July 26, 2008
Weds. 7/30: 4 Borough Meets in Queens with special presentation on Atlantic Yards
The next Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance meeting is coming up. Here are the details:
Wednesday July 30, 2008
Queens Borough Hall
6 pm - Legislative Committee
6:30 - 7:45 - Corporation meeting (discussing our recent election and bylaws)
7:45-9:00 - Foundation Meeting including a presentation and discussion with advocates for community input in the Atlantic Yards proposal
Directions: Take the E/F to Kew Gardens/Union Turnpike
All are welcome!
Your chance to discuss Atlantic Yards with the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods
Posted by amy at 1:01 PM
July 22, 2008
At MCNY panel, defending dissent and promoting the better way to develop (not like Atlantic Yards)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder reports from a panel discussion last Thursday at the Museum of the City of New York that went a little off-topic.
But the Civic Talk, sponsored by Henry Stern’s New York Civic and titled “What If? Battles Over Development,” was notable for some rhetorical disagreement about the nature of civic opposition and some strong opinions on the right way to develop in New York. And Atlantic Yards came up not as a good example but as something to be avoided.
...[Urban Planner Alexander] Garvin then criticized government projects and, apparently, public-private partnerships like those pursued by the ESDC: “And we would stop having this ridiculous argument that we constantly have about the government going to get involved in developing property on its own. I think the government should be not developing real estate. The government should be doing its investing in its infrastructure and its own property. And there is a great deal of it. We do not maintain our streets well. We have collapsed bridges everywhere.”
“And finally this city has begun to do the kind of investment that it did in the 19th century, and that I believe would help deal with a lot of what Al Butzel is talking about," he said. "If we stopped talking about developing Atlantic Yards or developing these things and left private property to the private owners to develop and instead spent our money on the public realm, I think we’d get a lot of work [done].”
That drew significant applause.
Posted by eric at 9:35 AM
June 22, 2008
The Time to SAVE CONEY ISLAND is NOW!!
Save Coney Island Coalition via MySpace
Please attend this Public Scoping Hearing, June 24th, 6PMPlease voice your opinion about the City's Plan to redevelop Coney Island at this Public Scoping Hearing!
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 6pm
WHERE:
Lincoln High School
2800 Ocean Parkway ((2800 Ocean Parkway. Q train to the Ocean Parkway Station, then walk 3 blocks north)
WHY:
This is your opportunity to officially voice your opinion, on public record, and Change the Future of Coney Island.
Please review the City's Plan and attend this hearing, prepared to testify and make a statement about this Plan and how you feel Coney Island should be redeveloped!!
The City's new plan almost completely abolishes the amusement district for the sake of high rise hotels and retail.
Coney Island is currently zoned for 61 acres of amusements; the city's new proposal reduces the amount of amusements to 9 acres.
This reduction of the Amusement Distirct will destroy Coney Island's legacy as "the People's Playground" and defeat the goal of creating a world class amusement and tourist destination.
25 to 30 story high rises and retail do not belong in the amusement district!
Retail is no substitute for amusements!
There is plenty of space outside of the Amusement District, in Coney Island for residential, hotels and retail! Why destroy the amusement district forever to meet this goal?
Save Coney Island says YES to Revitalizing Coney's World Famous Amusement District!
NO
to 26 New High Rises of up to 30 stories each in the current Amusement District!
NO
to Retail, Malls or "Entertainment Retail" in the Amusement District!
NO
to shrinkage of the Amusement District from 61 acres to 9 acres!
YES
to preserving Amusement Zoning in the Amusement District!!
YES
to keeping Coney Island the People's Playground- providing accessible Amusements for ALL to enjoy!!
If you Cannot Attend the Hearing- Write a Letter!!
If you can't come to the hearing, you can submit a written testimony by writing a letter, expressing your opinion to:
New York City Economic Development Corporation
110 William Street
New York, New York 10038
Attention: Rachel Belsky, Vice-President
OR, Send an email to:
rbelsky@nycedc.com
WRITTEN TESTIMONIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY JULY 11th, 2008
Please send a copy of your written testimony to
Mayor Bloomberg, City Council President Christine Quinn, and your City Council Member.
