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September 19, 2009
Congratulations, Councilman Levin…Now What?
Real Reform Brooklyn: Eye on the 33rd
Steven Levin won the Democratic primary this week for a seat on the City Council. This open letter is a suggestion list. One of the asks is that Levin fix the proposed Atlantic Yards project.
Dear Councilman Levin:
We know that it is premature to call you that. You still need to go through the general election and get sworn in. But we all know those are mere formalities. You won. Vito Lopez hooked you up every which way from Tuesday: the Zalmanite faction with Rabbi Niederman and UJO, the union endorsements, the Bushwick United Democratic Club. But it would be unfair to say that Lopez won the election for you. The other candidates sliced and diced themselves up to a fair-thee-well. All that, and good honest campaigning on your behalf, won the day. You are to be personally credited with running an honorable campaign. You never went negative. You never took a shot below the belt. That is why we said “we really want to like you.”
The question is, now what? We thought that we would give you a few suggestions for your new office:
...
- Don’t Fold On Atlantic Yards. You have the real opportunity to curb the excesses of Atlantic Yards. You should work with Lopez to make this happen. On December 31st, Ratner’s tax-free financing is going to go “poof.” You need to use that opportunity to force a re-orienting of the proposed arena so that eminent domain is not needed. You also need to bring about a contextual re-working of the plan to integrate it into the surrounding communities.
This appears in this item's comments section:
“You need to use that opportunity to force a re-orienting of the proposed arena so that eminent domain is not needed.”
the arena doesn’t fit at that location without eminent domain. so better: you need to denounce the use of eminent domain to build an arena.
Posted by steve at September 19, 2009 7:31 AM