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September 13, 2006
GROUND ZERO INC.
In the aftermath of 9/11, a cadre of developers move to reshape the landscape and culture of New York City.
NY Press
By John DeSio
Atlantic Yards in Downtown Brooklyn and Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, a renewed interest in the City from big-box retailers like Wal-Mart and a race to squeeze housing in anywhere possible, a new development culture has taken over the City. Though new construction is typically a sign of prosperity, many view this particuloar wave as an attempt to force feed the populace new development under the banner of rebuilding the City after 9/11.
Nowhere has this complaint picked up more steam than in Brooklyn, where the Atlantic Yards proposal has forced friends and neighbors to draw battle lines over the future of the borough. Developer Bruce Ratner’s plan would bring a new face to Brooklyn, and many residents who would eventually live in the project’s shadow are not pleased. Dan Goldstein is the head of the leading anti-Ratner group, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. In his opinion, the new push to change Brooklyn and the rest of the City is part of a plan by Bloomberg, Doctoroff and others to radically alter the landscape of the City without effectively dealing with the needs of the communities surrounding the projects. To Goldstein and others, it is as if they just don’t care.
“The Mayor sits back while Dan Doctoroff does the deals,” Goldstein said, pointing to not only the Atlantic Yards project but also the failed push to build a stadium for the New York Jets on the West Side of Manhattan, multiple retail developments handled by Doctoroff’s friends at the Related Companies and others. “The deals skirt any serious urban planning and don't involve needs assessments. The deals are developer driven, classic ‘City for Sale’ stuff. They are characterized by land giveaways and privatization of public space.”
Posted by lumi at September 13, 2006 11:39 PM