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June 30, 2006
The Park Is Not in the House (or vice versa)
Brooklyn Downtown Star
By Phil Guie
The Brooklyn Bridge Legal Defense Fund's lawsuit against the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) alleges that the Brooklyn Bridge Park Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is flawed because it doesn't take into account traffic generated by the Atlantic Yards Plan.
In the same hearing, NY City prevailed in its petition to join the lawsuit as an "interested party." The attorney for the City, Susan Amron, opined that "'city property is going to be part of the park. The city has committed $65 million to [its] development.' She called Brooklyn Bridge Park a paradigm for other parks in the city."
Attorney David Paget, already known to Brooklynites from the suit brought by DDDB and other neighborhood organizations, plays a starring role, representing the Empire State Development Corporation.
NLG Q: Will the Atlantic Yards EIS take into account traffic that may be generated by other development proposals? Community folks want to know if anyone at the Department of Traffic and Transportation is minding the store, and if Brooklyn will get the comprehensive traffic/transportation study and plan it deserves?
The "paradigm" Amron cites is the model of the "self-sustaining park."
Which begs the question: Why must a park be self-sustaining, while Atlantic Yards must receive billions of dollars in tax subsidies?
Posted by lumi at 8:50 AM
How BIG is big?
So just how big is Atlantic Yards really?
The Municipal Art Society pointed out that the entire project is larger than THREE EMPIRE STATE BUILDINGS, or 23 WILLIAMSBURGH SAVINGS BANK TOWERS.
Now this just in from Curbed: Miss Brooklyn will be over twice the height of the Coney Island Parachute Jump.
Posted by lumi at 8:33 AM
Atlantic Yards Traffic and Parking
StreetsBlog gives props to Atlantic Yards Report for "continuing to ask the questions that don't seem to occur to his salaried colleagues in the local media":
Norman Oder has recently been digging into the critical issues of traffic and parking around Forest City Ratner's massive urban renewal plan for Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
On 6/28/06:
Oder questioned the Empire State Development Corporation's decision to exclude the East River bridge crossings from its public environmental review process.
On 6/29/06:
Oder ponders the mystery of how much "interim surface parking" will be included in Forest City's plans for blocks that are not scheduled to be developed for at least another decade.
Posted by lumi at 8:21 AM
Democratic Party Machine embraces Jeffries
The Democratic Party Machine, which has consistently supported Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal, is still alive and kickin' despite recent scandals.
The latest pol to receive support from 'dem Dems is Hakeem Jeffries. Though the candidate for the 57th State Assembly District has charted a cautious position on Atlantic Yards, the appearance of Ratner spokesperson (and Jeffries' friend) Lupe Todd at recent events and the inclusion of a couple cogs in the machine on Jeffries' "committee to fill vacancies," has led Atlantic Yards critics, some political watchers and constituents to wonder, "who is the man behind the curtain?"
Fifty First State, County's Condition
Daily Politics, Vacant
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Posted by lumi at 7:59 AM
June 29, 2006
Are nine acres of interim surface parking part of the plan?
Atlantic Yards Report
"Interim surface parking" at "Atlantic Yards" is another issue that Forest City Ratner doesn't want the community to think about — enter Atlantic Yards Reporter Norman Oder.
Missing from Forest City Ratner’s latest brochure and the AtlanticYards.com web site is any mention of the two huge interim surface parking lots planned for the Atlantic Yards site, in the north central and southeast blocks of the site, blocks that are later slated for towers and landscaped open space.
How big? How many spaces? For whom? For how long? We don't know yet. The two large blocks occupy about nine acres of the 22-acre footprint. An acre can typically accommodate spaces for about 130 cars (plus driving lanes, etc.), so nine acres could provide parking for 1170 cars. It's unlikely that the entire blocks would be used for parking, though.
Still, the project would take at least ten years to build, so it's possible those parking lots could persist in whole or in part, especially if changes in economic conditions alter the development.
Posted by lumi at 7:49 AM
Brooklyn: Appeal Sought in Atlantic Yards Case
The NY Times ran this brief item by Nicholas Confessore about the latest legal developments in the Atlantic Yards fight:
A group opposed to the proposed Atlantic Yards project is seeking to appeal a recent appellate court ruling regarding the project's legal representation. The group, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, and 15 co-plaintiffs sued the project's developer, Forest City Ratner Companies, and the state agency sponsoring the project, the Empire State Development Corporation, in January after the agency retained an environmental lawyer, David Paget, who had earlier advised the developer on the project. In May, the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court struck down a lower court's ruling that Mr. Paget's involvement was a conflict of interest. Opponents hope to appeal that decision to the State Court of Appeals.
Also check out Curbed.com, "Another Atlantic Yards Legal Appeal?," where a real PR pro is making Ratner's case in the comments section.
Posted by lumi at 7:42 AM
Press Release: Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and Co-Plaintiffs File Motion
Plaintiffs Seek Fairness in Process in Which Attorney David Paget is Shared by Forest City Ratner and ESDC on “Atlantic Yards” Proposal Review
NEW YORK, NY— Today Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and 15 co-plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to appeal a case it had won in State Supreme Court but was overturned last month by the Appellate Division. The case the plaintiffs won in the trial court centered around environmental attorney David Paget, of Sive, Paget & Riesel, who had an apparent conflict of interest as he had represented developer Forest City Ratner for its “Atlantic Yards” proposal and then switched to represent the state public agency-the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC)–charged with representing the public interest in the environmental review of the same development proposal.
Forest City Ratner’s “Atlantic Yards” is the largest single-source development proposed in the history of New York City.
In their motion for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals (the highest court in New York State), Develop Don’t Destroy and its co-plaintiffs (“the petitioners”) contend that:
The specific conflict of interest issue presented here appears to be a case of first impression in New York State courts, and implicates fundamental issues of governmental integrity and accountability in the context of an enormously controversial development project that will have a significant impact on hundreds of thousands of citizens and significantly change several Brooklyn neighborhoods…
To hold that the ethical rules applicable to a public entity acting for the benefit of the public are the same as the rules applicable to purely private conduct, particularly in the context of the State government’s oversight and review of a publicly subsidized, large-scale community redevelopment project, undermines public trust in the integrity of government…*
Because this issue is vitally important to the public and presents a novel issue of law, petitioners respectfully submit that leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals should be granted.*
“Our community intends to fight for justice and transparency in the environmental review process at every turn. To the extent that the political and economic elite think that they can run roughshod over the residents of Brooklyn by sharing advisers and ignoring the rules, we will seek the guidance of the highest court available,” Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn legal committee chair Candace Carponter said. “In this case, the trial court saw through the sham of the government and the developer sharing the same attorney on the same development proposal, Forest City Ratner’s ‘Atlantic Yards.’ Although the Appellate Division thought this conflict was acceptable, we hope the Court of Appeals will decide to hear the case and independently evaluate the situation. As such, we are making application to the Court of Appeals to review this case and to, we hope, rule in favor of transparency, fairness and the obligation of all parties to play by the rules; it’s the least we can ask for when so much is at stake.”
All case files can be found here: www.dddb.net/php/reading/legal/democase/index.php
Posted by lumi at 7:16 AM
Demand for Midtown Office Space Pushes Prices Up
The NY Times
By Terry Pristin
The market for Class A office space in Midtown is so hot that The Times found an example where a landlord paid its tenant to move in order to lease out the space for more than double the previous rent.
While the vacancy rate in Midtown over all is said to be about 8 percent, space is even tighter in the so-called Plaza submarket, from the Avenue of the Americas to the East River and 51st Street to 63rd Street.
NoLandGrab: Bruce Ratner is watching market trends for Class A office space very carefully, as Forest City Ratner is currently trying to fill its share of the Times Tower with tenants.
How does this affect Atlantic Yards? Continued demand for Class A office space could lead Ratner to convert some space in the proposed skyscrapers back to office/commercial space, as originally planned. However, the movement to diversify back-office operations of large corporations, post-9/11, has run its course, and the demand for Class A space in the outer boroughs hasn't materialized, as evidenced by the failure of the Downtown Brooklyn Plan to build anything but luxury housing.
Posted by lumi at 7:07 AM
StreetsBlog Interview: Stefan Schaefer
StreetsBlog.org interviews filmmaker Stefan Schaefer, who makes this observation about his own block, Dean St. between 4th & 5th Aves.:
We get a lot of the spillover traffic from Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues and our block probably has over one hundred kids on it.
Posted by lumi at 6:52 AM
Atlantic Yards Opponents Clash Over Building Plans
Courier Life
By Steven Witt
In the Courier Life's most recent update of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal, reporter Steven Witt unwittingly mixes up a couple of facts. For instance, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) and the Municipal Art Society (MAS) probably both swallowed a bug when they read:
Those opposing the project carted out a high-brow writer and the Manhattan-based Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) to decry the plan
DDDB made clear at the MAS presentation that they felt that the critique of the plan didn't go far enough, as the MAS was struggling to be politic as they entered a hot bed of urban design controversy. Also, the MAS has established a reputation for fairness and intelligence, and therefore usually isn't "carted out" by local grassroots organizations.
Witt also covers the overwhelming response to Forest City Ratner's mailer, you know, the one promoting Brooklyn and showing little of the project. A 20K response to such a promotional mailer is suspiciously high.
NoLandGrab: We could continue turning over rocks in this article, but we have to leave time to read Norman Oder's latest analysis at AtlanticYardsReport.com.
Posted by lumi at 6:34 AM
June 28, 2006
Transportation changes: are congestion pricing, East River tolls on the agenda?
