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December 17, 2009
12/20: Freddy's Installation of the Chains of Justice (Ratner and NY State's Injustice)
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
Below: A Media Alert from Our Comrades at Freddy's
What: Freddy’s Chain Gang to Install the Chains of Justice (should they be needed)
When: Sunday, December 20, High Noon.
Where: Freddy’s Bar & Backroom
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With the coming of this Christmas everyone should be concerned with New York State and Governor Paterson’s capacity to hand privately-owned property over to corporations for profit. It is a disturbing trend that casts an ominous shadow over all of our futures in this country.
Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, or the Ghost of Christmas Future, is intended to represent the uncertainty of the future:
Scrooge queries the ghost: “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”
Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood.
“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me!”
What is it that the Courts are showing us regarding the power of our own Scrooges?
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An overwhelming number of Freddy's Bar patrons plan on chaining themselves to the bar if Scrooge Ratner and Grinch Paterson's Atlantic Yards Project attempts to shutdown and demolish Freddy's Bar and Backroom. This Sunday, December 20th, we are installing chains onto the Bar itself for just such a purpose.
In light of the recent decision against Columbia University and the Empire State Development Corporation’s attempt to steal properties by eminent domain, and the confusion in the Courts that seems to allow taking Brooklyn properties for Ratner, but not Harlem properties for Columbia…we are angry. We are giddy for the victory against Columbia, but angry that our neighborhood can be taken, that our bar can be taken. We will stand in support of the Prospect Heights neighborhood, and the extended neighborhood of 5000+ supporters who have donated time and money to fight against eminent domain. We believe the links of the chain represent all the individuals unbreakably locked in a chain gang seeking fair rights for the individual in the contemporary flurry of land-grabbing corporate greed.
The Backroom at Freddy’s Bar was the birthplace of this particular rebellion for fair treatment, the front room is where we bring out the hardware to back it up.
The Chain will officially be installed on Sunday, December 20th at 12:00 noon.
link
Additional coverage...
Runnin' Scared, Freddy's Bar To Install Chains for When Bruce Ratner Tries to Evict Them
The fight to keep homes and businesses from being eminent-domained for the Bruce Ratner Atlantic Yards boondoggle goes badly. So the management at Freddy's Bar -- the fun watering hole and longtime Voice favorite imperiled by the land grab -- is installing chains.
...Asked how they expect to hold out against Ratner, O'Finn tells us, "We will fight the best fight we can." Drinks will be served.
Curbed, Brooklyn Bar to Bruce Ratner: Hell No, We Won't Go
Beloved Prospect Heights dive Freddy's Bar is located at Dean Street and Sixth Avenue, which—consulting our Atlantic Yards footprint pop-up map—means the place is totally screwed. But the suds slingers are not going quietly! They're enlisting fellow eminent domain haters to take part in what the anti-Atlantic Yards campaign has been sorely lacking: civil disobedience! Announcing, ladies and gentlemen, the Chains of Justice.
Posted by eric at December 17, 2009 3:09 PM