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October 18, 2009
The Rest of The Atlantic Yards Report Weekend
Atlantic Yards Report
At fifth DDDB walkathon, staying power, $40,000, and creativity over a long route
Norman Oder gives complete coverage of yesterday's Develop Don't Destroy Walkathon. With all the photos and video he's included, it's just like being there -- except Oder probably won't write a blog entry about your reading his blog entry.
Despite a bracing chill and a rather arduous 2.3-mile course for the fifth annual Walk Don't Destroy fundraiser yesterday, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) attracted about as large a crowd--at least 160 people--as it did last year, though the fundraising total--more than $40,000--was down a bit from the $45,000 last year.
Buoyed by a Chicago-based marching band called Environmental Encroachment, the walkathon also included some very 2009 creative elements: bilingual signs in Russian and English (above), a reference to the recent agreement by Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov to purchase 80% of the Nets, and a postcard handout, using the graphic style of Mayor Mike Bloomberg's re-election campaign, challenging his position on Atlantic Yards.
Some observers, including myself, had wondered last year whether there would be any need for a fifth walkathon, given that the legal fight against Atlantic Yards, likely would be over, but that's clearly not the case.
DDDB: new lawsuit challenging Atlantic Yards environmental review will be filed on Monday
Leading off the fifth annual Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) walkathon today, DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein revealed that, on Monday, "there will be one more lawsuit filed against the Atlantic Yards project by 19 community organizations," including DDDB.
Though details are not yet available, DDDB last month threatened to file a suit regarding the failure of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to issue a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement in response to changes in the project.
DDDB put most of its fundraising into legal battles. "Suffice it to say that the fundraising you've been doing all these years is going toward some very specific purposes and being well-utilized," Goldstein said.
Would you believe it? Thompson likes Battery Park City (but has ignored the UNITY plan)
Guess what? Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson, according to a report in the New York Observer on a speech he gave Thursday, suggests that Battery Park City provides a better model for real estate development than the Bloomberg administration’s mega-projects.
The reason: at Battery Park City, each parcel was developed separately. (I'd add that the park space came first, not in the second phase, as with the Atlantic Yards plan.)
Of course, the UNITY plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard--the key public land within the Atlantic Yards footprint--would do just that, but Thompson has never acknowledged it.
From the DDDB Walkathon: "campaign" postcards challenging Mike Bloomberg as NIMBY
Norman Oder points out postcards distributed during yesterday's Develop Don't Destroy Walkathon that are critical of Mayor Mike Bloomberg (a supporter of the proposed Atlantic Yards Project).
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Posted by steve at October 18, 2009 11:27 AM