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April 21, 2010
DDDB's Goldstein settles for $3M (or less after attorney's fees), agrees to leave May 7, will take a step back from anti-AY activism
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder kicks off round three of the coverage of today's biggest real estate news.
After hours of negotiations following some brief but charged arguments in Kings County Supreme Court today, Daniel Goldstein, the spokesman for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn agreed to accept $3 million from Forest City Ratner--far more than the original low-ball $510,000 offer for his three-bedroom condo--in exchange for leaving by May 7 and reducing his prominent role in the Atlantic Yards opposition.
"The agreement today was in part about the value of my apartment, but more so it was about them, ESDC [Empire State Development Corporation], wanting me out quickly," Goldstein said. "They paid to get me out quickly."
Goldstein and his family are the last remaining occupants of a 31-unit building at 636 Pacific Street, in the heart of the arena block. His neighbors also made deals as a group in 2004, taking a significant profit (thanks to public funds reimbursing Forest City Ratner) and agreeing to a gag order.
"I cannot retain the title of spokesman," said Goldstein, who has long been DDDB's most prominent public face and activist, calling attention to "failure of democracy" with the project. "I can do whatever else I want, and it is stipulated that I can maintain my First Amendment rights."
After the settlement made by Freddy's Bar & Backroom, it's an acknowledgment by a vocal opponent of the inevitability of the arena, if not the project as a whole, and the power of the state in eminent domain cases in New York. The courts had already rejected eminent domain lawsuits and transferred title to the ESDC.
...Was the settlement fair? From the perspective of Forest City Ratner, which claimed delay was costing them $6.7 million a month, it was surely worth the cost, given that they are tamping down a vocal opponent and weakening DDDB.
Beyond that, he agreed to leave faster than had been previously requested and much faster than in most eminent domain cases.
According to a legal motion filed earlier this month, Forest City Ratner claimed it had spent $280 million to buy property for Atlantic yards; unmentioned was that city taxpayers had contributed $131 million.
From the perspective of the ESDC, whose eminent domain counsel was funded by FCR and which worked hand-in-glove with the developer, surely it's worth it.
Posted by eric at April 21, 2010 7:30 PM