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August 29, 2012
Realignment of police precincts means less role for two Community Council Presidents who head Forest City Ratner-supported CBA groups
Atlantic Yards Report
Though no one's said this publicly, it seems to me that the announcement that the 78th Precinct will oversee the Barclays Center arena and the rest of the Atlantic Yards site suggests that not only will the two precincts previously having a piece of the site (77th, 88th) have less of a role, so two will the presidents of the precinct Community Councils.
And those two presidents have offered Forest City Ratner significant legitimacy over the years, transposing the credibility they gained in neighborhood service to fledgling organizations, known by the acronyms BUILD and BEE, that signed the "historic" Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) and then were financially supported by the developer.
(By contrast, Pauline Blake, president of the 78th Community Council and a member of Community Board 6, has not been an active Atlantic Yards opponent, but she has questioned the impact of the project on the surrounding neighborhood.)
BEE
Delia Hunley-Adossa, president of the 88th Precinct Community Council, also heads Brooklyn Endeavor Experience (BEE), the renamed First Atlantic Terminal Housing Committee, and ran for City Council in 2009.
...Though BEE is ostensibly in charge of environmental assurances for the CBA, it has ignored community concerns--as related in a recent report--and done nothing publicly regarding Atlantic Yards other than to serve as a cheerleader.
...BUILD
James Caldwell heads the 77th Precinct Community Council, a community base that led to his role in Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development (BUILD), a jobs advocacy group, and his eventual presidency, despite no particular background in that field.
Caldwell has been a fervent advocate for Atlantic Yards, calling developer Bruce Ratner, more than once, "like an angel sent by God."
Posted by eric at August 29, 2012 2:02 PM