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August 1, 2009
Atlantic Yards Report Saturday Morning Trio
Atlantic Yards Report
In the Brooklyn Paper, a tale of a rebel flag trumps Atlantic Yards coverage
The Brooklyn Paper is criticized for its lack of Atlantic Yards coverage, which has become more uneven since it was bought by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
Nope, coverage of Atlantic Yards didn't make the front page of the Brooklyn Paper this week.
It should have. There was big news ready for the paper's deadline--not just the fallout from the informational meeting held July 22 but at least the first part of Wednesday's public hearing held by the Empire State Development Corporation.
But the lead story--the most important news of the week, in the judgment of the paper's editors--concerns a Bay Ridge man who hung a Confederate flag out the window...
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Coverage of Brooklyn's biggest project--a source of unending controversy--appears on page 5 (below), with an overview article and a set of mini-interviews.
The Brooklyn Paper's coverage wasn't bad, within constraints of time and space, but the claim that supporters and opponents were merely "rehashing familiar arguments" is simply wrong.
A number of elected officials and civic groups called for a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement in light of the implied changes in the project and the many unknown elements. And the failure of the Empire State Development Corporation to produce a new site plan and economic analysis, plus the inability for the police to review security before the arena design is approved, also generated outrage.
That's news. And, not all that long ago, when the Brooklyn Paper was independently owned and quite focused on Atlantic Yards--much smaller AY stories were overblown and placed on the front page. (Remember the picture of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn spokesman Daniel Goldstein's baby? Or Forest City Ratner's erroneous web claim that architect Frank Gehry was born in Brooklyn?)
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The Brooklyn Paper editors surely know Atlantic Yards is a significant story. After all, they published a whole sidebar on the Letters page with excerpts from comments posted on the paper's online coverage of the July 22 information session.
Testimony at this week's ESDC Hearings included that given by Prospect Heights resident Steve Espinola. Some found Espinola's remarks puzzling and, on the face of it, illogical, but this blog entry shows his thinking. Especially enlightening is an email from Espinola.
"You're either making a circle or breaking a circle" is something a Native American elder told me. (Native Americans generally have a strong experiential understanding of the process and dynamics of land grabs.) I figured it was time to try a little dream logic or illogic to break through the dichotomous arguments. This process has been all about dividing people, destroying existing and potential connection and community. In other words, breaking a circle.
Making us define ourselves as "Pro" or "Against" on the hearing's sign-up sheet is a part of that tactic, even if it is claimed that it is for the sake of programmatic "balance." It seems to be limiting the range and potential creativity of the testimony. It's a mindset I no longer want to play into.
A room full of people had just jeered a woman who was talking about her asthma, [excerpts below] and I was shocked at the lack of empathy. I was even shocked that I was shocked. Then, Maureen [Shea] from the Green Party had made an excellent, grounded, nondivisive speech which said every rational thing I would have wanted to say, and better than I could have said it.
My first impulse was to say simply "I agree with Maureen," but I decided to talk about respectful cannibalism instead and out-irrationalize the irrational energies in the room, from as calm a place as I could muster. I didn't even want to fight the violence anymore, so I was trying to work with it, and present it as a conscious choice that had choices within it.
It wasn't a prepared speech, but I knew what I wanted to convey. Given that I had a nice, long, sweet conversation with an elderly and concerned member of ACORN afterwards, something good and connecting came out of it.
Beer summit with Goldstein and Ratner at Freddy's? Not likely
Norman Oder does a take on today's piece in the New York Times about New York City disputes that might be settled by "beer summits". One element making such a summit difficult for the Atlantic Yards fight is the need for a neutral host.
But there's no neutral host, is there? Borough President Marty Markowitz couldn't host the summit, since he's aligned with Forest City Ratner. Nor could City Council Member Letitia James, a staunch supporter of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.
Nor could the Empire State Development Corporation, the state agency charged with both overseeing and approving the project.
Maybe the only place for a beer summit--as with so many elements of the Atlantic Yards dispute--is a courtroom, particularly a court that has not yet weighed in on any Atlantic Yards case.
Posted by steve at August 1, 2009 9:26 AM