Brookfield claims poverty. BPCA agrees to pay for marina docks, etc.

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June 9, 2015- By Steven E. Greer

Well, perhaps this is why the BPCA made no mention at all on June 9th of the finalized contract with Brookfield Properties over the North Cove Marina. We have obtained the contract that was signed on May 6th.

The BPCA agreed to pay for the docks and other costs to get the marina working. Recall, former operator Mike Fortenbaugh owned his own docks and towed them over to his new location in New Jersey, leaving the marina empty. He was also paying for his own docks and expenses, not being subsidized by the BPCA.

The contract states on page 35, “Licensor (i.e. The BPCA) shall pay up to (1) 100% of the cost to purchase and deliver the docks, and (2) 60% of the installation of the docks, including chains and ancillary equipment that anchor and connect the docks to the chain mere system and electrical, plumbing or any other connections required to ensure that the docks are usable, with a total cap on (1) and (2) of $900,000.”

During the May 6th CB1 meeting whereby David Cheikin of Brookfield gave an update on the contract that was still in negotiations, he mentioned that Brookfield could not afford to pay for the docks. The six-month delay in the sailing season was at least partially due to this haggling.

Dennis Mehiel is the CEO of the BPCA and also an owner of a large yacht that uses IGY Marinas. His team negotiated this contract that gave your taxpayer dollars to a Canadian real estate company. Alix Pustilnik and Seema Singh are the chief in-house legal counsel.

The BPCA was created in 1969 by the state legislature to serve as a source of revenue for the city to pay for “affordable housing”, after the costs of running BPC were deducted. The BPCA has been very tight with money when it comes to spending just a few thousand dollars on mowing the weeds on Pataki Highway, or repairing the water pumps to the police memorial.

However, it seems that Dennis Mehiel’s BPCA is much more liberal with the cash when it comes to dolling out favors to friends of Governor Cuomo, such as Brookfield and IGY Marinas. If former marina operator Mike Fortenbaugh had not been evicted, then the BPCA would not have had to pay millions of dollars to rebuild the docks.

The City Comptroller and inspector general have been notified of this misuse of city funds.

We are still analyzing the entire RFP application submitted by Brookfield to compare their promises of late 2014 with the reality of the contract in 2015. Stay tuned.