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January 28, 2007

Ratner feels heat on Barclays deal

NY Daily News
MICHAEL O'KEEFFE

Nets owner Bruce Ratner spent years courting Brooklyn's African-American community to support his controversial Atlantic Yards proposal. It's taken less than two weeks for that support to start fraying.

Two key black supporters of Ratner's $4 billion project blasted the real estate developer for selling the sports venue's naming rights to Barclays, the British bank activists say profited from the slave trade, South African apartheid and other chapters in human misery.

Former state assemblyman Roger Green, who played a key role in lining up black community support for Atlantic Yards, lashed out against Ratner's deal with Barclays on Friday. So did his successor, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (D-Prospect Heights).

"This agreement is insensitive and offensive," Jeffries told the Daily News. "All options should be on the table, including terminating this deal."

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Posted by amy at January 28, 2007 5:07 PM