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March 11, 2010
NYPD Mobilizes to Atlantic Yards Groundbreaking Protest
Gothamist
In what might be a dry run for Nets games, the NYPD sent out hundreds of cops to keep hundreds of anti-Atlantic Yards protestors in check outside Bruce Ratner's "Green Zone."
It's really happening: After dogged protest and a series of seemingly intractable lawsuits, developer Bruce Ratner is breaking ground right now on a new arena for the Nets, to be called Barclays Center. And the irate protests are continuing even as the ceremony—attended by Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg—takes place right now. In his speech, Borough President Marty Markowitz acknowledged the raucous demonstrators outside the press conference, but played it for laughs, saying, "Sorry about the noise outside. Obviously disgruntled Knicks fans." Ha ha, or people who are being forced out of their homes! We've heard over the police scanner that the NYPD is now calling for a "Level 3 Mobilization" (sounds serious!) to deal with the protesters.
NoLandGrab: At times, it seemed that every protestor, of which there were may have been as many as 300, had his or her own police escort, not counting the police units on rooftops, and the police helicopter. One officer informed a cyclist that a portion of Atlantic Avenue was "closed to pedestrians." When the cyclist replied that he was not a pedestrian, but a cyclist, the cop replied "well, then it's closed to bicycles." Cars, of course, were ok.
Wonder who got the tab for all the crowd control?
Posted by eric at March 11, 2010 6:39 PM