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June 12, 2007
Atlantic Yards: Too Late For Real Opposition Now
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Editorial
By Dennis Holt
We can't be sure that anyone pays attention to the Eagle's Dennis Holt except for media-starved Atlantic Yards flunkies and junkies, but as long as he's flapping his gums and making facts out of whole cloth, he might be worth correcting.
You can use this post as a study-guide for his latest column.
DH: The fact that the private sector came up with the idea first, not the public sector, is incidental, and it made no sense to argue that entrance and exit ramps to parking garages are “private roads.”
NLG: These are two separate lawsuits — the "roads" argument is an element of a state suit filed independently by attorney George Locker.
DH: There was a lame attempt to think of other sites, but the Navy Yard is not accessible; for Coney Island, one might as well have stayed in the Meadowlands; and the Parade Ground made no sense.
NLG: Even Borough President Marty Markowitz favored Coney Island until Ratner picked Atlantic and Flatbush.
DH: I know that originally, there was no plan by Forest City for such a large project. This evolved over time, partly as a result of the opposition’s intensity.
NLG: Holt is being spun by a totally ludicrous argument that undercuts Ratner's entire justification for the size of the project:
- The arena is a money loser, therefore we need to develop additional property.
- Affordable housing is important but we then need to develop even more property in order to pay for it.
The argument outlined above is a myth as well, since the financing of the entire operation has still not been revealed and justified. But blaming the size of the project on the community opposition is, well, blaming the vicitm.
DH: I was in Freddy’s and saw the hand-written, vituperative comments against Ratner and Marty Markowitz. Some of them were vile by even my standards.
NLG: Freddy's is a small business that has long served the community — hell heck yeah, its patrons are pissed. Their favorite watering hole is being taken in a gianormous land grab so the guy who owns MetroTech and the two malls across the way can further enrich himself and his family. However, we're sure that Freddy's appreciates the business of eminent domain tourists like Mr. Holt.
DH: This project has the chance to make a major contribution to Brooklyn. There will be kinks, probably some bad ones. Let’s fix them, not snarl, “I told you so.”
NLG: Community groups across the board are working like heck to head some of the more serious impacts off at the pass. So far most of their requests (except for bike parking) have been ignored by Ratner and the Empire State Development Corporation (except for the time that Ratner broke the Ward Bakery building).
It's too bad that Holt is playing the blame game, because it probably isn't the next step in the dialogue that's needed at this juncture.
Posted by lumi at June 12, 2007 6:51 AM