Freddy Ferrer: A Tale of Two Boroughs

In today's Daily News Freddy Ferrer comes out swinging against the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. While stopping short of calling for the project's defeat, Ferrer said that the development needed to be downscaled. What he didn't say, of course, was a word about the deal that the Bloombergistas hatched right in his own borough at the Bronx Terminal Market. Hmmm!

Now we aren't busting Freddy because of our ties to FCRC. In fact we have no problem with him trying, by criticizing the Brooklyn project and the mayor's role in it, to get any political traction that can prevent his poll numbers from falling right off the graph. It would be fairer and more honest, however, for him to focus on the no bid deal that was directly crafted by Deputy Dan for his love interest Steve Ross.

The reality is that the Atlantic Yards project moved ahead more in spite of the Bloomberg administration rather than because of its support since the key players were more concerned with the West Side. And if Ferrer is concerned about business dislocation and eminent domain then what is happening to the BTM should really set him off against the mayor but apparently, as Richard Lipsky said($) in the Times story on this topic, Freddy is "cross-pressured."