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May 23, 2008

More fallout from recent Atlantic Yards letters

The Brooklyn Paper, Letters to the Editor

I certainly can relate to last week’s letter from Leon de Augusto (“This guy faults Ratner and Atlantic Yards foes,” Letters, May 17).

As an African-American living near the footprint of Atlantic Yards, I understand his feelings about the apparent “inner-city cultural divide” between the opposition and their “minority neighbors.”

I say “apparent,” because there are minority neighbors involved in the fight, but not in the numbers that we in the opposition would like. Check out photos of the events that have been posted to numerous Web sites. We people of color are there.

Augusto said that Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn “has failed to persuade [its] minority neighbors that Ratner is fooling them again, this time through surrogates,” but Ratner apparently has not fooled you. I’m sure you’re not the only one.

I urge you, previous letter writer Thomasina Millet (“Mixed messages,” Letters, April 26), and others who have not been fooled by the developer’s public relations campaign to attend one of the many fundraisers, movie screenings, public hearings, protests and other events. It will take more people of color to regularly show up at these and other events to make it clear that the fight is not about race or color.

We don’t need another Metrotech.

Tracy Collins, Prospect Heights



Leon de Augusto and Thomasina Millet should be pointed to a photoblog I posted from the Brooklyn Museum protest at http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2008/04/brooklyn-museum-ratner-protest-card-i.html.

Not only were a wide variety of people of various colors on hand, but a wide variety of ages, economic statuses, and so on were in this crowd. It’s wrong to suggest that everybody at this protest — or everybody who is opposed to Atlantic Yards — looks like Daniel Goldstein. There are plenty “people of color” who oppose this project.

Richard Nickel, Jr., Weeksville

Posted by eric at May 23, 2008 9:45 AM