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Green Brooklyn Borough President Candidate blasts MTA for ‘scandalous’ handling of Forrest City Ratner proposal. Markowitz accused of being ‘accomplice at the scene of the crime.’
Brooklyn, NY -- August 1, 2005 -- Last week, the MTA Board, led by Chairman Kalikow, passed a resolution to negotiate exclusively with Forest City Ratner (FCR), for the Vanderbilt Yards. The resolution precludes negotiations with the other responder to the MTA Request For Proposals, Extell Development Company, for 45 days. The Board stated that it was "disappointed" with the low-ball offer from FCR of $50 million for the MTA's Vanderbilt Yards in Prospect Heights, yet passed up the $100 million higher bid from Extell. Green Party candidate for Brooklyn Borough President, Gloria Mattera, said that the MTA’s decision to hold negotiations with only one bidder was "scandalous", referring to the apparent disregard for Extell’s bid. Mattera claimed the decision ‘resembled something out of Tammaney Hall.’ "It’s like the political corruption of the 1800s has been reborn here in Brooklyn," Ms. Mattera noted after the MTA’s decision was announced. She had tough words, too, for the incumbent Brooklyn Borough President: "Markowitz thinks he will be remembered as the great booster of Brooklyn. But he will be remembered as someone who naively and foolishly went along with a plan that, if implemented, would leave a permanent scar on the borough."
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