« Brutally weird City Room post suggests neighborhoods with development fights as potential homes for Goldstein | Main | Last shot $cores »
April 23, 2010
ACORN’s Bertha Lewis Goes a Little Nuts on Last Atlantic Yards Holdout
Daily Intel [NYMag.com]
Yesterday, the last man yet to be evicted from his home to make way for the Atlantic Yards development, David Goldstein, agreed to move out for $3 million. Can you blame the guy? Goldstein, the spokesman for the Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn group that had been fighting Atlantic Yards, was going to be evicted anyway, but was given millions of dollars to leave early.
...But ACORN's Bertha Lewis — we thought ACORN had shut down, but okay — doesn't see the logic of Goldstein's decision, according to an absolutely savage e-mail she sent out to reporters last night.
...Yeesh. The irony of it all is that ACORN got its own payoff from Bruce Ratner to support and provide political cover to the Atlantic Yards project. Granted, in exchange, ACORN solidified the promise of affordable housing in the development — but it was also set to make millions off of marketing the housing and deciding who gets to live there, according to a former employee. ACORN was also saved in 2008 by a $1.5 million loan provided by Ratner when it was embroiled in financial trouble. Maybe Lewis is just jealous it wasn't $3 million.
Related coverage...
Queens Crap, ACORN leader sends out frightening e-mail
It's sad that Bertha Lewis and ACORN took the side of the developer when the population they serve has historically been the biggest victim of eminent domain abuse. She has no right pointing fingers at Goldstein for accepting money from Ratner when she did the same damn thing years ago.
SWGA Politics.com, ACORN: Gone, but not forgotten
Now, maybe it’s just me, but where the hell does this woman get off expecting to have a right to someone else’s property? Yes, Goldstein settled and got more than he would have gotten purely with eminent domain. So what? I don’t blame him. The authorities would have taken the property and given him fair market value for it…fair market value in 1982 that is. So he negotiated for more than that. Good for him.
Reason Hit & Run, More Classy Commentary from ACORN's Bertha Lewis
I received the email reproduced below from an anonymous source. I just contacted Bertha Lewis and she verified for me that she is indeed the author. What a class act.
Posted by eric at April 23, 2010 9:36 AM