Enacts the "Atlantic Yards governance act"

2. The members of the board of the Atlantic Yards development trust shall be residents of the city of New York and shall be appointed as follows:

(a) Eight members shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the governor, at least one of whom shall be a representative of a not-for -profit, non-governmental or civic organization.

(b) Two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, in consultation with the member of the assembly that represents the district or districts in which the project is located.

(c) Two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, in consultation with the senator that represents the district or districts in which the project is located.

(d) Two members shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the mayor of the city of New York.

(e) One member shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the borough president of the borough of Brooklyn, appointed in consultation with Brooklyn community boards two, six and eight.

(f) One non-voting member shall be appointed by the stakeholder council as provided in section seventeen hundred eight of this title.

(g) Each appointing authority, with the exception of the Brooklyn borough president and stakeholder council, may appoint no more than half their members as a city or state employees.

(1703) powers of the Atlantic Yards development trust. 1. To fulfill its purpose under this title, the trust shall have the following powers, functions, duties and authority subject to the limitations set forth in this title:

(a) to plan, design, develop, construct, operate, and maintain the project;

(b) to implement the general project plan for the project;

(c) to oversee implementation of the design guidelines for the project; (d) to establish a stakeholder council as provided in section seventeen hundred eight of this title;

(e) to approve changes to the general project plan in consultation with the stakeholder council;

(f) to oversee policies to mitigate environmental impact of the project and coordinate the implementation of these policies with the relevant city and state agencies;

(g) when necessary, to develop additional policy to mitigate anticipated environmental impacts of the projects;

(h) to adopt rules of the procedure for the consultation with the stakeholder council, established pursuant to section seventeen hundred eight of this title;

(i) to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the public using facilities under its jurisdiction;

(j) to exercise the following general corporate powers:

(i) to make and alter by-laws for its organization and internal management;

Justification

New York State projects in New York City are typically governed in one of two ways. The State can pass specific legislation relating to the project, as it did with Battery Park City and Hudson River Park. Alternatively, the State can govern projects under the powers granted to it by the UDC Act of 1968, which it does with Brooklyn Bridge Park, Queens West, Moynihan Station, and other projects. In many cases, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) has established subsidiaries to formally involve the city and local elected officials in the governance of these projects.

However, they are not obliged to do so by law and, unique among the large state projects in New York City, there is no project subsidiary for Atlantic Yards. The result is that the project is governed in a less transparent, less accountable manner than comparable projects, and without any vehicle for coordinating the city and state agencies involved in the proposed development, or involving local elected officials and the relevant community boards. Further, changes in administration in State government, as well as changes in the ESDC's internal organization, pose risks to the continuity of project oversight which may threaten the realization of Atlantic Yards' stated goals.

To address this, the proposed legislation would establish a project oversight entity known as the "Atlantic Yards Development Trust" to oversee the Atlantic Yards project. The entity would have the following four primary responsibilities.

First, oversee the implementation of the design guidelines for the architecture of the project. Second, coordinate the involvement of state and city agencies responsible for the environmental impact mitigations. Third, coordinate the development of policy surrounding the project, including transportation concerns. Lastly, approve changes to the general project plan.

Prior legislative history

New Bill.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.