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June 6, 2008
"Fun day"? At FCR’s “Brooklyn Day” rally, déjà vu and defensiveness
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder has the play-by-play of yesterday's Forest City Ratner-sponsored "Brooklyn Day" rally, and it seems the playbook has not been updated.
If you listened to the arguments for Atlantic Yards offered at the Forest City Ratner-sponsored “Brooklyn Day” rally yesterday at Borough Hall, they sounded suspiciously like those aired at rallies in 2004, or the public meetings in 2006. Jobs, housing, and hoops. The half-century-old loss of the Dodgers. The failure of “opponents” to step up.
The difference in 2008, with the project at this moment stalled, was a palpable air of defensiveness, calls for “our share” and “a piece of the pie,” even as developer Forest City Ratner, behind the scenes, seeks more subsidies.
The edge in Borough President Marty Markowitz’s voice was undeniable, as he and others flailed the opposition for delaying the project, but offering no more insight other than “build it now.” They mentioned nothing about the credit crisis, the limited pool of tax-exempt bonds, the state’s extended deadline for construction, and the developer’s subsidy request.
Though speakers like ACORN New York head Bertha Lewis and Carpenters Union Local 926 President Sal Zarzana at times were able to whip up the crowd, Brooklyn was just not very much in the house.
NoLandGrab: While several speakers cited the need to feed families and to create affordable housing as reasons to "build it now," no one explained how sinking nearly $1 billion into a basketball arena was a good use of a shrinking pool of tax revenues.
Posted by eric at June 6, 2008 10:22 AM