Shift in Atlantic Yards Financials Puts Pressure on Silver To Delay

Pressure is mounting on the Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, to postpone final approval of the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

After reviewing financial information about developer Forest City Ratner's plan to build a basketball arena and 16 mostly residential towers on 22 acres in Prospect Heights, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat of Westchester who heads the Assembly committee that oversees public authorities, said yesterday the figures on the project's costs and benefits had "substantially changed."

"As of right now, I need to know more of the facts than I saw today," Mr. Brodsky said.

Mr. Brodsky joined a growing chorus of civic groups and local elected officials who are asking for a more detailed financial picture on the largest development project in Brooklyn's history. The project could appear before the Public Authorities Control Board for final approval tomorrow.

On the steps of City Hall yesterday, a group of civic organizations, including the Municipal Art Society, the Regional Plan Association, the Citizen's Union, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, rallied for a postponement of a final vote based on the lack of financial transparency and the failure to address traffic and other environmental concerns.

A source close to the incoming Spitzer administration said yesterday that the Pataki administration could try to tie the approval of Atlantic Yards to the approval of the $900 million Moynihan Station transit project, which the control board rejected in November based on opposition from Mr. Silver.

State officials disclosed yesterday that Moynihan Station project would also appear Wednesday before the Public Authorities Control Board, although they said no substantive changes to the plan have been made.

Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg strongly support the plan based on the promise of 2,250 units of affordable housing and job creation. Previously, Mr. Silver, who controls one of three votes on the Public Authorities Control Board, said he supports the Brooklyn project. A spokesman for Mr. Silver, Charles Carrier, said the speaker is still discussing the project and reviewing additional information.

Yesterday, Mr. Brodsky focused his questions of Mr. Gargano at the project's shifting goal posts. Recently, state projections on the amount of tax revenues from Atlantic Yards dropped by about a third, to $944 million from $1.4 billion. Projections about the number of jobs and the amount of personal income derived from the development also dropped sharply, and the discount rate applied to the calculations appeared to drop to 3% from 6%, boosting financial projections.