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder spends an evening at a transportation forum to learn more about the City's plans (or lack thereof) to combat the Atlantic Yards bugaboo, TRAFFIC.
One huge challenge for the Atlantic Yards project--or any other major development at the crossroads of Atlantic, Flatbush, and Fourth avenues--involves transportation, and the solution involves citywide issues, not merely project-related fixes. That's why the decision by the Empire State Development Corporation to exclude the East River crossings from the Final Scope of Analysis--the prelude to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Atlantic Yards project--was so shortsighted, especially since a good chunk of Nets fans are expected to come from New Jersey.
...
But the issue goes beyond arena attendance, a transportation consultant Brian Ketcham has stressed, since most of the new traffic would be generated by new residents. Markowitz remains optimistic, according to the Post, that Forest City Ratner will mitigate the impact of the project, such as by providing incentives for people visiting the arena to use mass transit.The problem is much bigger than the Atlantic Yards project, and whatever changes are proposed by the developer will have to be seen in context of some citywide planning issues. After all, Also, 40 percent of the traffic in Downtown Brooklyn is going into Manhattan, according to traffic consultant Bruce Schaller, and that could be cut if the city implements some systemic changes.
Posted by lumi at 7:51 AM
Kelo on Kelo: I'll keep my illusions
Providence Journal, Op-Ed
By Susette Kelo
Hardly a day goes by as I work in my garden or have a cup of coffee in my kitchen, both of which overlook the Thames River and Long Island Sound, that I don't ask myself, "If I had to do it all over again, would I?" Even on my worst days, and there are many, my answer is the same: "Absolutely yes."
...
Mark Twain wrote, "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." My illusion has been, and will continue to be, that my home is mine.Had the City of New London needed our homes for a school or a fire station, we would have understood that it was truly a "public use" and we would have complied. But there is no public use here. Building a hotel or upscale condominiums so someone else can live here is not a public use or even a public purpose. And in fact there are no specific plans for the land where our homes stand.
...
At some point, a day of reckoning will come for all. We will all have to answer for things we've done or failed to do. On that day, I would much rather be me than be the people trying to take my home.
NoLandGrab: This weekend, NoLandGrab paid a visit to Kelo's little pink house in the Ft. Trumbull neighborhood of New London.
Posted by lumi at 7:16 AM
Gehry's Death Wish for Brooklyn.
HereinVanNuys.com considers novelist Jonathan Lethem's open letter to architecht Frank Gehry and agrees that Gehry's legacy stands in the balance.
Lethem predicts that if Gehry stays connected with this ill-conceived project, that his legacy in New York will be judged badly.
...
Lethem’s political analogy is correct. Back room builders and politicians, to promote an agenda of regressive and exploitative development, now own the name “Frank Gehry” in a PR mission to sell the public junk architecture. Like the flags waving in the background of Fox News, Gehry’s name on a project is a way to make palatable the civic destruction, governmental bribery and tax loophole mendaciousness of our new robber barons.
Posted by lumi at 7:07 AM
Etc. etc. etc.
Apparently there are more reasons that average community folks oppose Bruce Ratner's boondoggle than there are highrises in Atlantic Yards. Yesterday, we listed them and solicited some more.
Add these to the list: * Destruction of a thriving community, * Blightification of buildings purchased and owned by Bruce Ratner, * Criminal harassment tactics against remaining residential tenants, * Unsafe demolitions, * Failure to register its own residential building and tenants with city and state agencies...
Keep em coming via email.
Posted by lumi at 6:50 AM
Rule of Law: The Specter of Condemnation
The Wall Street Journal, Op-Ed
By Scott Bullock
The Senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, who argued the Kelo case before the U.S. Supreme Court, reviews the state of eminent domain abuse, one year after the controversial US Supreme Court decision.
Kelo is the most universally despised Supreme Court decision in decades. And it touched off a nearly unprecedented, grass-roots backlash against eminent domain abuse -- where land is taken, not for a traditional public use like a road or a public building, but from poorer folks and given to wealthier folks, all in the name of "development."
Americans are virtually united in opposition to this practice. Polling on this matter is off the charts. Consistently, 80% or more of the people are opposed to the Kelo decision and want something done about it. The opposition cuts across the usual political divides that separate Americans today. Property owners in blue states oppose eminent domain abuse just as much those in red states. Republicans such as Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. James Sensenbrenner stand shoulder to shoulder with Democrats such as Bill Clinton and Reps. John Conyers and Maxine Waters.
Indeed, about the only people who support the abusive practices are those who stand to benefit from it: local political officials, including big city mayors such as New York's Michael Bloomberg; and planners and developers. What these beneficiaries lack in numbers, however, they more than make up for in political muscle. The result is a massive struggle in state legislatures.
Posted by lumi at 6:46 AM
Press Release: Forest City Builds on Strategic Commitment to Sustainability with Appointment of Two Directors
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced the recent appointments of two directors to lead the Company’s sustainability and energy management initiatives.
Jon Ratner has been appointed director of sustainability initiatives, providing leadership of sustainability-related best practices and procedures. Joyce Mihalik, a Certified Industrial Energy Consultant, was named director of energy management, responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of energy management and conservation strategies for the Company’s Commercial Management portfolio. ... Jon Ratner formerly served as development project manager for mixed-use, office and multifamily projects at Forest City’s Denver Stapleton project. Located on the site of the former Denver International Airport, the 4,700-acre Stapleton development has served as a cornerstone to increase the Company’s awareness and experiences with sustainability principles. Established in 2001, Stapleton has won a number of awards for sustainability and environmental stewardship, including a “Best in American Living” Award for Smart Growth; Colorado Environmental Achievement Award; U.S. Conference of Mayors Award for Excellence; and Stockholm Partnerships for Sustainable Cities Award from the King of Sweden.
Posted by lumi at 6:33 AM
June 27, 2006
Bard of Brooklyn savages Gehry's 'wedding dress' blocks
The Guardian
By Paul Arendt
Frank Gehry is fighting a war on both sides of the Atlantic. The Pritzker prize-winning septuagenarian architect is already embroiled in a long-running battle to build a pair of tower blocks on Hove seafront, described by Gehry as "Victorian women in wind-blown dresses". Now it seems that he has some even more formidable opponents than the genteel residents of Brighton and Hove: angry Brooklynites.
...
Like Brighton's controversial towers, the tallest block in the development was inspired by female fashion. Its billowing lower planes were based on a wedding dress, and Gehry has christened the 620ft block "Miss Brooklyn" - which has enraged Lethem even further. "Pardon me, but bleeech," he wrote. "I don't know whether many great buildings have been founded on notions at once so metaphorically impoverished and so slickly patronising. But somehow I doubt that any have."
Posted by lumi at 8:31 AM
再開発反対運動が深める地域のきずな
Nikkei Net covers Zanes-san's benefit for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and the fight to save Prospect Heights from Bruce Ratner and "the development trader":
「ブルックリンは歴史あるコミュニティー。高層ビルと巨大フランチャイズは地域を破壊するだけです」。
As for Brooklyn the community which is history. The high rise building and enormous franchise just destroy area.
NoLandGrab: So-o desu ne.
Posted by lumi at 7:43 AM
VOTE FOR ME because I am against the Bruce Ratner's Community ...
Community Average Folk 101 questions why Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal has become a flashpoint for local politics.
VOTE FOR ME because I am against the Bruce Ratner's Community Benefits Agreement: Atlantic Yards Project. How contemptible is this?
The average community seems to be upset about any number of the following: * EMINENT DOMAIN for a private developer who already owns most of the recently developed commercial property adjacent to the site, * PUBLIC FUNDING of stadiums and arenas, * A questionable COMMUNITY BENEFITS AGREEMENT signed with groups receiving money from the developer, * A project the size of THREE EMPIRE STATE BUILDINGS nested amidst four residential neighborhoods (including public housing), * The DENSEST PROJECT in NYC history (as far as anyone can tell), * MORE TRAFFIC for one of the busiest intersections in Brooklyn, adjacent to neighborhoods with some of the worst asthma rates in the nation, * Billions of dollars of SUBSIDIES with no financial transparency, * Heavy-handed developer and his PATRONIZING STARCHITECT, * Discredited SUPERBLOCKS planning, (Why are we letting Bruce Ratner own and close our streets?), * MTA land being awarded to the LOWEST BIDDER (again), * An AFFORDABLE HOUSING program being exploited by a developer who has a terrible track record for keeping promises (there are better ways to build affordable housing), * The proliferation of BOX and CHAIN stores in Ratner malls, * SECURITY NIGHTMARE (A glass and steel structure over a transit hub at a busy intersection -- where's the NYPD viability study?), * State takeover SUPERCEDES LOCAL ZONING, * NO LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT of a major urban development, * TAX BREAKS for luxury housing, * PORK BARREL spending for a FAVORED DEVELOPER where two-thirds of the profits will flow back to the publicly traded parent company in Cleveland...
What's not to love about the project? Email us if your serious concern about the Ratner scheme isn't on the list of why Atlantic Yards has become a dominant issue in the races for the 57th Assembly and 11th Congressional Districts.
...AND FURTHERMORE (add these to the list and keep 'em coming):
- Destruction of a thriving community,
- Blightification of buildings purchased and owned by Bruce Ratner,
- Criminal harassment tactics against remaining residential tenants,
- Unsafe demolitions,
- Failure to register its own residential building and tenants with city and state agencies...
Posted by lumi at 6:55 AM
Executive Order: Protecting the Property Rights of the American People
President Bush's Executive Order makes a forceful statement against eminent domain abuse, but since it only addresses the "taking of private property by the Federal Government," it probably has no bearing in Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn high-rise and arena plans, which will be a "taking of private property" by NY State.
