York State Legislature, we write with respect to the Atlantic Yards Project that you plan to build in our community, and recent events connected to the 421-a property tax exemption law.

The City and State have presently committed in excess of $300 million in government subsidies to make the Atlantic Yards development possible, notwithstanding significant public discomfort and outright opposition to the project. In order to justify the substantial government subsidies, Forest City Ratner Companies ("FCRC") has consistently touted the "innovative Atlantic Yards housing program," as you have called it.

Pursuant to this housing program, FCRC will build 4,500 rental units, with 2,250 apartments set aside for low and moderate income families. FCRC also plans to build 1,930 condominium units as part of the Atlantic Yards development. On the eve of the Public Authorities Control Board vote in December 2006, FCRC committed to build 200 of these units on-site, as condominiums that are affordable to working and moderate income families. Please confirm in writing by Friday, July 13, 2007 if this is not your understanding.

The 421-a program, as recently pass by the Legislature, if signed by Governor Spitzer, requires 20% affordability at 60% AMI, in any apartment building that receives a tax exemption. However, because of an eleventh-hour, highly -secretive deal negotiated by the Real Estate Board of New York on behalf of FCRC, an Atlantic Yards carve-out provision will permit you to evade these requirements, unlike any other development in the entire City of New York. This preferential, lobbyist-negotiated treatment is completely unacceptable and undermines the integrity of the entire project.

Accordingly, FCRC should publicly commit to comply with the 421-a law, as applicable to everyone else, and build at least 20% of the condominium units in each luxury condominium building in a manner that is affordable to low and moderate income families. Anything short of publicly abandoning the special treatment set forth in the Atlantic Yards carve-out provision would justify a complete re-examination of the project by all appropriate government entities.

Sincerely,