Bruce Ratner

Infobox Person


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name = Bruce Ratner
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birth_date = Birth date and age|1945|01|23|mf=y
birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio
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occupation = Real estate developer
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Bruce Ratner (born January 23, 1945 in Cleveland, Ohio) is president and CEO of Forest City Ratner, the New York division of Forest City Enterprises, which is based in Cleveland. Ratner was New York City's most active real estate developer during the 1990s. Ratner graduated cum laude from Harvard University in 1967 and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1970.

After obtaining his J.D. Ratner became the director of a Model Cities program for the Lindsay administration in New York City. Subsequently he served in the capacity of chief of the Consumer Protection Division in the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs under Mayor Ed Koch in 1978.

In 1992, "Crain's New York Business" selected Ratner as the top New York City executive in the fields of real estate, finance and insurance. His projects generally involve large public subsidies, but to his credit has only once used the power of eminent domain.

Bruce Ratner is the brother of Michael Ratner, the President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Ellen Ratner, a contributor to Fox News, co-host of The Long and the Short of it.

After his second stint in municipal government Ratner embarked upon what his largest construction project, the MetroTech office complex, in downtown Brooklyn.

Atlantic Yards project

Ratner is principal owner of the New Jersey Nets, which he plans to move to Brooklyn upon the construction of the expansive Brooklyn Nets Arena, a luxury condo that features low income housing and basketball arena complex designed by the architect Frank Gehry. It remains a highly controversial project. National organizations such as the Washington D.C. based National Trust for Historic Preservation and Scenic America have noted their opposition to the project. Recently it came out that Ratner will save $78 million thanks to a state politician. [cite needed] It has recently come to light that funding is no longer seen as readily available for the housing portion of the project, but the Nets arena is set to proceed on schedule. This has angered many in the community, who supported the project on the basis of the promised subsidized housing, not on the arena. Over two billion dollars in corporate welfare is expected if the entire project comes to fruition.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn [http://www.developdontdestroy.org/php/latestnews_ArchiveDate.php] is vocally opposing the project.

References

External links

* [http://www.fcrc.com/full_compmng.asp?brief=1 Forest City Ratner Companies, Urban Real Estate] Brief Company Bio.
* [http://www.forestcity.net Forest City Enterprises] Corporate Web site