This Almost Makes You Wish They Just Went After It Via Eminent Domain

They must be trying to play us:

The city bought itself a half-acre of land at Willets Point for $3.5 million – snapping up three parcels in Queens’ redeveloping “Iron Triangle” at nearly 10 times their assessed value.

The financials of the Oct. 2 deal with real-estate company BRD Corp. provide the first glimpse into the cost of clearing the 62-acre complex to make way for a multibillion-dollar residential and commercial development.

. . .

The BRD deal was “pretty good” for the seller, said Steve Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, noting that the price of $161 per square foot exceeded the $100 to $150 average in the outer boroughs.

According to a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, the city has $409 million in the capital budget over five years for Willets Point property acquisition, business relocation and infrastructure improvements.

$80-some-odd million a year for contaminated land in the flightpath of LaGuardia makes $16 million for plastic bags look like an absurd drop in the bucket . . .

Location Scout: Iron Triangle.

Wow, A New Definition Of Chutzpah Emerges

Four borough presidents — vitally vestigial! — actually showed up to support the term limit extension:

If you want self-interest, consider that 29-to-22 Council vote. Of the 51 lawmakers, 35 would have been forced out of office at the end of next year. Nearly two-thirds of them, 23 of 35, voted to reward themselves with a possible extra term. Of those who do not have a 2009 expiration date, 63 percent — 10 of 16 members — voted against the change. Funny how that worked.

Of course, to hear lawmakers talk on Monday, self-interest had nothing to do with it. It was all about government continuity during a crisis. Times are so hard, you see, that New York cannot survive without the foresight, the high-mindedness and the command of municipal finances that this batch of council members provides. Besides, if New Yorkers feel differently, they can always vote them all out of office next November.

“This is democracy at its best,” said Councilman Kendall Stewart of Brooklyn.

That’s how the borough presidents saw it as well — four of the five who showed up, anyway. “We need all the experience we can count on to get us through this crisis,” said Helen M. Marshall, who represents Queens.

Got it. Without these borough presidents hanging on beyond next year, New York might not make it.

Huh?

People have been throwing around Orwell’s Animal Farm a lot lately. But this is truly Orwellian:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn defended her decision to move forward with legislation extending term limits, saying the three-week process was not rushed.

Quinn also defended her flip-flop on extending term limits — she opposed the idea in December but reversed herself days ago — comparing it with the stubbornness George W. Bush displayed as president.

“Many of us, myself included, have been highly critical of our president. When facts change, he won’t change his position on different matters,” she said.

So you’re not George . . . uh . . . what was I saying? I think I’ve just been hypnotized . . .

“I Don’t Want To Walk Away From A City I Feel I Can Help Lead Through These Tough Times”

Emphasis on, “I don’t want to walk away”:

The term-limits question could have gone before the voters a third time next month had Bloomberg appointed a Charter Revision Commission he promised in January in his State of the City speech.

Councilman Bill DeBlasio (D-Brooklyn) called on the mayor to name that commission now so it could do just that in a special election.

But the mayor rejected that idea as “problematic.”

Chavez The Man Can Get!

No need for referendum, by the way:

Council Speaker Christine Quinn disclosed Thursday that the mayor’s bill will request a permanent extension of term limits instead of a one-time waiver.

The question of whether to extend term limits permanently to three four-year terms from two — rather than just once for Bloomberg and other incumbents — is one of the most contentious aspects of the controversial move.

“As I understand the mayor’s bill, it is a bill that would permanently change term limits from eight years to 12 years,” said Quinn in a seeming slip.