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July 7, 2006
Bye bye Brooklynite
A final abbreviated web edition of The Brooklynite is now available on line. Last year, the newcomer created a buzz with the first issue's cover story, "Vanishing Vistas," by Brooklyn architectural historian Francis Morrone. We were so moved by the article, which one NLG reader called "a poignant love letter and call to action," that we begged editor Daniel Treiman to let us post the entire article on NLG.
The swan song issue — entitled, "The End" — contains several short items relating to Atlantic Yards:
"The Content of David Yassky’s Character"
What's the deal with "Yassky’s curious behavior on the single biggest development issue facing Brooklyn?"
Part of the reason Yassky has been so quiet on Atlantic Yards is that he has tried to play both sides of the issue.
"Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe"
But enough of Yassky — what about the other candidates, their stands on Atlantic Yards, and the issues relevant to serving the 11th District in the House of Representatives?
Here's the skinny on the candidates' positions on Atlantic Yards:
Carl Andrews and Yvette Clarke both have been supportive of Ratner’s Atlantic Yards monstrosity.
...
Only Chris Owens has been consistently outspoken in opposition to Atlantic Yards.
"High-Rise Hubris"
Brooklynites get lectured by Senator Schumer, The NY Times and Frank Gehry on "progress."
According to the Downtown Brooklyn Star, Senator Charles Schumer derided Brooklynites opposed to development projects, like Atlantic Yards, as part of “the culture of inertia, this small group of self-appointed people.” The New York Times has editorialized that the transformation of Brooklyn’s low-rise skyline into a “thicket of skyscrapers” is “almost inevitable,” and that the Atlantic Yards development is good for Brooklyn, insofar as it “furthers the prospect that it will may yet [sic] emerge from the shadow of its smaller sister, Manhattan.”
Up until now, the closest Gehry has come to building something of this scale is a trio of sad-looking office towers in Dusseldorf. But that hasn’t stopped him from lashing out at Brooklynites who have the audacity to speak out against the gargantuan art project he wants to inflict upon us. “They should’ve been picketing Henry Ford,” Gehry said. “There is progress everywhere.”
"Brooklyn Brew-haha"
Commentary on the boycott of Brooklyn Brewery after Steve Hindy showed little regard for Freddy's Bar and Backroom:
While the boycott at first seemed like overkill, all of a sudden Brooklyn Brewery’s tasty lager became a little harder to swallow.
Posted by lumi at July 7, 2006 8:19 AM