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January 19, 2007
Letitia James' Statement on Forest City Ratner's Partnership with Barclays Bank for Naming Rights to would-be Brooklyn Arena
Ratner partnering with corporation founded on the slave trade
(Brooklyn, NY) — While I am not surprised, I am dismayed that Forest City Ratner has chosen to enter into a naming rights contract with Barclays Bank, a corporation with such a checkered past.
Barclays was in fact founded by Quaker slave traders operating in the West Indies.
Barclays was a primary funder and principal ally of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Barclays seized millions of dollars of savings of holocaust survivors during World War II, and paid $3.6 million to settle with these survivors decades later.
Barclays PLC is the largest bank in the world by total assets, with $1.59 trillion in assets.
It puzzles me why a largely publicly-funded arena would have a private company's name on it. But, this deal highlights yet again that the Atlantic Yards project is not about what's best for Brooklyn, but what's best for Forest City Ratner.
NoLandGrab: So far, no press commentary from Bruce Ratner's African-American supporters has been published.
Posted by lumi at January 19, 2007 9:16 AM