Officials Rally for More Atlantic Yards Oversight

A group of city and state elected officials is seeking to create a new governing body to oversee the Atlantic Yards development project in Brooklyn.

New York State Assembly members Hakeem Jeffries and James Brennan, and New York City Council members Letitia James and David Yassky are launching a campaign for new legislation created "to Reform the Governance of Atlantic Yards" at a rally at City Hall scheduled for today.

"Atlantic Yards is the only state project without effective public oversight and a vehicle for community input in its decision-making," the officials said in a statement released yesterday.

The Atlantic Yards project is a $4 billion, 8-million-square-foot development that would create more than 6,000 apartments, office space, and an arena for the Nets basketball team on 22 acres, near the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues in Brooklyn.

The officials are seeking to create the Atlantic Yards Trust, which would be comprised of state and city appointed officials and a Stakeholders Council of local residents appointed by local elected officials. The residents would help advise the Trust.