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August 20, 2011
From the Village Voice's Siegel: Sharpton as mayoral king killer (and, I'd add, the knife in Ferrer's back over AY)
Atlantic Yards Report
This week's Village Voice features on article about the influence of Atlantic Yards supporter Al Sharpton on New York politics. Norman Oder takes a look back at how Sharpton's AY support took precedence in his support of Fernando Ferrer for mayor.
Unmentioned is a key episode in the Ferrer campaign, whereupon the candidate belatedly came out against Atlantic Yards, only to have Sharpton--his supporter--immediately issue a statement criticizing him.
Most in the press played Sharpton's knife in the back over Ferrer's policy switch. The New York Times, for example, published a 10/29/05 article headlined Ferrer Is Chided Over Atlantic Yards:
In a statement sent by e-mail to reporters, Mr. Sharpton said that he and Mr. Ferrer "strongly disagree" on the project, which would place a ridge of skyscrapers and a basketball arena at a major Brooklyn intersection and straddle several low-scale neighborhoods where opposition to the project has recently intensified. Mr. Ferrer, he said, "needs to realize that failure to get projects like this done would be a terrible loss for communities of color throughout this city."
"We cannot play politics with something as important as the Atlantic Yards," Mr. Sharpton said.
In a telephone interview, Mr. Sharpton played down the notion of a rift between the two camps, saying that the statement had been issued in response to calls from reporters and was intended "to make it clear that I wasn't playing politics."
That, people, is Orwellian. What was Sharpton doing other than playing politics?
Posted by steve at August 20, 2011 3:53 PM