However, the order raises a couple of important points:
WHITE HOUSE POSITION REVERSAL
This solidifies the 180-degree position reversal for the White House. Before the Kelo case was heard by the US Supreme Court, the White House planned to submit a friend of the court brief on behalf of the City of New London. The Oval Office agreed to keep silent on the issue after being petitioned by conservative groups.
EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE STILL AN ISSUE
A year after the Kelo decision outraged individuals and groups across the political spectrum, the issue has shown no signs of going away any time soon.
The House passed an eminent domain reform bill and the Senate continues to receive pressure to pass their own. NYC Mayor Bloomberg has stepped up his campaign to lobby the US Senate to pass on the bill which would eliminate federal funds for projects that use eminent domain to transfer property to a private party. Though most commentators and editorial boards support reigning in or restricting the power of eminent domain, there are still some editorial boards who continue to support the status quo.
Posted by lumi at 6:42 AM
Eminent Domain Anniversary Good Time For Senate To Protect Private Property
Environmental News Network
Press Release: National Center for Policy Analysis
Previously approved by the House of Representatives, the Senate Judiciary Committee is sitting on legislation that would limit federal funds for development projects that take private property. It would prohibit states and municipalities from using eminent domain to take property for economic development if they have received any federal economic funds within that fiscal year. The bill would also dissuade local governments from using eminent domain power to help private developers by restricting federal economic development funds for two years after any violation and creating the right for land owners to use the courts to enforce the bills provisions.
Posted by lumi at 6:37 AM
June 26, 2006
So, Where Does NY Times Stand on Eminent Domain For "Atlantic Yards"?
from Develop Don't Destroy
Today the NY Times editorialized for the broadest use of eminent domain, claiming that projects like the one they are constructing (their new headquarters) are projects that meet the "public use" clause of the Fifth Amendment.The editorial goes on to state that: "Taking away private property for public use should not be done lightly. Owners must receive just compensation. Procedures must be fair, and property owners must be given an adequate opportunity to be heard. Eminent domain should be used only for truly public purposes. These rights are already recognized in the law, but there is no harm in firming them up."
Since "Atlantic Yards" has had no fair process, and will have no fair process, to determine the use of eminent domain (which has already been used as a heavy-handed threat by the developer) we wonder: Where does The New York Times stand on the use of eminent domain for the Forest City Ratner proposal?
Posted by amy at 11:08 PM
Crain's poll on Atlantic Yards project misses the point
Atlantic Yards Report
On the heels of Crain's New York Business editor Greg David's misinformed column supporting the Atlantic Yards project, Crain's now offers a stilted poll canvassing readers' opinions: Developer Bruce Ratner's plan for the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn calls for less commercial space than he had originally envisioned, along with 6,800 residential units--nearly a third of which would be affordable housing.THE POLL QUESTION: Do you agree with the Atlantic Yards plan?
Yes, the housing market is already tight, and the city needs more affordable units
No, the huge development would destroy the borough's character
Given that the developer traded office space for more lucrative luxury condos in May 2005, the question is a little late--and it treats "the Atlantic Yards" as a place rather than a project. More importantly, it ignores the fact that the developer originally promised 50 percent affordable housing, but violated the spirit--if not the letter--of the affordable housing agreement by adding the condos.
It treats the scale and density of the project as a matter of opinion, rather than something that could be assessed by (or at least in relation to) zoning, or evaluated in comparison to other projects.
article and Norman Oder's alternative questions
The Poll
Posted by amy at 10:53 PM
BLOOMBERG FIGHTS TO USE EMINENT DOMAIN
New York Sun
Don’t expect Mayor Bloomberg to let up on his fight to use eminent domain to seize private property in so-called “blighted” neighborhoods just because President Bush issued an executive order on Friday saying that federal agencies cannot seize private property other than for public use. Mr. Bloomberg’s spokesman, Stuart Loeser, said yesterday there is “no need for further federal action.” The federal order came a year after the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Conn., had the right to use eminent domain power to take property from homeowners and give it to a developer. Mr. Bloomberg has argued that the responsible use of eminent domain in depressed areas is crucial for economic development.
Posted by amy at 8:05 AM
Newark Takes a Hard Lesson In the Pro Stadium Game
New York Sun
By EVAN WEINER
James finally signed a deal with the Devils last fall after years of negotiating with New Jersey Nets ownership to move the NBA team to Newark. When Bruce Ratner decided to move his Nets to a proposed arena in Brooklyn, James turned to Vanderbeek, who still expects the building to open its doors in the fall of 2007. It’s unknown what would happen to the Devils if Booker terminates the deal.
...
You might think a city as rich with business opportunities as New York would be immune to this sort of predicament. But at the height of the West Side Stadium battle last year, Mayor Bloomberg said that if the city failed to build the stadium, it would deter businesspeople who want to invest with the city. The West Side stadium was killed by Assemblyman Sheldon Silver about a year ago, but life went on, and Bloomberg quickly announced that the city would partner with George Steinbrenner to build a new stadium for the Yankees and with Fred Wilpon to construct a new Mets facility.It would not be surprising to see Bloomberg and New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner use the same mantra in boosting the Ratner-proposed Brooklyn Arena project at the Atlantic Yards. If Ratner’s plans to build an arena for his Nets is eventually shot down, it will send out a bad message to those who want to do business in New York: You can’t trust New York to follow through.
Posted by amy at 7:57 AM
June 25, 2006
In Shirley Chisholm's Brooklyn, Rancor Over White Candidacy
New York Times
Diane Cardwell
But as Mr. Yassky works to spread his message about the need to promote a more aggressive Democratic agenda in Washington, race is clearly weighing on the minds of some voters. As he campaigned that same Saturday in Ditmas Park, a part of Flatbush where home values have been rapidly rising, some nonblack voters expressed qualms about his candidacy. One white couple told Mr. Yassky that they planned to vote for Chris Owens. And at a greenmarket, Joe Wong, 29, an Asian-American, said that he, too, was leaning toward Mr. Owens because he opposed the Atlantic Yards development and because he had reservations about voting for a nonblack candidate.
It is also of interest to note that the Yassky supporter listed in the article, Charlene Nimmons, is a CBA signatory.
Posted by amy at 9:10 PM
Atlantic Yards is not about sports
Crain's New York Business Greg David
As Bruce Ratner tells the tale, the Atlantic Yards project took off in 2003 following a phone call from the Brooklyn borough president. The New Jersey Nets basketball team was for sale, and Marty Markowitz pleaded with Mr. Ratner to buy it and return a professional sports team to Brooklyn.Sports and the borough's psyche had been linked decades earlier, and just as the Dodgers' departure in 1958 seemed to start years of decline, so bringing the Nets to Brooklyn would put an exclamation point on its economic revival.
Three years later, sports are merely a footnote to the project. Atlantic Yards now concerns making choices about the city's future. Mr. Ratner knew nothing about professional basketball when Mr. Markowitz called. What he did understand was Brooklyn, where he had built Metrotech in the 1980s. The office complex saved the borough's downtown and the city 10,000 jobs that had been headed to New Jersey. Mr. Ratner had long believed that a site nearby, where the Long Island Rail Road parked its trains, was suitable for the next major development. But he couldn't figure out how to get the public money or political support needed to proceed--until the Nets came along. His original concept envisioned a sports arena, 2 million square feet of office space and 4,000 apartments. Sept. 11 sent Mr. Ratner back to the drawing board. Demand for office space weakened, and Atlantic Yards could be seen as a threat to Lower Manhattan, which would split the politicians he needed in his camp.
Escalating apartment prices rescued Mr. Ratner. Adding residential units would produce the revenue needed to pay for the arena and for about $1 billion in infrastructure. One of the top priorities of the Bloomberg administration was more housing, so it would be supportive. Mr. Ratner slashed Atlantic Yards' commercial space and turned it into a residential neighborhood with 6,800 units. Mr. Ratner, always a politically astute developer, added an important twist. The condos would be so lucrative that he would use some of the profits to set aside almost a third of the units as affordable housing--more than any developer had ever done in a similar project. Such a move would be popular not only with the mayor but with advocates for the poor. The developer signed them on as supporters; the most notable was the outspoken group Acorn. But his opponents aren't giving up. They claim that Atlantic Yards will destroy Brooklyn's character.
Their hope is to preserve the status quo, even as tens of thousands of people come to New York because of its vibrant economy. If the city is to thrive, it will need to build places for them to live by Manhattanizing some sections of Brooklyn and Queens. With residential housing prices so high, developers can subsidize substantial numbers of less expensive units for the endangered middle class. Mr. Ratner has worked out the economics of this game plan for the future. The fate of his project is a test of whether the rest of New York will embrace it.
Posted by amy at 8:57 PM
Crain's editor Greg David gets it wrong: chronology, housing, density, and "status quo"
Atlantic Yards Report
Crain's New York Business editor Greg David, in a column dated 6/26/06 headlined Atlantic Yards is not about sports (subscribers only), repeats some Forest City Ratner talking points, forgets the eminent domain issue that he's previously addressed, and adds some other misreadings.
...
As for the economics of the plan, why does David trust Ratner's claims, given that the developer has been unwilling to produce his economic projections for the project? Is Ratner's claim of $6 billion in revenue from the project credible? Are the subsidies and public costs deserved? And does David remember that, last December, he wrote, regarding eminent domain: What makes the issue so compelling in New York is that eminent domain is exercised here by undemocratic and politically motivated agencies like the Empire State Development Corp.
