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Already, a policy debate is raging. Backers are urging people to reserve judgment and say the tax breaks have galvanized cities, businesses and investors to think creatively about boosting parts of the country most in need. Critics say the incentives were poorly calibrated and may amount to a boondoggle far in excess of the official $1.6 billion projected cost. Americans may have to wait months or years to learn which side is right. That’s because the law doesn’t require investors to disclose projects, making it difficult to tell which areas are benefiting the most. But there’s plenty of evidence that a boom is brewing. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which already had an investment team focusing on struggling communities, has disclosed about $150 million in projects in recent months. Purchases of sites inside opportunity zones spiked as the tax law took effect, outpacing growth in other areas, according to Real Capital Analytics, which tracks property sales. Altogether, investors spent 62 percent more on properties eligible for tax breaks in the 12 months through September, compared with those in the same census tracts a year earlier, its data show. Here are snapshots of what’s happening across America: Bronx Boost Port Morris Distillery, which makes a high-alcohol rum called pitorro, was the perfect spot for an opportunity zone pitch. It’s on a block with a colorful mural, industrial buildings ready for loft conversions and views of the Manhattan skyline. Much of the surrounding South Bronx is now an opportunity zone. “We have always been the most ignored,” Marlene Cintron, the borough’s head of economic development, told an audience of developers and lawyers in November. “These opportunity zones are here for you to take advantage of them.” The case for the Bronx, where incomes are among the lowest in New York, is that it’s the last borough awaiting revitalization. The tax incentives are designed to unleash it. If developers can buy at current Bronx prices, before seeing a Brooklyn-like rise, the breaks would be massive. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016414