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March 30, 2006
NY PRESS 50 MOST LOATHSOME NEW YORKERS
And the coverboy of The NY Press annual "50 MOST LOATHSOME NEW YORKERS," leading the field at #1, is the eminent-domain-addicted Sultan of Subsidy...
BRUCE RATNER
Nets Owner & DeveloperWhere’s Jackie O. when you need her? The Atlantic Yards project and the rest of the properties this comb-over-mini-Donald’s got his greenbacked mitts around aren’t exactly Grand Central Terminal, but bear with us. Think of all the upper-middle-class homeowners who will be displaced after long, hard years of work carving a viable neighborhood out of a once-desolate area of Brooklyn. Then there are the many working-class people living in Prospect Heights, and the small businesspersons in the area. Aren’t their homes and businesses worth saving? The Empire State Development Board, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Pataki and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz don’t think so. The centerpiece of the proposed development is a 19,000-seat arena that will house the Brooklyn (née New Jersey) Nets, in which Ratner has a major stake. Also on the table are 17 high rises, which will be as high as 55 stories, 628,000 square feet of commercial space and residences. The housing bit is a ruse to assuage the masses. The “affordable” residential buildings will, however, remain out of reach for a single mom of four surviving on a sub-poverty-line paycheck. Ratner’s attempts to evade official processes for major real estate projects and the use of Supreme Court-endorsed eminent domain have been met with challenges from underfunded groups like Develop Don’t Destroy. What really pisses us off is the imminent razing of Freddy’s Bar and Backroom, which is in the 22-acre footprint. With the Freddy’s gone, where will we get our $4 beers when that’s all we have in our wallet? Oh, and don’t look for criticism in the Newspaper of Record: Ratner’s building theTimes’ gleaming new headquarters building west of Times Square.
And don't forget Bruce's Cheerleader-in-Chief, Marty Markowitz, who slipped from #21 a year ago to #31.
31 Marty Markowitz
Brooklyn Borough PresidentInstead of using what little power he has positively during the transit strike last Christmas (press releases and sound bites don’t count), the genial Marshmallow Man Markowitz turned Borough Hall into a coffee-and-tea joint for those commuters who decided to brave the winds on the Brooklyn Bridge. He stood at the foot of the entrance to the bridge cheering on the frostbitten, grumbling masses, essentially putting on a kissing-babies act. Gee, a bialy and hot coco really warms our toes, Marty. That’s his shtick. Smile, pat some backs, announce his support for the newest cause du jour as long as the press is around. Then there’s the real Marty, the backroom Marty. Case in point: his ebullient support for development czar Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Railyard, 20,000-seat, Frank Gehry-designed sports arena and the surrounding retail, residential and “public” (ironic quotes) spaces. Last summer, Markowitz held a press conference with Upstate and city politicians and Ratner’s puppet community groups—among them BUILD—to announce the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement. They all agreed Ratner’s vision is in the best interest of Brooklyn. But the beep is really hot about pipe dreams of a supposed sports renaissance, heralded by the construction of a complex for what would be the Brooklyn Nets. The restless ghosts of the Brooklyn Dodgers would at last be laid to rest at Ebbett’s Field. Meanwhile, he oversees a borough in the midst momentous change, with neighborhood after neighborhood falling prey to rapacious developers, and long-established communities uprooted.
Other NoLandGrab regulars who made the list are:
#11 George Pataki -- who gets extra credit for the gaping hole at Ground Zero
#22 Michael Bloomberg -- with his "capo" Dan Doctoroff
#40 Bill Weld -- no mention of eminent domain; apparently, he already comes with plenty of loathsome credentials.
Posted by lumi at March 30, 2006 7:02 AM