Posted by amy at 8:52 PM
Phantom Project Pork
Develop-
don't destroy
BROOKLYN
For Immediate Release
State Finalizes $100 Million Appropriation for Highly Speculative Ratner "Atlantic Yards" ProposalBROOKLYN, NY—The New York Post reported today that the Governor, Assembly and Senate have finalized an agreement to appropriate $100 million for Forest City Ratner's proposed "Atlantic Yards" development in Prospect Heights and Park Slope, Brooklyn. The 8.7 million square foot development proposalincluding 16 skyscrapers and a 20,000 arena in a low-rise residential communityis the largest single-source development proposed in the history of New York City.
The city has already approved $100 million for the proposal but the $200 million city and state total is just the tip of the iceberg. The developer claims the project would cost the public $1.1 billion while a study done by project opponents, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), shows that the total public cost could reach $2 billion or more.
The appropriation has come before the public and elected officials even know what exactly the project is, what its total public cost would be, what its return would be, what the environmental impact would be and if those impacts could be mitigated. The appropriation also comes without any public disclosure by Forest City Ratner of its profit-loss statement, and before the state mandated environmental review has even begun.
Posted by amy at 8:49 PM
Nets arena taps $100m, sun's life-giving rays
Field of Schemes
The state of New York has approved $100 million in subsidies for developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project, which would include a Brooklyn basketball arena for the New Jersey Nets, according to the New York Post. The money, said the Post, was included in a last-day-of-session budget agreement - the New York legislature loves to vote on controversial bills then skip town before anyone notices - by which "Gov. Pataki set aside $34 million of economic-development pork money he controls, while the Assembly and Senate committed $33 million each." Presumably this means that the money is coming out of various discretionary funds, instead of via the normal budget process - I'll see what I can find out once legislators are back in their offices tomorrow.
Posted by amy at 8:44 PM
Turf wars
Gumby Fresh responds to Community Average Folk 101's 10 question regarding "WHO WOULD NOT WANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR COMMUNITY RESIDENTS WHO ARE IN NEED?"
1. Should average "regular" community folks opinions count?
Of course, we shouldn't let the extremely high-priced PR professionals employed by Forest City Ratner dominate discussion of the project.
2. How does one determine whose opinion(s) are more urgent and/or significant than others?
I think the groups that raise the greatest sums from the developer probably have the most valid opinions.
3. What makes folk think that they have all the answers?
That's a zen, right? Oh no, it's not, is it? It's the first recorded use of a Markowitzism
4. How do you feel about the Atlantic Yards Project (AYP)?
Like "The Warriors", it makes me nostalgic for the 70s, when such stupidity was cutting edge. Quite often I've lain awake at night and wondered "what if all of Brooklyn looked like Metro Tech?"
Posted by amy at 6:00 PM
June 24, 2006
ED tourists on the Kelo anniversary, June 23
Yesterday was the first anniversary of the announcement of the US Supreme Court decision Kelo vs. New London.
The Eminent Domain tourist will have no trouble finding the Fort Trumbull neighborhood of the historic port town of New London, CT; just follow the signs to Ft. Trumbull State Park. The tall grass will alert you to the fact that nature is paving over the foundation stones of an almost-bygone community.
The Fort Trumbull neighborhood, where only two homeowners remain, was eerily quiet, empty of all normal neighborhood activity; only reporters lurked, trying to get the scoop on a vague deal just announced by Governor Jodi Rell's office.
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Susette Kelo's proud pink house, overlooking the port of New London, is a cozy fortress, as defiant and courageous as its owner. Pfizer's R&D facilities can be seen in the background — the future of New London.
Next door to the Kelo house, all that remains are an accidental cafe, an old foundation, the stone wall with stairs (Are we all thinking the same thing, "They don't build them like that anymore?") and overgrown remnants of someone's garden.
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By making a premature announcement, the Governor appears to be trying to force a final settlement between the city and remaining homeowners. Susette Kelo remained scarce, avoiding reporters trying to make their deadlines.
Posted by lumi at 8:20 AM
TEAM 'NETS' $100M IN AID
New York Post
The New Jersey Nets got an assist yesterday from the state in their bid to move across the river to Brooklyn.A budget agreement approved yesterday contains $100 million in capital funds for the controversial $3.5 billion Atlantic Yards project.
Gov. Pataki set aside $34 million of economic-development pork money he controls, while the Assembly and Senate committed $33 million each.
Posted by amy at 7:49 AM
Ratner Gets Slap On the Wrist For Violating Order
Emily Keller
Courier-Life
The city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) is no match for Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC).Earlier in June the company demolished a building at 622 Pacific Street despite a stop-work order and three other building code violations issued June 10. A fourth, for failing to comply with the stop-work order, was issued June 14. By that time FCRC had completed its demolition.
The penalty? FCRC will be fined up to $2,500 for each of the four violations.
Posted by amy at 7:33 AM
Municipal Arts Society’s Suggestions Bring New Dimension to Ratner Debate
By Dennis Holt Brooklyn Daily Eagle
It was clear from comments made during the presentation, at least to this observer, that the MAS and Forest City staffs have had many productive discussions on these and other issues since October. Meeting with the press after the MAS presentations, Jim Stuckey, head of the project for Forest City, commended the society for its work and thoughts and said it agreed with MAS on three of the five principles — open park space, lively streets and transportation concerns.
If you're counting principles, Holt is saying that FCR does not agree that the project should “respect the existing neighborhoods,” and FCR believes they should “eliminate streets.”
Posted by amy at 7:20 AM
Response to "'NET' RESULT: TRAFFIC CHAOS"
Letter to the Editor from native Brooklynite Greg Holder in response to the NY Post article 'NET' RESULT: TRAFFIC CHAOS
Mr. Calder,In reading your article in today's edition of "the NY Post" about the controversy surrounding the proposed 'Atlantic Yards' development you presented the basic viewpoints as represented by the opposing sides. However, there are a few points that the proponents of this project seem never to address in their public response to their critics.
As mentioned in your article this proposed project will add over 6,800 new residential units and approximately 20,000 new residents. Additionally, it proposes the addition of 853,000 square feet of additional office and retail space. The project's proponents, including Borough President Marty Markowitz, generally dismiss the impact of the additional traffic generated by these residents on the transit system, vehicular traffic and parking in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is also said that the additional influx of approximately 18,000 fans to the arena on game nights will also be of minimal impact.
To begin with, this is already the most heavily trafficked and congested area in the borough of Brooklyn on any average day. Conditions there already border on massive gridlock. In viewing their responses to critics, it seems that the developers and supporters of this proposed project would have everyone else assume that the none of the new residents would have vehicles of their own. This is illogical. It is also illogical to assume that they would neither attempt to drive their vehicles during peak hours, or need parking.
Similarly, it would seem as if they would also ask everyone to assume that none of the retailers and their employees, and none of the people working in the new offices would drive their vehicles into the area. That too is preposterously illogical. Their arguments also fail to recognize that where there are offices and retailers there will, inevitably, be deliveries, and delivery vehicles. Invariably, this means additional trucks on Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, and the corollary increased congestion.
In your article you referred to their references to the 18,000 fans that would come to the arena for games. The implication of this is the suggestion that to the degree that these fans would be a problem, it is a problem that would occur only 46 - 60 times per year (41 home games + exhibitions and possible playoffs).
What this position tries not to address is the fact that nobody builds an arena such as the proposed arena, and expects to operate it only 40-60 times a year. Invariably, there will be other events - the circus, rodeo, ice skating, track and field, boxing, wrestling, conventions & exhibitions, college basketball, tennis, demolition derby, auto shows, concerts, etc. The operator of an arena of this type would certainly seek to maximize its profitability, and to do this they would book as many events as possible. Each of these events has the potential to draw thousands (or tens of thousands) of visitors to the arena, and into the neighborhood. With these visitors there will be additional traffic, and additional congestion.
In spite of suggestions that there will be financial incentives for season ticket holders to use public transportation, this only affects a small percentage of the events I just described. Moreover, it may only involve a small percentage of those, even, who attend Nets games.
Is there any place more crowded than midtown Manhattan? Is there anyplace where on-the-street parking is less available, and commercial parking more expensive, than midtown Manhattan? Nevertheless, there are many people attending events at 'the Garden', who choose, in spite of the cost and the traffic, to drive into midtown instead of using public transportation. I, myself, have done this on many occasions. One reason, is that when you consider the cost of using public transportation, even during off-peak hours, for a family of four or five it is sometimes cheaper to drive. Also, where MSG brings thousands of people into midtown for events, it is not situated in the midst of what is essentially a residential neighborhood.
There is also another issue that is 'glossed over' by the project's developers and supporters. This additional traffic would be added to the additional traffic from other developments in the 'downtown' Brooklyn area. There is the continued expansion of Metrotech. There is the Mark Morris Theatre and the other proposed arts venues. There is the proposed addition to the Brooklyn Museum (to be located in the space occupied by the BAM parking lot and a nursery between Ashland Place, Flatbush Avenue and Lafayette). There are already other residential projects underway, such as the tower on Flatbush near Seventh Avenue, that will add to the density of the area. Finally, just over a mile down Atlantic Avenue are the new piers with several cruise lines as their tenants. Is it likely that persons embarking on cruises from Brooklyn will travel to the piers on public transportation with their luggage?
Finally, one could have less fears about these types of concerns if there were greater confidence in the developer's sensitivity to these types of concerns. However, there are reasons why this is difficult for some. In presenting plans for Phase II of the Atlantic Terminal Development, the Ratner Group had initially proposed locating the loading dock for the site directly in front of One Hanson Place. As this was a one-way street, which because of the presence of the bank and the many doctors' and dentists' offices in the tower, had extremely heavy foot traffic, this did not seem to be a reasonable location for the loading dock and the traffic congestion it would cause. It was also pointed out that this was a street frequently used by school children utilizing the subways below to go to and from schools in the area, especially Brooklyn Tech. The dock was moved to the other side of the site.