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Phone 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
Fax (212) 788-2460
Cristine Quinn
224 West 30th St (Suite 1206)
New York, NY 10001
Phone: (212) 564-7757
Fax: (212)564-7347
Posted by amy at 10:55 AM
June 20, 2008
What we talk about when we talk about Atlantic Yards (& eminent domain)
Atlantic Yards Report
Ha! Jeremiah Moss, Norman Oder will see your paltry 693-word report on Wednesday's New York Public Library panel discussion on eminent domain, and raise you 2,351 words! All in!
It’s hard to talk about Atlantic Yards in public. Relatively few people know enough of the facts. Debates among opponents and proponents are rare, most recently non-existent. So a panel discussion at the New York Public Library Wednesday night, which contained its share of AY criticism, might be seen as one flip side of some of the public meetings managed well by project proponents.
It wasn’t only about Atlantic Yards, but when we talk about Atlantic Yards the topic extends to questions of gentrification, neighborhood change, and the proper parameters of public debate. And it led at least one audience member to wonder about the absence of a devil’s advocate. (Other accounts of the evening from Jeremiah's Vanishing New York and Lithuania-based curator Simon Rees.)
The program and the exhibit
First, some background. The blurb for the program, titled EMINENT DOMAIN: THE AMERICAN DREAM ON SALE, suggested an idea torn in different directions, about urban renewal and the power of social bonds:
The current exhibition at The New York Public Library, Eminent Domain: Contemporary Photography and the City, features the work of five contemporary New York–based photographers... whose works intersect and resonate with current concerns about the reorganization of urban space, and its public use, in New York City. Artist Glenn Ligon offers the literal narrative of his own housing in the city. In addition to proposed regulations that threaten First Amendment rights to photograph in public places thus becoming a form of privatization of public space, questions also arise with the current private/public arrangements that characterize much of modern urban development, particularly the legal power of eminent domain, or the taking of private property for public use.Ok, so the exhibition is called “Eminent Domain” but isn’t really about it. But the panel was assigned to “discuss the use of eminent domain and how urban renewal is changing the cityscape of New York City” and “Atlantic Yards, a hotly contested developer driven project in Brooklyn, will serve as a focus through which the evening will begin.”
NoLandGrab: "Brokeland2003" raises a good question in a comment appended to Oder's post, in response to a question raised at the event by someone wondering why there was no "devil's advocate" on the panel:
"Why must the NYPL have a so-called "balanced" panel (whatever that is) but nobody complains when Crain's holds panel after panel with Doctoroff clones?"
Posted by eric at 8:45 AM
June 18, 2008
TONIGHT! Brooklyn Public Library
Twilight on the Waterfront: Brooklyn's Vanishing Industrial Heritage
Word from filmmaker and photographer Nathan Kensinger is that his exhibit opening today at the Brooklyn Public Library (Grand Army Plaza) contains "a great triptych of those shots from inside the Atlantic Yards construction zone." Check out Kensinger's web site here.
Gothamist, As Ikea Opens, Exhibit Looks Back at Old Waterfront
Opening [today] as a counterpoint to the Red Hook Ikea kick-off is a photography exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library that chronicles the disappearing industrial sites along Brooklyn's waterfront. Called "Twilight on the Waterfront: Brooklyn's Vanishing Industrial Heritage," the photographs are the work of Nathan Kensinger, who has compiled an impressive body of work over the last five years by sneaking into dilapidated properties around Brooklyn.
Kensinger's show opens [tonight] with an event from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza – so there'll be plenty of time to swing by after picking up a couple POÄNG chairs at the Ikea grand opening.
Posted by lumi at 5:54 AM
June 17, 2008
YOU'RE INVITED: Dean Street Block Party
Dean Street, between 6th and Carlton Avenues
Saturday, June 21
Noon to 6 p.m.
Join your Dean Street neighbors as we party in the street between 6th & Carlton Avenues.
Break out the BBQ grill, cooler and lawn chairs! Invite your friends and family to chill in the street as the block will be closed to traffic all day!
Enjoy food and music, games and activities for kids, including a Moonwalk, face painting, and a clown!
Tour our firehouse and an ambulance! These were big hits with the kids last year.
