New York, NY –
A newly formed group that is supporting the Ratner arena project in Brooklyn reported to the IRS last year that it had recieved $5 million from developer Forest City Ratner. WNYC's Andrea Bernstein reports
REPORTER: Brandishing documents obtained under the freedom of information act, members of the group develop don't destroy said the group BUILD had a conflict of interest. BUILD wrote in an application for federal non profit status that Forest City had "contributed" $5 million to the group. The application was made at the same time BUILD was negotiating with Forest City ratner to secure agreements on community hiring and affordable housing. The Reverend Clinton Miller said that was unethical.
Reverend Clinton Miller:
MILLER: How you can negotiate on behalf of the community when on paper you've already received 5 million dollars?
REPORTER: In a heated exchange, BUILD members who showed up at the press conference said the documents only represented a projected budget and they hadn't taken any money yet from Forest City. For WNYC, I'm Andrea Bernstein.
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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