There were also concerns raised about the effect of shadows that would be cast by the office tower proposed for that development project on the building at One Hanson Place and on the Methodist Church that is next door. It was suggested that the tower be moved closer to Atlantic Avenue on the development site. The Ratner Group's representatives responded that this would not be possible because, "a platform constructed over the rail yards wouldn't support the weight of an office tower of that size". Yet, five years later the same Ratner Group proposes the construction of an arena and seventeen high-rise buildings on platforms over the same railyards, some of these towers to be sixty stories high. I guess one could only be amazed at the advances in construction technology in just five or six years.
Sincerely, Greg Holder
Posted by amy at 6:09 AM
Bruce Ratner and the Atlantic Yards vs. THE SUN
Gothamist on shadows:
The good news is that the shadows would be pretty minimal during the summer months. The bad news is that Bruce Ratner appears to be following Monty Burns down a path of unspeakable evil: "since the beginning of time man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing...block it out!" (ok, Ratner didn't actually quote Mr. Burns, but still, we're worried!)
Curbed chimes in:
Seems it wasn't long ago we were worrying about blinding heat rays reflected off architect Frank Gehry's titanium panels. So what'll it be, Brooklyn: fire or ice?
Posted by amy at 6:01 AM
June 23, 2006
Ratner’s shadow looms
Pratt study: Atlantic Yards would put Fort Greene in darkness
The Brooklyn Papers
By Gersh Kuntzman
According to a new analysis by a Pratt Institute professor and two students, shadows from the developer’s Atlantic Yards mega-project would darken a wide swath of Brooklyn from Prospect Heights to Downtown — including a strip in Fort Greene that won the “Greenest Block in Brooklyn” contest in 2002.
At its worst — at 9 am on Dec. 21 — the shadow from the 62-story “Miss Brooklyn” building, proposed for the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, would extend all the way to Fulton and Gold streets.
“Shadows from September to March will be severe,” said Brent Porter, the Pratt professor. “Once those buildings go up, the shadowing will be forever.”
Porter said he and his students — Roman Strazhko and Samantha Sommers — do not have an official position on Ratner’s 17-skyscraper, 8.7-million-square-foot arena, office and hotel development, but were speaking out now because so little has been said about the effect of the shadows.
...
Porter said that shadows will be minimal during the summer, when Brooklyn, like the rest of the northern hemisphere, is tilted towards the sun.“But in the winter, suddenly there’ll be no light across most of Fort Greene most of the day,” said Porter, who added that a forthcoming Environmental Impact Statement for the project “won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on” if only summer shadow impacts are analyzed.
Posted by lumi at 8:23 AM
MAS presentation on design principles, brochure now online
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder is reporting that the Municipal Art Society has posted online its presentation on the Atlantic Yards proposal and the brochure handed out at the event (PDFs). Also included are the speech by MAS President Kent Barwick and press coverage of the event.
Posted by lumi at 8:12 AM
Build Planned Nets’ Arena in Coney Island?
Anti-Atlantic Yards Group Revives an Old Idea
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Three blogs [and another Brooklyn Paper] in the past three days have made extensive arguments about why, in their opinion, Coney Island is still a viable location for a professional basketball arena in Brooklyn....
Former Salt Lake City Deputy Mayor and transportation consultant Brian Hatch, on his New York Games blog (“Ratner Originally Wanted a Coney Island Arena”), sports columnist Michael O’Keeffe on the Daily News’ I-Team blog (“The Coney Island Nets”) and critic Norman Oder on his Atlantic Yards Report (“Coney Island the place for an arena? Marty used to think so”) each have laid out arguments as to why Coney Island should re-enter the discussion.
However, Marty isn't buying it, saying he supports the affordable housing, and Ratner spokesperson Joe DePlasco points out:
"The reason Atlantic Yards was decided on is that Atlantic Yards is a transit hub, not only the 10 subway lines, but also the LIRR and multiple bus lines. It’s in close proximity to Queens, Long Island, Manhattan and all parts of Brooklyn."
NoLandGrab: DePlasco loves to see if people are paying attention, so he left out New Jersey from the list. Forest City Ratner commissioned a report from sports economist Andrew Zimablist that assumed that nearly one third of the current fan base in NJ would follow the team to Brooklyn and that these revenues would create a net gain for NYC and NY State. Though these conclusions are specious, these NJ fans would be better served by a Coney Island arena since we can assume that they would be driving anyway.
Posted by lumi at 7:04 AM
MSG Nets?
NewYorkGames.org
Brian Hatch makes some astute observations about Forest City Enterprises' first quarterly report for 2006, in which the Net's losses were reported to be $8.701 million.
Another multi-million dollar loss ($8 million is just FCE's share), and moving into a controversial arena at a traffic clogged intersection isn't likely to help much. Moreover, being in the NBA adds another challenge.
While the NFL, MLB and NHL have had multiple teams succeed in a single metro area, the NBA hasn't done as well. Other than NY, LA is the only other market with two NBA teams, and the Clippers struggled until moving in with the Lakers.
As with all new arenas, an "Atlantic Yards" team is likely to do very well the first few years. After that, it'll be a real struggle. Another reason to look for a place without the controversy and terrible road access.
Posted by lumi at 6:53 AM
CBA coalition launches invite-only "Meet & Greet" sessions
Atlantic Yards Report
For those interested in the Atlantic Yards project, a series of Meet & Greet sessions have begun at the Atlantic Yards Information Center on the third floor of the Atlantic Center Mall. While the term "open forum" is used to describe the meetings, they are invitation-only.
Norman Oder looks into who the players are and who attended.
Posted by lumi at 6:40 AM
Forest City's New York Times Building Signs Largest Tenant to Date
Cleveland Business Wire
From an FCE press release about the second lease signed for the Times Tower (emphasis added):
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:FCEA)(NYSE:FCEB) today announced that its New York City affiliate has signed its largest tenant so far for the 1.5-million-square-foot, 52-story New York Times Building in Manhattan's Times Square, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in 2007.
...
Charles A. Ratner, president and chief executive officer of Forest City Enterprises, said, "We are very pleased with progress on leasing the New York Times Building, which will become a signature building on the New York City skyline. New York City is the nation's largest real estate market, where our Forest City Ratner Companies affiliate has established itself as a pre-eminent developer of large, complex projects. We look forward to the day in 2007 when tenants can begin to welcome clients to their new offices."New York City is Forest City's largest single market. The Company entered the market in the 1980s with a focus on office buildings and, consistent with its Urban Strategy, expanded its presence to include retail, mixed-use and residential projects. Today, through Forest City Ratner Companies, the Company owns and operates 34 properties in the New York metropolitan area - including 4.4 million square feet of office space, primarily at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn.
Posted by lumi at 6:37 AM
In praise of condemnation
NY Daily News, Guest Columnist
By Shaun Donovan, Commissioner of New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development
Leave it to a Bloomberg administration official to editorialize in praise of condemnation. Mayor Bloomberg is lobbying hard for the US Senate to kill the eminent domain reform bill, which would starve NYC of millions of dollars of federal subsidies for projects using eminent domain (i.e. Atlantic Yards and Willets Point).
Shaun Donovan cites Melrose Commons and Times Square as successful urban renewal projects that used eminent domain and concludes:
Land use decisions are a fundamental concern of local government and should not be overridden by the federal government. Rather than imposing a rigid set of national rules from Washington - rules that would threaten affordable housing and economic development projects that benefit the public - it should be up to individual states and cities to set standards and address abuses when necessary. We should be free to continue building our future.
Posted by lumi at 6:27 AM
Sports Opinion: Is Bruce Ratner Dissin' Bklyn?
Members Of Bklyn Sports Community Resent Involvement Of 'Basketball City'
Brooklyn Downtown Star
With the NETS moving full speed ahead with their impending move to the Borough Of Kings, some members of the area's sports community are up in arms about the fact that recent clinics that the NETS have sponsored were done under the supervision of a Manhattan organization called "Basketball City" as opposed to local outlets. Herewith, an excerpt from one such protestation, issued by Mark Clayton over at the NYCSPORTING NEWS, on behalf of his beloved Brooklyn.
Posted by lumi at 6:20 AM
June 22, 2006
AY information for BUILD invitees, but not for thee
We're tempted to file this dispatch from Atlantic Yards Report under "Humor," as journalist Norman Oder is barred, invited and then tossed from the ATLANTIC YARDS INFORMATION CENTER before the start of a meeting sponsored by Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development, billed as "Connect to CBA Opportunities."
Actually, Oder was initially barred because he "wasn't on the list," but BUILD head James Caldwell, being a perfect gentleman, invited the frequent project critic to attend. Before the Atlantic Yards Reporter could find a seat, Caldwell was sent back as the hatchet man, explaining that he had been overruled (by whom we wonder?) and that Oder had to leave.
Oder did return to the mall with his camera to take some photos of the signs directing people to the information center.
Posted by lumi at 10:03 AM
A Champion to Stop Bruce Ratner: Bill Batson
OnNYTurf
NYC's progressive weblog explains why Bill Batson matters:
Not just because Batson opposes the Ratner deal. He also has a track record of community preservation.
...and how you can help:
Batson's campaign has gathered thousands of petitions, but they need to gather some more, especially to stave off a legal challenge from opponent Hakeem Jeffries.... All Volunteer help is really critical. Petitions must be turned in to the state by July 9, so there are only a couple weeks left to get enough petitions to get on the primary ballot.
