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Did KPMG consider the Kahr report? Maybe after the fact

Now that we know the KPMG Atlantic Yards market study for the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) takes a far more optimistic approach than the report by consultant Joshua Kahr for the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, the question is: did KPMG consider Kahr?

"Can you explain, did the KPMG report respond specifically to the Joshua Kahr report?" I asked ESDC Senior Counsel Steve Matlin after the September 17 ESDC board meeting.

"The KPMG report was commissioned before we--certainly before I saw the Kahr report," Matlin said. "We did share it with KPMG. To what extent they looked at it and--they certainly didn't respond to it directly, but I'm sure they looked at it."

Both issued August 31

Well, as the screenshots below show (click to enlarge), they were both dated August 31, 2009, so there was no way KPMG could officially consider Kahr's conclusions. Nor are there any references to Kahr's report. Perhaps KPMG looked at the report after the fact.

Given that KPMG's report was delivered to the ESDC board for a September 17 board meeting, presumably it could have been updated to address Kahr's conclusions--though that may have been a knotty problem. Had it been released before August 31, presumably Kahr would have tried to address KPMG's conclusions.

Perhaps we will see the two reports dissected in court.

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