Bloomberg's Midtown plan dies, but subsidies for a temporary ally survive
By Dana Rubinstein
8:00 am Nov. 14, 2013
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ambitious plan to move the Grand Central business district into the 21st century will not come to pass, at least in its current form.
But that’s not for a lack effort from the administration, or an unwillingness to make concessions to interested parties.
In the waning days of the administration, Bloomberg’s City Hall was so eager to appease a union that it thought might be an ally in the Midtown East rezoning effort, that it channeled millions of dollars in subsidies to a developer in Staten Island so he could build a project there that will end up using entirely that same union’s labor. The grand total in city and state development subsidies for the Empire Outlets and hotel project on the island’s North Shore: $50 million. About $42 million of that will be applied to the outlets' $260 million cost.
With the hotel, the whole project is expected to cost $316.5 million.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2013/11/8536008/bloombergs-midtown-plan-dies-subsidies-temporary-ally-survive?top-featured-1
