PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY

A news conference will begin at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 16, on the steps of City Hall where a broad partnership of civic and community groups along with several elected officials will urge the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to extend the public comment period for the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Statement and General Project Plan for Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards development proposal.

A number of city and state elected officials, local community boards, civic and community organizations, and local residents have already contacted ESDC Chairman Charles A. Gargano to request an extension of the review period. Among those scheduled or invited to attend tomorrow’s news conference are:

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery

State Assembly Member James Brennan

State Assembly Member Roger L. Green

State Assembly Member Joseph Lentol

State Assembly Member Joan Millman

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn

City Councilmember Bill DeBlasio

City Councilmember Letitia James

City Councilmember David Yassky

Brooklyn Community Boards 2, 6 and 8

Citizen’s Union, www.citizensunion.org

Community-Based Planning Task Force

Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods,  www.cbrooklynneighborhoods.homestead.com

Municipal Art Society of New York, www.mas.org

New York Industrial Retention Network, www.nyirn.org

New Yorkers for Parks, www.ny4p.org

Women’s City Club, www.wccny.org

The impact statement and project plan for Atlantic Yards are among the largest and most complex documents ever released by the ESDC. They are hundreds of pages long and contain hundreds of tables, maps, graphs and technical studies. The 66-day review period set forth by the state agency is inadequate for a meaningful review of the project, especially coming as it does during the summer vacation period.