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March 12, 2010
The destruction of Brooklyn's soul? Well, the diminishment of democracy and some added soullessness
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder reports on the great Atlantic Yards groundtaking counter-demonstration.
Could today really be the "Destruction of Brooklyn's Soul Day," as proclaimed by a faux-Marty Markowitz at "Groundtaking" protest organized today outside Freddy's Bar & Backroom?
It's an easy conceit, playing off Chris Smith's August 2006 New York Magazine cover story describing the "battle for the soul of Brooklyn."
Plenty of soul?
The proprietress of the New York Times's blog The Local ventured, “As journalists, we’re neutral on the Atlantic Yards development issue, but we’ll admit to some pro-Brooklyn bias and observe that this borough has plenty of soul to go around.”
OK, so maybe burying the soul of Brooklyn is an overstatement. It's a big borough.
But remember--as "neutral" journalists so often forget--once Forest City Ratner promised an arena with a green roof. Now they show renderings of the arena with a big Barclays logo.
At the groundbreaking ceremony inside the big white tent, the names of arena sponsors hung in banners from the ceiling.
As much as organizers of the groundbreaking event found ways to invoke Brooklyn cred (Junior's cheesecake, etc.), Atlantic Yards is, above all, about more and more corporate logos.
If that doesn't bury the soul of Brooklyn, it surely adds more soullessness.
Also, as indicated by the faux-Markowitz's verbal slips, calling Bruce Ratner "mayor" and "governor," the legacy of Atlantic Yards is a diminishment of local democracy, surely a component of our soul.
The bobbleheads
The faux-Markowitz and his cohorts, including Gov. David Paterson, described as "former eminent domain opponent turned out-to-lunch eminent domain cheerleader," appeared at the ceremony. Excerpts from the remarks below.
Posted by eric at March 12, 2010 1:00 AM