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July 27, 2006
Battleground: Atlantic Yards
Time Out NY
By Justin Rocket Silverman
No issue in Brooklyn is more contentious than Bruce Ratner’s vision for a massive complex of skyscrapers to be built on top of the Long Island Rail Road’s Atlantic Yards and in the adjacent Prospect Heights neighborhood. ...
Though Ratner’s scheme garnered quick support from politicians, unions and some affordable-housing advocates, thousands of Brooklynites have heeded a call to fight the razing of Prospect Heights. United in the umbrella group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, opponents decry what they say is a sweetheart deal for Ratner that opposes the character of surrounding neighborhoods, one that would cause gridlock and waste the hundreds of millions of dollars that the city and state have agreed to contribute.
DDDB spokesperson Dan Goldstein makes a good point, which is another reminder that the City Council will have NO OPPORTUNITY to evaluate and weigh in on the project because NY State has taken it over in order to supercede local zoning regulations:
“They can’t build this project without my little apartment, and we have a very strong legal case,” Goldstein says. “Owning this condo gives me more power than the City Council.”
The article gets one major fact wrong:
Renters have lost their leases or taken payments to give up rent-stabilized units.
Atlantic Yards Report has posted a detailed report to the contrary.
Posted by lumi at July 27, 2006 8:33 AM