« At Long Last: Atlantic Terminal to Open Next Week | Main | Recent Developments »
December 17, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Field of Schemes, Nets-to-Newark deal "all but collapsed"
What appears to have happened: Earlier this week, state senate president Richard Codey introduced a bill to set up a new company, jointly owned by the state and the city of Newark, that would collect a $3-a-ticket tax and redistribute it to both the Izod Center and the Prudential Center. How exactly reshuffling money between the two facilities was supposed to help wasn't clear, but it turns out it doesn't much matter: Newly elected Jersey governor Chris Christie apparently didn't want to be rushed into a decision, so the deal is dead for now.
In any case, with Atlantic Yards construction looking like it's moving ahead — another lawsuit was dismissed yesterday, if you're keeping count — any Nets move would be for two seasons only.
MultifamilyInvestor, The Last Nail In The Coffin For Atlantic Yards Resistance?
Critics of the Atlantic Yards project found the timing curious. This week, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced massive service cuts to the subway system. This decision, based on budget shortfalls, directly affects Brooklyn straphangers.
Critics noted that Ratner is only obliged to pay only $20 million of his promised $100 million lump sum for the right to build over the MTA’s Vanderbilt Yards. The $100 million lump sum has already faced scrutiny because the MTA never entertained multiple bids in an auction process that its own bylaws required.
Big Government, Activist Brooklyn Judge Delivers for ACORN, Re-funds Group
Judge Nina Gershon imposed an injunction on the Congress to prevent it from cutting off funds, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Center for Constitutional Rights filed suit in Brooklyn federal court on behalf of ACORN. That’s curious, given that ACORN is now headquartered in Washington, DC. Not to mention the Congressional action, of course, occured in Washington, DC.
Brooklyn is home of ACORN chief organizer Bertha Lewis. It’s also home to the Working Families Party, the political party co-founded by ACORN. Brooklyn is also the district of Nadler, who runs on the Working Families ticket and has been the group’s most strident supporter in the Congress.
...(The Center for Constitutional Rights, by the way, is headed up by Michael Ratner. Big Government readers may remember that Michaels brother, Bruce, is a deep-pocketed real estate developer and sugar-daddy for ACORN.)
Atlas Shrugs in Brooklyn, Half a Month Passes, Brooklyn GOP Website Remains Stymied by Inaction and Poor Design
Brooklyn Republicans who stumbled upon an Atlantic Yards Report video on YouTube are a little concerned about strange bedfellows.
Anyone see Eric Ulrich and Marty Golden with ACORN leader Bertha Lewis making love to the Atlantic Yards Project in August?
Republicans and ACORN? Hmm…
NoLandGrab: Hey, isn't that former Democratic City Council candidate John Heyer standing in the background, while insufferable Republican Marty Golden spouts falsehoods about Atlantic Yards jobs? It's beautiful the way this project brings people together.
Brooklyn Born, PhotoWednesday 12/16/09 : "Pay Your Fair!" Edition
Before the M.T.A. starts throwing kids under the buses and trains how about collecting Ratner's fare?
FastCompany.com, A Sports Arena Grows in Brooklyn
Fast Company is a little slow getting to this story.
And too bad about the stadium's residents: The New Jersey Nets, an NBA basketball franchise are a woeful 2-22. Perhaps by 2012, when the stadium is slated for completion, they'll get good. Or at least okay. Or maybe just less bad. Hey, anything can happen, right? Even a sports stadium in Brooklyn.
NLG: How about the stadium footprint's residents?
Brooklyn Heights Blog, Mr. Junkersfeld and the Evolution of Cadman Plaza
A short film about the history of Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza, where eminent domain was used to clear private properties and an elevated railway for actual public open space, includes this set-up:
Finally, this film is especially topical today with the use of eminent domain with respect to the Atlantic Yards project. Of course, it was a different time back then. and a one to one correspondence would be unfair.
People's World, NYC transit cuts: byproduct of giveaways to the rich
Once again, city straphangers are being threatened by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which claims that it is out of money and has to cut service on the city's bus and subway lines-again. But the MTA is giving hundreds of millions of dollars to big developers, say critics; still others see the cuts as a political ploy.
...Forest City Ratner, a multi-billion dollar developer that has found hundreds of millions of dollars in public money to finance a private for-profit project called Atlantic Yards has also benefited greatly from the MTA-they are selling the Vanderbilt Yards, in Brooklyn, to Ratner for $100 million, but accepting a down payment of only $20 million and allowing the developer to pay the rest over more than two decades.
Kid Mercury's Blog, Frank Fucking Gehry: Frank Gehry Tells You To Take Your Starchitecture & Shove It!
How long does it take to flip Frank Gehry's rage switch? Ten minutes or less. The Canadian-born, "owlish" architect loses his cool with a reporter from the British newspaper the Independent when he dares to use the s-word to Gehry's face.
...Sadly, the interviewer never manages to get the Gehry rage machine going on Atlantic Yards.
Posted by eric at December 17, 2009 1:03 PM