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April 5, 2008
Brooklyn Developer Ratner Feted as Protesters Jeer
Bloomberg.com
by Patrick Cole
The Brooklyn Museum gala honoring developer Bruce Ratner brought out scores of celebrities, friends and supporters last night, as well as detractors who stood in the evening chill to protest his plans to make over a 22-acre swath of the New York borough.
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Some local residents say the project is too large and will overwhelm adjacent neighborhoods with new residents and traffic. In 2006, tenants and homeowners filed a lawsuit, asking a judge to block the use of eminent domain. In January, an appeals court dismissed the suit.
Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for a group opposed to the Atlantic Yards project, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, said he hopes an appeal of the court's decision will stop the seizures of residents' properties. If the development goes ahead, Goldstein said, the apartment building where he lives on Pacific Avenue will be destroyed to make room for the basketball arena.
"It's just poor judgment by the museum to honor this developer who is in the midst of a huge fight in the community that surrounds the museum,'' said Goldstein, 38. ``He's taking away people's homes. He's taking away my home.''
New York State wants to use its power of eminent domain to seize 57 residential and commercial buildings in Brooklyn's Prospect Heights district, Goldstein said.
Posted by steve at April 5, 2008 8:03 AM