With some environmental remediation now beginning on the AY site, FCR has established a "Community Liaison Office" for the project. A sign posted outside the office - located in the former Spalding building at 24 6th Avenue - invites members of the public to "Inquire within for Atlantic Yards construction related questions or concerns" or call 866 923-5315 (see photo on the left, from NoLandGrab.org).

Interestingly, the sign doesn't clearly indicate that the office has been established by Forest City Ratner. And there's the crux: the government seems to be entrusting a private developer that's ultimately answerable to investors with the responsibility to manage the concerns of the community, rather than a public entity that's responsible to the public.

If past experience is a guide, this office will appear responsive to community concerns, but little of substance will actually change about the plan or the proposed mitigations as a result of them. This will not be surprising. We should expect private companies to put their own interests first, ahead of acting in the public interest.

What we should not expect is the total void in public leadership and involvement in this project that has resulted in a developer-led process and plan from the beginning. With the opening of a developer-controlled "Community Liason Office" this void in public leadership and accountability seems to be continuing.