The New York Observer reported last week:
Forest City Ratner paid former U.S. Senator Al D’Amato’s lobbying firm $400,000 in 2006 and 2007 to lobby federal legislators regarding eminent domain and other issues important to the developer of the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in downtown Brooklyn.
Inside the article is this interesting factoid about Columbia University’s efforts:
As for lobbyist spending in New York State, Forest City spent far more than any other major developer (though Columbia University, which last year pushed through City Council approval of its plan for a 17-acre, $7 billion expansion into West Harlem, listed more than $2.2 million in lobbying expenses).