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March 7, 2010
"It's a big boat--why rock it?" An episode of Miami Vice offers some food for thought regarding Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder improbably finds an Atlantic Yards lesson to be learned from those 1980's icons, Crockett and Tubbs.
"It's a big boat--why rock it?"
That could be a description of a lot of people's attitudes toward the Atlantic Yards project. The Atlantic Yards Narrative, which, as I wrote in October 2007, is created by the developer, backed by the political establishment, and too often aided by media coverage, unwilling to rock the boat.
But the quote comes from Miami Vice--as a reader pointed out--in an episode titled The Prodigal Sun, Part 2, the opening episode of Season 2.
It's worth a look (via Hulu)--and a ponder. And someone posted the segment on YouTube.
Oder recounts a confrontation between the two detectives and an amoral banker who is ultimately responsible for trying to kill them. After the banker explains his bleak worldview, Crockett has the last line, which should have particular resonance for followers of the Atlantic Yards fight.
"I can't touch you; I know that," Crockett tells Johnston. "Too many roadblocks and politics, favors. But you're dirty, Ace. And I'm patient."
Posted by steve at March 7, 2010 8:32 AM