Click here for more info on how you can pitch in on Bill Batson's petition drive.
Posted by lumi at 9:23 AM
Eminent Domainia: Tomorrow, one-year anniversary of Kelo decision
Here's a glance back at the Institute for Justice's press release from June 23, 2005, announcing the Supreme Court of the United States decision for the City of New London, CT.
A year later, the editorial comments on the Kelo decision are still resoundingly against the Supreme Court's decision:
- The Washington Times editorializes on the public backlash to the Kelo decision and an Op-Ed piece describes how the ruling has "opened the floodgates" for eminent domain takings.
- An Investor's Business Daily editorial highlights a very important case in Norwood, OH, to illustrate the state of eminent domain after the Kelo decision.
Property Owners Win And Lose In Year After Kelo Case Ruling
NoLandGrab Note: Though the question to be decided in the Norwood, OH case is specific to Ohio state law, the case is important to Brooklynites because the arguments for and against the use of eminent domain are similar to Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal (private property being transferred to a private developer who owns all of the recently developed commercial property adjacent to the site, justified by a convenient finding of "blight") and the case may have bearing on Brooklyn if it is appealed to the US Supreme Court.
TCS Daily explores what may be the most extreme effect of the Kelo decision, Hercules, CA's taking of land owned by Walmart, in an opinion piece, "How Kelo Can You Go?"
BusinessMedia.org guest commentator Donald J. Boudreaux, Ph.D., pins the Kelo decision on the "progressives," in "Unhappy Anniversary: Kelo's 'Public Purpose.'"
NoLandGrab Note: Though Supreme Court watchers can easily blame the decision on liberal justices, many progressive groups filed amicus briefs in favor of the homeowners.
In an article for the Cato Institute ("The Pain of Eminent Domain"), Timothy Sandefur, staff attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation and author of "Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America" explains why the public backlash to the Kelo decision has "achieved mixed results."
Environmental News Network carries what appears to be a press release from the National Center for Policy Analysis, "Eminent Domain Anniversary Good Time For Senate To Protect Private Property," calling on the US Senate to pass legislation to restrict federal funds for projects that use eminent domain.
Posted by lumi at 8:25 AM
Forest City in the news
A second law firm seals a deal to rent space in Forest City Ratner's portion of the Times Tower:
GlobeSt.com, Law Firms Consume Prime Midtown Space
LawFuel.com, Law Firm Covington Announces Office Move to New York Times Building
Forest City buys additional land for the Mesa del Sol mixed-use development in Albuquerque:
Daily Business News, Cleveland, Forest City Covington NM, LLC Purchases 3,000 Acres at Mesa del Sol in Albuquerque
Crain's Cleveland Business, Forest City to co-develop N. Mexico project
A one-year delay in awarding Pittsburgh's coveted slot-machine parlor license will not dissuade applicants, including Forest City:
Pittsburgh Business Times, Casino applicants say delay won't sway them
Posted by lumi at 7:47 AM
No Mas Skyscrapers, Says MAS
Brooklyn Downtown Star
By Nik Kovac
There might be a lot of good selling points for Forest City's massive development proposal in Prospect Heights, but good design principles are not among them, according to the Municipal Arts Society (MAS), a Manhattan-based advocacy group of architects, designers, and planners.
"The Forest City people would not be human if they did not wonder why we chose to focus on their project," conceded MAS President Kent Barwick, "when there are so many other more mundane and uninspiring proposals throughout the city. The answer is simple: Because so much is at stake."
Posted by lumi at 7:44 AM
New Direction for CBAs?
Neighborhood Retail Alliance
Paid Ratner consultant Richard Lipsky blogged on the announcement that $350K is being earmarked by City Hall to form a Local Development Corporation (LDC) whose mission is to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) between Columbia University and community stakeholders in West Harlem for another project that will be using eminent domain "as a last resort."
NoLandGrab: Two questions come to mind.
1) Will City Hall find some bucks in their budget for the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods to pay for experts to analyze the Environmental Impact Statement for what is perhaps the largest, most dense private development proposal in NYC history?
2) Does Lipsky's concern that a Columbia CBA LDC is "actually representative of the impacted community" translate to the Ratner CBA, where many community stakeholders were left out in the cold?
Posted by lumi at 7:30 AM
BALANCE...
Community Average Folk 101 wonders why Ratner is getting all the heat for the possible environmental impacts of the Atlantic Yards proposal when there are other developers who are already building in the area and aren't building affordable housing.
NoLandGrab: Neighborhood activists wonder where the Ratner CBA signatories were at the hearings for the Downtown Brooklyn Plan and the 4th Avenue rezoning that opened the floodgates for rampant development throughout Central Brooklyn.
Groups on both sides of the Atlantic Yards debate decry the lack of affordable housing — where they disagree is whether or not Ratner's proposal is an effective way to use taxpayer money to get it done.
Here's an idea that we all can agree on:
If the community really wants the best for the COMMUNITY-at-LARGE, then it is clear that all sides should come together, maintain equilibrium and work their differences out so that the community gets the best all around!
NLG: Maybe "Average Folk" can get Forest City Ratner President of Atlantic Yards Jim Stuckey to agree to reopen the "Community Benefits Agreement" to include the "COMMUNITY-at-LARGE."
Posted by lumi at 7:14 AM
Lethem Gets All Activisty
The Real Estate Observer
By Matthew Schuerman
Lethem gets "activisty" and DePlasco gets testy.
NoLandGrab: We weren't going to get into Joe DePlasco's NY Sun quote (scroll down to bottom) where he went after novelist and project critic Jonathan Lethem because it was a minor point at the end of an article about regime change in Albany and its possible effect on the project. But now that Matthew Schuerman mentions it, we wonder how Der Meisterspinner has gotten his criticism all backwards (oh wait, that's his job).
Posted by lumi at 6:36 AM
June 21, 2006
New Albany Administration May Be Hope Of Opponents of Atlantic Yards Plan
NY Sun
By Russell Berman
Opponents of Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards project have added celebrity clout to their cause in recent weeks, but their best hopes for scuttling plans to transform 22 acres of Brooklyn may hinge on a new administration in Albany.
The proposal is in the midst of the state land use review process, and a preliminary environmental impact statement is due next month. The Empire State Development Corporation says the timeline allows for construction to begin by the end of the year, but any delay could push the project into the hands of a new governor.
Neither the Democratic front-runner, Eliot Spitzer, nor his Republican opponent, John Faso, have stated a position on the current Atlantic Yards proposal, and neither campaign provided one yesterday.
Whether the coalition Develop – Don’t Destroy Brooklyn can succeed in forcing a rescaling of the Atlantic Yards development is an open question, but some urban planning scholars say they have a chance. An urban planning professor at Harvard University,Susan Fainstein,said the support of the next governor would be key,but she predicted that the project would be altered. “The huge number of residential and commercial buildings are likely to be shrunk,” she said.
Posted by lumi at 8:13 AM
Atlantic Yards Meet & Greet.
EURWEB.com
The Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement Coalition has started a series of “Meet and Greets” in Brooklyn, NY to both introduce community residents to the proposed $3.5 billion, Frank Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards project and to elicit additional feedback. The site includes a new Nets arena, up to 6,860 units of affordable and market-rate housing and at least 606,000 square feet of office space, 247,000 square feet of retail space, and 165,000 square feet of hotel space. The CBA will bring a host of benefits to the area, including jobs, business opportunities and affordable housing. The event was attended by several Housing Authority Tenant Association presidents and tenants as well as other community leaders and residents. Public housing residents receive preference in all aspects of the CBA, including jobs, business opportunities and housing. Future Meet & Greets are planned to occur regularly in the ensuing months.
Posted by lumi at 8:08 AM
What's missing? Columnist Louis still sloppy on jobs, the CBA, and AY rhetoric
Atlantic Yards Report analyzes commentary by Errol Louis:
In his 6/1/06 "Commerce and Community" column in the Bed-Stuy-based Our Time Press, Daily News columnist Errol Louis offered a "back-of-the-envelope analysis" of the jobs at the Atlantic Yards project. Unfortunately he failed to mention some important context, closing with the ahistorical suggestion that "Brooklyn politicians who have already wasted years opposing the project... should be negotiating the details of exactly how to make sure the coming jobs go to constituents who need it."
Louis neglected to tell readers that some jobs at the project have already been subject to negotiations, under the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA), and others simply fall outside any political oversight. (This column is no longer online, as it's been replaced by a more recent column, discussed below.) He also ignored the CBA in a recent Daily News column in which he identified five project supporters without pointing out that two are CBA signatories.
Posted by lumi at 8:04 AM
Parking relief demand grows
NY Daily News
By Denise Romano and Elizabeth Hays
Rampant development in Central Brooklyn is renewing calls for a residential parking permit program.
Lydia Denworth, president of the Park Slope Civic Council, said many residents there also support permits as a way to cut down on commuter parking - and deal with increased traffic if the Atlantic Yards Nets arena goes through.
"It is definitely something the Civic Council is looking at seriously and is inclined to support," said Denworth.
Posted by lumi at 7:36 AM
Lethem's open letter to Gehry makes waves in the Blogosphere
Blog About Town, BROOKLYN'S TROJAN HORSE
Ratner and his cronies owe Brooklynites an apology for being so deceptive about the disruptive effect their scheme is likely to have on the community.
Crazy Stable, Fortress of Rectitude
[Lethem] lays out in devastating clarity the awfulness of this plan, and scores a few points about Gehry and Ratner that I've never seen made quite so well.
