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August 30, 2006
Brooklyn-Queens Diary: Forgive Me Darryl
Brooklyn Downtown Star
By Kenny Bruno
...I was especially astonished to find that while I was away, the civil rights movement, feared dead since 1968, was reborn in Brooklyn. A new leader of the movement has been anointed. His name is...Bruce Ratner?
Yes, if you listen to the proponents of the Atlantic Yards mega-project, the mall builder from Cleveland is practically the re-incarnation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Both names - King and Ratner - were invoked with reverence by an array of elected officials and celebrities on Wednesday, August 23, at a pep rally masquerading as a press conference.
But wait. Ratner's opponents also wear the Movement's mantle. As Yards supporters march around downtown chanting civil rights inspired slogans, a street full of anti-Yards bicyclists briefly eclipses them with similar chants! And while the pro-Ratner forces sing a mantra of Jobs, Housing and Hoops, anti-Atlantic blogs invoke Selma and Montgomery as the inspiring benchmarks of their tactical determination.
Posted by lumi at August 30, 2006 7:53 AM