Happy Days for Dems in DC, but What About Brooklyn?

It's the happiest morning after in years for Democrats, as they have finally managed to put an end to the total Republican control of Washington. The House is back in Democratic hands and the Senate is still hanging in the balance, with the final outcome contingent on sure-to-come recounts. Dems also scored a clean sweep in Albany.

What does this mean for Brooklyn? We're tempted to say not much in terms of the projects that really matter. Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer supports the most contentious projects with state involvement, namely the Atlantic Yards Proposal and the Brooklyn Bridge Park development. While he may tinker at the margins of both, he does not seem likely to work major changes in either. Candidates with opposing positions were dispatched during the September primary.

Long-term change, however, is a real possibility. A shift in Albany that would create a real state affordable housing strategy would have significant implication locally. A move toward more responsive state agencies (like the Empire State Development Corp.) would also have signficant implications. (Whether the changes come in time to impact ongoing projects is another matter.) A push to do something about horrors like the Greenpoint Oil Spill or to better enforce environmental regs as more and more developments go up on environmentally-challenged sites are also possibilities.

Norman Oder in Atlantic Yards Report offers the following insight today (among many):

...Old ways of doing business will change, and the state's many public authorities, including enormous ones like the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), will face new oversight and perhaps consolidation.

But will Spitzer heed Ron Shiffman's call, repeated yesterday, for a time-out on major development projects like Atlantic Yards and Columbia University's Manhattanville expansion?

Spitzer's campaign told The Real Deal that Spitzer seeks more transparency for the Atlantic Yards project, which is proceeding under the auspices of the ESDC. What that would mean exactly is unclear.

Of course, broad Federal policies that impact life locally--from the minimum wage and spending on critical programs like affordable--will change too.

Even changes at the margins could have some impact on Brooklyn projects like Atlantic Yards if they go forward.