Ratner May Cut Transit Upgrades Promised In Atlantic Yards Deal

Ratner Reportedly Still Has Not Paid MTA $100M For Rail Yard Purchase

The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn is "in such financial upheaval" that Forest City Ratner CEO and Nets Owner Bruce Ratner now is "trying to cut back on much-needed transit improvements, which he promised in exchange for approval for the controversial" $4B development, according to sources cited by Rich Calder of the N.Y. POST. Sources said that Ratner is "in talks with the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transit Authority [MTA] about cutting costs on a revamp and move of the Long Island Rail Road's Vanderbilt Rail Yard, which he agreed to purchase three years ago" for $100M. Ratner was not the highest bidder for the site, as his bid was $50M lower than a rival proposal by Extell Development. But the MTA agreed to sell to Ratner anyway, "allowing him to move forward with his now crumbling 22-acre plan," which includes the Nets' Barclays Center. Sources said that Ratner "has yet to pay the MTA the $100[M] for the site, and he's in talks about spreading out the payments." Anti-Atlantic Yards group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesperson Daniel Goldstein has "called on the MTA to put the [transit] project back out for bids" (N.Y. POST, 1/22).