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December 10, 2008
Happy Fifth Landgrabiversary, Atlantic Yards
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
Five years ago today, December 10, 2003, Forest City Ratner officially unveiled its Atlantic Yards proposal. Bruce Ratner, joined at Brooklyn Borough Hall by Borough President Markowitz, Senator Schumer, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki, announced his plans to build the massive project extending east from the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues, in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
...Bruce Ratner announced that his new arena for the Nets--the team he had just overpaid to purchase--would open to the public in 2006. The project overview released by Forest City Ratner on that December day read, on page 5: "Arena development to begin at the end of 2004, with completion set for the summer of 2006."
Today we mark five years of fighting what has become the poster child for abusive over-development, development that subverts democracy, eminent domain abuse, bad government, developer and architect hubris, opaque financing, poor planning (etc.) across the city and beyond. Today, as we mark the five year struggle against the project, Mr. Ratner's land grab is at a stand still. While his real estate speculation firm is able to demolish the properties he purchased under the threat of eminent domain, he cannot start construction of his project while it faces two legal challenges in court, and the global fiscal meltdown isn't helping either. And if the plaintiffs win either of those two pending lawsuits, Atlantic Yards cannot be built. Then Brooklyn can finally work together to develop the Vanderbilt Rail Yards in a responsible manner, that truly benefits Brooklynites, and the neighborhoods that surround the yards, utilizing the UNITY Plan.
Thank you for all of your support and activism over these five years.
NoLandGrab: And thank you, DDDB. Without your incredible effort in opposing Forest City Ratner's ill-conceived boondoggle, the community would have lost long ago.
Posted by eric at December 10, 2008 8:57 AM