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April 8, 2008
Developer Ratner Feted and Jeered at Brooklyn Museum
ARTINFO
Last week's protest somehow managed to register a blip in the art media:
Last week’s Brooklyn Ball, the Brooklyn Museum's annual spring fundraiser, honored developer Bruce Ratner for his philanthropic support, a decision that brought out, in addition to the usual legions of celebrities and museum supporters, scores of protesters who braved the cold evening to rail against his $4 billion Atlantic Yards project, Bloomberg reports.
As guests at the gala paid $1,000 for dinner catered by chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa's Nobu 57 restaurant, outside the museum, about 60 local residents jeered the developer’s plans for the 22-acre area, which include erecting a $950 million, 19,000-seat arena for the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets and 16 high-rise buildings near the Atlantic Terminal, New York's third-largest transit hub.
Some local residents claim that the project is too large and will flood nearby residential neighborhoods with traffic and crowds. There is also considerable concern about the plan’s intended use of eminent domain to seize nearly 60 residential and commercial buildings in the nearby Prospect Heights neighborhood, according to Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for the Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn opposition group.
Posted by lumi at April 8, 2008 4:40 AM