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December 11, 2009
Battle of Brooklyn film prompts discussion of fighting eminent domain, New York's unfair laws, and "strange bedfellows" in the struggle
Atlantic Yards Report
AYR film critic Norman Oder was at last night's screening of Battle of Brooklyn.
If last night was an example, the Atlantic Yards documentary Battle of Brooklyn is sure to spark a lot of discussion. A screening of just a half-hour of the film-in-progress was held last night at New York University’s Cantor Center, and the audience—a mix of those interested in Atlantic Yards, eminent domain, and film—had a lot of questions for the panel set up afterwards.
Among the issues:
--why Daniel Goldstein, a protagonist in the film and the spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), chose to stay in his apartment rather than take a seemingly generous buyout (short answer: principle)
--why it’s tough to win eminent domain challenges in New York state and how it might change (short answer: structural bias in favor of condemnors, but a spotlight on bad practices has emerged)
--how people on the left feel about alliances with the libertarians of the Institute for Justice (IJ), leader of the national fight against eminent domain (short answer: fine, and maybe liberals who support eminent domain should think again)
Click through for video clips and photos of the discussion that followed the screening, highlights from the film and the panelists, and to find out how many thumbs — up or down — Oder gives Battle of Brooklyn.
Posted by eric at December 11, 2009 11:50 AM