New York, NY –
The MTA is expected to take up the question of who will be awarded the Atlantic Yards at its monthly board meeting this morning. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein has more on what's at stake.
There are two bids for the railyards: Forest City Ratner, favored by the Governor and the Mayor, wants to build an arena for the Nets and buildings of up to sixty stories. Rival builder Extell is planning a less dense development, and this week said it would consider an arena, too.
Extell is offering three times the cash that Forest City bid, but Forest City wants the MTA to include certain construction costs in the value of its bid. As of late yesterday, MTA board members were still combing through hundreds of pages of documents from the two bids, released only on Friday.
An MTA spokesman says the Yards will be discussed at today's meeting. He said there's a possibility there won't be a vote, as several Ratner proponents have urged. Mayor Bloomberg's four appointees are prepared to vote for the ratner proposal, a mayoral spokesman says.
Award–winning journalist Andrea Bernstein is the Director of the public radio Transportation Nation project, a partnership with WNYC, The Takeaway, Marketplace, WAMU (Washington, DC), WMFE (Orlando), KUHF (Houston), YPR (Montana and Wyoming), and KALW (San Francisco). She is also a regular guest–host on the Brian Lehrer show.
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