Related Hits the Wall

As Crain's is reporting today, the proposal by the Related Companies to build an entertainment complex on Pier 40 on the West Side has run into a wall of community opposition. If you remember, it was Related that was designated-without any bidding process- to take over the old BTM and build a mall in spite of the opposition of the merchants who were evicted from the site.

This time, however, things are starkly different, as over 1,500 community residents came out for a public hearing on Related's proposal. Apparently, what you can do to bogart residents of the South Bronx is not likely to work on the activist Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen. From our vantage point, it couldn't happen to a better company, one that has gotten more from this administration than any other single real estate firm.