Literary Kicks, Jonathan Lethem Protests Frank Gehry Building in Brooklyn
In fact, I gave Lethem's open letter to Frank Gehry a fair read -- and I disagree with him, not automatically but completely nonetheless.
Fancy Robot, Rudderless Brooklyn
Lethem, of course, follows the quote with just the sort of elegance one would expect from a writer of his calibre:
"Pardon me, but bleeechh."
My thoughts exactly, Jon.
Posted by lumi at 7:29 AM
Lethem Lets Gehry Have It
Brooklyn Record on Jonathan Lethem's open letter to Frank Gehry:
Jonathan Lethem, a native and current resident of Boerum Hill and our favorite local novelist, addresses Frank Gehry about "the ill-conceived and out-of-scale flotilla of skyscrapers you propose to build on a series of sites between Atlantic Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn," a.k.a. the Atlantic Yards project. For those who haven't been keeping up with the AY debate, his letter eloquently lays out the standpoint of those who oppose the project.
Brownstoner, Lethem Comes Out Swinging at Gehry
Posted by lumi at 6:52 AM
W'BURG SOAR POINT
Though ours is bigger than theirs, Williamsburg joins Atlantic Yards in the race for over-development with a hedgerow of 28 towers, plus an additional four next door. The rub is that this section of Williamsburg was DOWNZONED last year in the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning plan, in hopes of protecting the existing residential neighborhood.
NoLandGrab: The Williamsburg proposal, presented by Quadriad Realty Partners, would require a local zoning change. Bruce Ratner circumvented all local zoning for Atlantic Yards by getting NY State to take over the project.
Posted by lumi at 6:38 AM
June 20, 2006
RATNER DROPS SUIT AGAINST E-MAILER WHO ALLEGEDLY SENT SPOOF MESSAGE
NY Sun
Lawyers for the Atlantic Yards developer, Bruce Ratner, have dropped a lawsuit against an anonymous e-mailer who sent a spoof message several months ago. The e-mail was sent to a public supporter of Mr. Ratner’s project and appears to be written by Mr. Ratner. The e-mail, addressed to the Brooklyn Brewery president, Steve Hindy, stated that Mr. Ratner would not be purchasing beer from Mr. Hindy in the proposed arena that is part of the project. — Staff Reporter of the Sun
Posted by lumi at 9:05 AM
Would Atlantic Yards CBA be part of the emerging template? More doubts emerge
The Atlantic Yards Report
Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement may be "historic," but is it a model?
Posted by lumi at 8:30 AM
PRESS RELEASE: The Atomic Grind Show Opposes Atlantic Yards
Local Band Joins the Fight Against Bruce Ratner's "Atlantic Yards”
Brooklyn, NY – The Atomic Grind Show, the carnival rock band that entrances audiences in backrooms, speakeasys and circuses throughout Gotham, announced today its opposition to the proposed Atlantic Yards development project in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
The members of The Atomic Grind Show, who all live in Brooklyn, strongly believe that they had to immediately make a public statement against a taxpayer boondoggle, super-sized development and the questionable use of eminent domain. “I was feeling political when I woke up this morning,” said dynamic male vocalist Joel Garland, “so I said to myself, ‘hey, let’s oppose Atlantic Yards’. Everyone's doing it.” Organist and emcee Shane Rettig quickly added, “This is not some cheap publicity stunt, either.”
“Putting an arena and sixteen skyscrapers at one of the busiest intersections in the city will mean even more time spent in the van on the way to a gig and even less time spent at the bar before the show. That's totally unacceptable,” said bassist Geoff Zink.
Observing how much momentum a musical talent can bring to a community-based cause with Dan Zanes’ recent Develop Don’t Destroy family benefit concert, the members of the Atomic Grind Show felt they needed to do the same. At their April 20, 2006 CD release party, The Atomic Grind Show debuted a composition entitled “The Rat King” to the attending crowd's delight.
"It’s funny because we didn't even have Bruce Ratner in mind when we wrote the song, but we later realized that the song described someone just like him" drummer Matt Moore explained. “It's a total coincidence,” exclaimed saxophonist Christian Parkess. “Life's kooky sometimes, isn't it?”
The live recording of “The Rat King” is available on The Atomic Grind Show's web site. Go to www.atomicgrindshow.com/Music.htm to listen.
Posted by lumi at 8:22 AM
Frank Gehry to Brooklyn: Drop Dead
The Left Behinds
Solomon Grundy's healthy skepticism of "tastemakers," like novelist Jonathan Lethem, is no match for "Transformers:"
The key word there is "tastemakers," as in people like Lethem and Gehry and their friends and fans. You know, people with taste. "Frank," he seems to be admonishing, "you can't possibly want to go out looking like that. For God's sake, New Yorkers don't wear scrunchies. Put something decent on."
So will these "ponderous skyscrapers and superblocks" be as aesthetically offensive as Lethem claims?
It's like some giant grey Transformer clomped its foot down on Park Slope. And imagine when in a few years all those pristine white beams get coated in soot from the neverending traffic jams that are projected as a direct result of this development (have you ever tried to drive through Flatbush or Atlantic during rush hour or on a weekend?). It'll be a Transformer's giant grey dirty foot.
Jonathan, you've convinced me: It's not just tastemakers who should be appalled by Gehry's designs.
Posted by lumi at 8:00 AM
Ratner Ridge Hill update
It looks like Forest City Ratner's embattled Ridge Hill project is getting close to receiving final approval after the rezoning passed in the Yonkers City Council, despite a neighboring town's attempt to sway public opinion in Yonkers towards reducing the project's size and mitigating traffic congestion.
Look for neighboring towns to continue their lawsuits seeking mitigation of environmental impacts.
GlobeSt.com, Council Action Paves Way for Vote
The Journal News, Greenburgh mailer targets Yonkers' Ridge Hill project
Posted by lumi at 7:39 AM
NEW DAY FOR BUSINESS AT SUNSET PARK
Manufacturers could find an affordable home in Brooklyn warehouses.
This short item in City Limits dispels two myths on one page.
1) There's no place for manufacturing jobs in the new NYC service-based economy.
2) Sports venue jobs are a great way to foster economic growth.
Two vacant government warehouses in Sunset Park could provide homes for several dozen manufacturing companies being displaced from other parts of the city and retain thousands of blue-collar jobs, according to a new report from the Center for an Urban Future.
The report finds that redeveloping the two buildings - Federal Building #2 at Third Avenue and 30th Street and Building A at the Brooklyn Army Terminal - would create 2 million square feet of new industrial space, a boon for manufacturers at a time when so many face a space crunch due to zoning changes, condo conversions and escalating rents.
This reuse could actually have a larger impact on the city's economy than high-profile projects - like new stadiums for the Yankees, Nets and Mets - that rely heavily on public subsidies and create fewer permanent jobs.
Posted by lumi at 7:31 AM
Columbia’s Expansion
Here's a surprise: the Daily News editorial board has endorsed Columbia University (CU) expansion plans.
What The Wonkster forgot to mention in yesterday's post is that NoLandGrab tracks developments in Manhattanville because both the Atlantic Yards project and the CU expansion will use eminent domain to complete the acquisition of property.
The Daily News states that, "The university has purchased most of the properties west of Broadway between 125th and 133rd Sts." They left out the inconvenient truth — like in Prospect Heights the properties were purchased under threat of eminent domain.
Posted by lumi at 7:21 AM
June 19, 2006
Brooklyn's Trojan Horse
What's wrong with the buildings Frank Gehry wants to put in my neighborhood?
Slate
Native Brooklyn novelist Jonathan Lethem tells Frank Gehry what he really thinks about the Atlantic Yards plan.
Letham on scale:
The scale of this project was one of Ratner's company's preconditions for the site; it's not something that originates in your aesthetic. Guess what? It's a huge mistake—emphasis on the huge.
...on Gehry's development partner Forest City Ratner:
In the spirit of calling a liar a liar, let me be absolutely clear: Your partners have been lying to Brooklyn.
...on "Ratner's abhorrent track record:"
it's these dim, soul-crushing buildings that created such distrust in Brooklynites in the first place.
...on the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower:
Your proposal would both dwarf and block sight of the tower, the rough equivalent of erecting a new World Trade Center within a block or two of the Chrysler Building.
...on the narrative behind "Miss Brooklyn:"
Pardon me, but bleeechh. I don't know whether many great buildings have been founded on notions at once so metaphorically impoverished and so slickly patronizing.
Posted by lumi at 3:27 PM
'NET' RESULT: TRAFFIC CHAOS
B'KLYN ARENA CRITICS' FEARS
The NY Post
By Rich Calder
The Atlantic Yards bugaboo is traffic:
Brian Ketchum, an urban-planning consultant who has studied the plan, estimates it would create another 54,000 subway trips, 17,000 bus trips and 40,800 car trips - and claims that the borough's infrastructure isn't ready to handle it.
He also says that most of the extra trips would come from people living in the new residential units and that less than 20 percent would be related to arena events.
But don't worry, Marty says Bruce has a plan:
Markowitz says he believes Ratner will do what's needed to make sure roads in surrounding neighborhoods like Prospect Heights and Fort Greene aren't flooded with more traffic, such as creating financial incentives for people to use mass transit to get to games.
Local activist and long-time resident Patti Hagan states the obvious:
"The area is already jammed with traffic daily, and adding 20,000 more permanent residents" and another 18,000 "on game days would just make the gridlock even more unbearable."
