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January 26, 2007
Black leaders to Bruce: Pay us back!
The Brooklyn Papers
Bruce Ratner's deal with Barclays Bank has somewhat cracked the foundation of his supporters which are largely African-American:
Two black supporters of Atlantic Yards have joined a growing chorus saying that developer Bruce Ratner betrayed his black allies when he sold the naming rights to his proposed Nets arena to Barclays, a global banking firm that was founded by slave traders and did business with South Africa’s apartheid government.
Both Roger Green — a former state Assemblyman — and his successor Hakeem Jeffries came out this week against the Barclays deal.
Jeffries is looking for a way for all parties to save face and is suggesting two options, a termination of the deal and/or reparations by way of financial contribution:
Jeffries demanded a meeting with the developer to discuss the issue. He hasn’t gotten a call back yet.
“All options should be on the table, including payment for past wrongs and termination of the agreement,” Jeffries said.
While Jeffries predecessor, Green, is calling for Barclays to increase their financial support to the community support, again, to serve as reparations:
Green, a strong supporter of Atlantic Yards, moved last week to distance himself from the naming-rights deal. He called on Barclays to pay reparations to American blacks for its role in slavery.
“Barclays must step up and respond to our community the way they responded to Nelson Mandela” over the issue of apartheid in South Africa, he said.
As part of the $400-million naming-rights deal, Barclays has said it will pay $2.5 million to repair public basketball courts through the borough, but Green called that amount, “not enough.”
Posted by lumi at January 26, 2007 10:06 AM