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May 8, 2009
In the case of Atlantic Yards
Though there is still much that we don't know about Bruce Ratner's planned megaproject, "Atlantic Yards" has come to mean many things and has been popping up as a case in point for other issues:
Lack of integrity and consideration
From a letter to the editor from The Brooklyn Paper on the Federal proposal to clean up the Gowanus Canal as a "superfund" site:
Just as in the case of Atlantic Yards, people aren’t against development, per se. It has to do with scale, with integrity, with consideration for, and with the will of human beings.
Political fecklessness
In this month's The Brooklyn Rail, "Atlantic Yards" is a yard stick measuring a politician's sincerity.
Fighting the real estate industry is indeed a tall order, and it’s a primary reason that [City Councilman Tony] Avella’s campaign coffers amount to only a fraction of Comptroller Bill Thompson’s, the current Democratic frontrunner. At the same political club meetings, Thompson made mention of the overdevelopment issue, and argued for strengthening community boards. But, other than in the West Side stadium battle, as comptroller over the past eight years Thompson mounted no visible opposition to large development plans even when they involve significant sums of public money, such as the Atlantic Yards project. Avella, meanwhile, has worked with community groups across the city, including the Harlem Tenants Council in fighting the 125th Street rezoning, and he has spoken at Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn events against the Atlantic Yards.
NoLandGrab: Though developer Bruce Ratner has spent millions of dollars on the pr campaign for his mammoth Atlantic Yards project, it seems that he has been unable to curb the public perception that ATLANTIC YARDS = BAD.
Posted by lumi at May 8, 2009 5:14 AM