NoLandGrab: It's not clear where the list of traffic mitigations in the graphic comes from. The third one is plain silly and unworkable. Many traffic and transportation advocates warn that all off the above are just lip service unless residential parking permits are implemented.
Posted by lumi at 3:16 PM
Bronx Board Is Shuffled After Rejecting New Stadium
The NY Times
By Timothy Williams
When a Bronx community board rejected the plan to build a new Yankee Stadium on land occupied by two neighborhood parks last year, the result was a surprising setback for Adolfo Carrión Jr., the Bronx borough president, who had been one of the new stadium's most ardent public supporters.
As Bronx borough president, Adolfo Carrión appoints members of community boards. This month, seven months after that vote, Mr. Carrión has replaced or demoted several of the board members. Some say Mr. Carrión's motives are to get rid of board members who voted against the stadium.
NoLandGrab: Last year Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz tried to pull a similar move against Atlantic Yards critic and Community Board 2 member Ken Diamondstone (as reported in, Brooklyn Papers) . With the support of many colleagues, Diamondstone fought back and was re-instated.
Posted by lumi at 3:05 PM
REFORMING PUBLIC AUTHORITIES
Gotham Gazette
Two NY State agencies are involved in Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards proposal: the MTA, which agreed to sell the railyards to Ratner, despite the developer's low bid; and the Empire State Development Corporation, the "collaborating" agency that's handling the environmental review and approval process.
NY State's quasi-governmental corporations have long been the subject of scrutiny. These agencies act independently of the State Legislature, creating boondoggles for the politically connected, taking on additional debt and being held accountable to no one but the politicians who appoint the board members.
In 2005, the state enacted some measures to reform the authorities. But a report issued last month by the Commission on Public Authority Reform, known as the Millstein Commission after its chair Ira Millstein, said much more remained to be done. And some critics say even that panel did not go far enough. At a recent panel discussion, several experts discussed the problems with authorities and what could be done to fix them.
Posted by lumi at 2:52 PM
Nerts to Net
Field of Schemes
The Municipal Art Society has become the first citywide group in New York to oppose developer Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards development plan... saying that as currently constituted, the project would violate five basic urban design principles: respecting existing neighborhoods, retaining existing streets, keeping parkland accessible to the public, promoting street life, and reducing traffic.
Posted by lumi at 2:47 PM
BUILD claims MAS meeting was "trying to stop" jobs, housing, and opportunities
Atlantic Yards Report
BUILD sent a message to supporters that was not merely simplistic but thoroughly distorted the purpose of the meeting. "Come out to support affordable housing, jobs and business opportunities for our community," the flier said. There was no mention of the Municipal Arts Society.
The flier went on to list the groups and political figures sponsoring the MAS session--groups that actually were careful not to endorse the MAS's conclusions--and declared that they are "trying to STOP Jobs, Affordable Housing And The NETS Arena and Opportunities from coming to our community. Over Fifty (50%) percent of Black Men in OUR Community are unemployed."
Posted by lumi at 8:33 AM
Community Average Folk 101
A new pro-Ratner blog has sprung up, claiming the voice of the "Community Average Folk."
The first postings are a call to "community average folk" (read: not Atlantic Yards critics), to raise their voices in support of the Jobs, Housing and Hope that Ratner's project offers and a defense of Ratner's partnership with a Manhattan-based basketball clinic operator.
NoLandGrab: Unfortunately for all Brooklynites — plain or extraordinary, old-timers or newcomers — Ratner's $3.5-billion, 8.7-million-sq.-ft. plan is anything but average. It's probably the largest and most dense private development in NYC history, whose benefits are speculative, but size isn't.
Posted by lumi at 8:08 AM
"Gehry's Plan for Brooklyn"
VERITAS et VENUSTAS
Rose's family had the rights to the sight (sic) in the 1970s, and Rose's cousin Jonathan tried to develop the site in a more enlightened way, with a project designed by the New Urban planner Peter Calthorpe. You can find the design and its history in Peter Katz's New Urbanism book. They planned an office tower over the railyards, surrounded by low and medium rise development that knit the neighborhoods together where their form unraveled at Atlantic Avenue. Their plan was for the immediate site around the railyards, while Ratner has persuaded the Empire State Development Corporation to use its powers of eminent domain to considerably expand the site.But Jonathan Rose was stopped by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued to prevent the development, saying that Rose's single tower over the railyards would cause more pollution than low-rise development.
"If I don't build this project at this transportation hub, the pollution will be worse," Rose said (paraphrasing), "because the jobs in the tower will be spread around Long Island or New Jersey, where the workers will drive to them."
"Yes, but Long Island and New Jersey aren't under our watch," the NRDC said, "New York is," in a position just as focused on the short-term and individual interest as Ratner's.
NoLandGrab: The big question here is, why has the NRDC been silent on the Ratner proposal that contains 16 towers? To be clear, the Rose plan was NOT sited over the railyards (see re_lapse's animated timeline of the Atlantic Terminal Renewal Area); however, it did propose a more human scale than Ratner's. Both plans have been identified as colossal taxpayer-funded boondoggle.
Posted by lumi at 8:07 AM
More CBA Controversy
Neighborhood Retail Alliance
Forest City Ratner-paid-consultant Richard Lipsky agrees that Community Benefits Agreements need to be reviewed, though he steers clear of the Atlantic Yards CBA, which Brooklynites can assume he supports:
We do agree that the process needs to be made more rational so that the slick Potamkin (sic) Village style CBAs (like the one for Gateway) aren't deemed acceptable. The mayor and the council are apparently reviewing the entire issue and, as land use chair Melinda Katz says, "We can probably learn a lot from other jurisdictions..."
Posted by lumi at 7:48 AM
June 18, 2006
LEMON-AID: When life gives you skyscrapers...
For immediate release
by Peter von Ziegesar
When eight-year-old Maya von Ziegesar attended Dan Zane's concert at the Hanson Place Church last month, she learned to her dismay that the 16 new skyscrapers going up near her Fort Greene home would cast a shadow over her window in the morning. She decided to join the fight against overdevelopment in Brooklyn by setting up a lemonade stand on her stoop one Saturday morning. Two hours later, Maya and her friends Leah and Lina, had raised over $30 by passing the word and selling ice-cold lemonade to friendly passersby -- mostly local residents on their way to or from the Fort Greene farmer's market. She carried the cash donation next door to a member of the Fort Greene Association committee on the Atlantic Yards.Pictured is Maya von Ziegesar, who with two school friends set up a lemonade stand on her South Portland Avenue stoop to benefit DDDB. Maya is eight and a Ft. Greene resident. She says: "I don't want those buildings to go up, because I don't like skyscrapers and I like waking up in the morning with lots of light."
Posted by amy at 11:49 AM
BABES OF B'KLYN
New York Post
A bevy of Brooklyn beauties is heating up a pinup calendar touting the borough."Each month features a girl-next-door photographed at a traditional site in her specific Brooklyn neighborhood," said Windsor Terrace native and Brooklyn College junior Jennifer Baker, 21, one of the three Catholic-schooled founders of Brooklyn Calendar Girls LP.
How could anyone have overlooked such an obvious choice for centerfold?
Posted by amy at 11:27 AM
From New York City Sporting News
by Mark Clayton
"We’re helping Forest City Ratner come to Brooklyn because they promise that they will get jobs for the community and it’s always better to be sitting at the table since the Nets are coming here anyway….." This is a statement that has been heard from people who are entrenched in the Brooklyn sports community, ever since the announcement was made that Forest City Ratner was purchasing the Nets and moving them to Brooklyn.Well folks your hopes and dreams are fading fast because the Nets have pulled the ultimate "dis" on the Brooklyn sports community. For over a year sports directors and coaches from Brooklyn had been standing behind podiums, making speeches and gathering kids to form clinics, all in the name of supporting the Brooklyn Nets and their possible move to Brooklyn. They all have hopes of being a part of the Nets system if they ever get to Brooklyn.
Hold on to your hats because this is a good one; The Forest City Ratner Group has gone across the water to Manhattan to allow the folks at Basketball City the opportunity to be in charge of basketball clinics in Brooklyn. For those of you who are serious Brooklyn basketball fans you can ask yourself "when has Basketball City ever cared about Brooklyn?". You know the answer.
This is the ultimate slap in the face to those of the Brooklyn sports community who have been operating basketball clinics for years and have been crucial to the development of Brooklyn kids. Here it is that the Ratner Group is still in need of support from the Brooklyn sports community but their disrespect is so deep that they would rather risk the support in order to have the owners of Basketball City in charge of their Brooklyn clinics. Obviously they do not feel that anyone from Brooklyn is capable of overseeing their clinics for kids. If they do not feel that the Brooklyn sports community is capable of running kids camps then ask yourself what will they allow you to do if they get to Brooklyn? The answer is "nothing".
Posted by amy at 11:19 AM
Rapper Jay-Z Decides to Boycott Cristal
By MARCUS FRANKLIN
Associated Press Writer
"It has come to my attention that the managing director of Cristal, Frederic Rouzaud views the `hip-hop' culture as 'unwelcome attention,'" Jay-Z said. "I view his comments as racist and will no longer support any of his products through any of my various brands including the 40/40 Club nor in my personal life."
Yet ironically Mr.Z seems to have missed Mr. Ratner's views on Mr.Z's beloved neighborhood:
Of course, other racially-charged issues may get a bye. Note that Daughtry, who recently said he had always "found Forest City Ratner Companies to be an organization that cares about the communities in which its projects are built," has not criticized Bruce Ratner's racially-coded explanation for the forbidding design of the Atlantic Center Mall. Ratner told the Times: “Look, here you’re in an urban area, you’re next to projects, yo