Alfonse D'Amato

A perfect example of corporate greed

Posted

I have made no secret of my opposition to the egregious tax giveaway the City of Long Beach is eager to give to luxury development giant iStar. Last Wednesday, for the second time, I stood before the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency and the residents of the City of Long Beach (at least those who could actually get into the hearing) and pressed the IDA to once again reject corporate greed.

The developer wants to rebuild the Superblock in Long Beach by filling the vacant lot with two massive 160-foot-tall towers with 522 units. These buildings would be seven stories higher than any other buildings in Long Beach.

Their development is contingent on iStar’s receiving a deal from the IDA for a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program.

For two years, the misinformed members of the Long Beach City Council have been trying to push through this egregious tax giveaway. Instead of representing the interests of the taxpayers and local school districts, these elected officials continue to fight for the developer.

The debacle began in January 2014, when council members Anthony Eramo, Len Torres and Scott Mandel voted in a secret closed session in favor of giving iStar a $128 million tax break. The following month, the Long Beach zoning board approved iStar’s development plan, at which time iStar claimed that it had the financial wherewithal to cover the entire cost of the project and was ready to start construction within 90 days. But after a year passed with no action, iStar retracted, saying it needed the PILOT program, and was seeking an estimated $128 million property tax exemption.

Thankfully, the residents of Long Beach, with the help of County Legislator Denise Ford, began to realize that our elected officials were selling out to iStar and would be forcing the taxpayers to pick up the bill.

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