The ostensible headline on today’s New York Times story about Atlantic Yards is that developer Bruce Ratner says he will break ground on the Atlantic Yards project by December. The details in the story, however, are far more interesting. For instance, the lawsuits that would allow that to happen won’t be resolved by then. Then, there’s confirmation that the developer is looking for another $100 million in public subsidy for the project because of rising costs and the credit market. And finally, there’s news that the $400 million Barclay’s naming rights deal has a late November deadline, which could at least force some renegotiation in a very different market than the one in which it was signed. Of course, it’s well known that the tax-exempt status of the huge bond issue to finance the Nets arena will hinge on an IRS decision affecting a number of stadium and arena projects. The bottom line, according to the Times is that “it is unclear whether Mr. Ratner will be able to meet his own deadline to start one of the most ambitious projects in Brooklyn in decades, given the softening economy, the crisis in the debt markets, rising costs and a persistent group of opponents who have filed one lawsuit after another.”