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October 19, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere... (P.M. edition)
Show-Me Daily, More Eminent Domain Courtroom Drama
The story is very familiar, although the actors are different. This time, the New York State Urban Development Corp., a government agency, assumes the role previously played by the city of New London, Conn. A chorus of concerned land owners reprise the role of Susette Kelo, the woman in the little pink house. Forest City Ratner Cos. replaces the New London Development Corporation in the role of the developer, and instead of building a Pfizer research complex, it plans to build an NBA stadium in downtown Brooklyn.
Stay tuned! If the Court of Appeals in Albany sides with the property owners and introduces additional limits on eminent domain, there will be a happy ending. If the court sides with the developers, there will be an unhappy ending, as there was in New London. This will mean that, in addition to other negative consequences, the property owners will lose their homes and the city will lose money on the project.
The Huffington Post, Tens of People Breathing Easier on Atlantic Yards Issue
The argument over the construction of a new stadium for the Nets at the Atlantic Yards project has been taking place for a few years now, but somehow it has remained surprisingly low on the radar.
Maybe it has never really been an actual scare, or maybe the dedication of a select few Brooklyn residents has been enough to keep the project at bay.
The tens of people marching on Saturday for "Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn" seemed to be the only ones aware of the situation. As the crowd bullhorned around and through the Atlantic Yards area with the help of a small brass band and a large number of police escorts, passersby and local residents seemed utterly oblivious to the reason. There were few horns honking in support and a lot of sheepish grins.
NoLandGrab: Matt Rodigheri grossly understates the scope of the opposition to Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. Each walker — and there were closer to two hundred of them rather than the "tens" Rodigheri describes — was representing many more people who'd pledged funds, in some cases, dozens more. And his mischaracterization does a great disservice to the 4,000 or so donors to lawsuits opposing the Atlantic Yards project, and the well-more-than-10,000 people who have signed petitions and sent postcards, letters and emails. It's that larger effort that has kept the project at bay, despite well greased political support, for almost six years.
No York, NBA owners must approve Prokhorov
Mikhail Prokhorov has agreed to a deal to gain ownership of the New Jersey Nets in principle. The deal hinges on the fate of the Atlantic Yards project which is currently in legal limbo. However, if the project does go forward, it won’t be the only hurdle Prokhorov will face. He must also be approved by 23 of the NBA’s 30 owners before he can officially own the Nets. He is scheduled to meet with several owner’s this Wednesday during one of the league’s advisory and finance committee meetings.
Black Political Buzz...., ACORN As We Once Knew It Is Gone...A Rebound Seems Impossible
And she and Ms. Lewis appeared to help Mr. Donovan deliver a coup for Mr. Bloomberg in 2005 when Acorn endorsed a huge Brooklyn development he was supporting in the face of local opposition.
Acorn backed the plan in return for an unusual promise from the developer, Forest City Ratner, to make half of the 4,500 rental apartments that it was proposing — along with a new Nets basketball arena — available to poor and middle-class families at below-market rates.
The city’s agreement to help finance the plan, hammered out among Mr. Donovan, Ms. Speliotis and others, was hailed as a breakthrough for subsidizing a substantial amount of housing for an unusually broad range of middle-class tenants.
NLG: At this point, the affordable housing is little more than a mirage and ACORN is on the canvas while the referee counts nine, while the "local opposition" is more robust than ever.
Posted by eric at October 19, 2009 9:08 PM