Donate to our fund-raising flea market (where you might also find a great deal), or whip up a batch of your famous cookies for our bake sale! Proceeds from last year's block party were used to help beautify our block with window boxes and flowers. Of course, cash donations are always appreciated.
Questions? Want to volunteer? Have something to donate? Contact Rhona Hetsrony (516-509-3980 / rbk888 [at] aol [dot] com) or Tracy Collins (347-365-1584 / tc [at] 3c [dot] com)
Thanks to our sponsors: FDNY Engine Co. 219 & Ladder Co. 105, First Response Ambulance, Transportation Alternatives, Maha's Middle Eastern Cuisine, Beast Tapas Bar Restaurant Lounge, Christie's Jamaican Patties, Met Foods, Sushi Tatsu, Barrette Bar, DJ Felix
Posted by lumi at 6:58 PM
June 13, 2008
Brodsky to hold hearing on bonds for Nets arena and two stadiums
Atlantic Yards Report has the breaking news that the New York State Assembly plans to hold hearings on the issuance of public debt for the new Mets and Yankees stadiums and, most crucially, the planned arena for the Nets.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), Chairman of the NYS Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities & Commissions, and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt (D-Buffalo), Chairman of the NYS Assembly Committee on Local Governments, have today invited the New York City Industrial Development Authority (NYCIDA) to testify [before] a Public Hearing to be scheduled on either June 30, July 1 or July 2 in New York City. Final date and location will be announced shortly.
The Hearing will examine the NYCIDA’s practices and procedures for issuance of public debt with respect to sports facilities for the Yankees, Mets and Nets. The Committees have been investigating the facts and actions of the issuance of public debt by state-created entities that operate in secret and without the control of elected officials. Legislation to reform such practices is being considered by the committees.
Posted by eric at 3:57 PM
June 12, 2008
MEDIA ADVISORY: Campaign to Reform Atlantic Yards Governance
BROOKLYN LEGISLATORS, COMMUNITY AND CIVIC LEADERS LAUNCH CAMPAIGN TO REFORM ATLANTIC YARDS GOVERNANCE
WHO & WHAT: New York State Assembly members Hakeem Jeffries and James Brennan, and New York City Council members Letitia James, and David Yassky will gather with Brooklyn community leaders to launch “The Campaign to Reform the Governance of Atlantic Yards,” an initiative to pass new legislation that would reform the governance of the Atlantic Yards project.
Atlantic Yards is the only state project without effective public oversight and a vehicle for community input in its decision-making. To address this, the Atlantic Yards Governance Act (A11395) would create the “Atlantic Yards Trust” to oversee the project with a board of state and city appointed officials and a “Stakeholders Council” comprised of local residents appointed by local elected officials that would advise the Trust and provide an opportunity for meaningful community involvement.
WHERE: Steps of City Hall, Manhattan
WHEN: Monday, June 16, 2008
TIME: 10AM
Press Contact: Shea Communications, Inc.: George Shea, Alexis Schneider: 212.627.5766
Posted by eric at 3:38 PM
June 8, 2008
Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn Day a dud
NY Daily News
Michael O'Keeffe
Bruce Ratner's Brooklyn Day was billed as a celebration, but Thursday's pep rally to whip up support for the Nets owner's controversial Atlantic Yards project seemed more like a goal-line stand than a party.The speakers at the rally sounded like Hillary Clinton in the waning weeks of her failed presidential campaign: angry and frustrated, stunned at the prospect of defeat when they once expected a slam dunk.
...
The quality of the crowd at Columbus Park was easier to gauge than the quantity; nobody, it seemed, had come to Brooklyn Day because they believed Atlantic Yards was crucial to New York's future. The youth basketball groups came because Ratner has sponsored their tournaments. The workers from Borough Hall and the nearby courthouses came for the free sandwiches Forest City Ratner passed out. The kids - was it coincidence or conspiracy that Ratner scheduled the event on a day public schools were closed - came for the free key chains and autographs of former Nets who retired from the NBA long before they were even born. The unions came because Ratner has promised to hire organized labor."I gave up my lunch break for a free hot dog and to support my union," one suspiciously red-eyed construction worker said.
"Got any weed?" his buddy asked.
article
NoLandGrab: Perhaps if they had advertised magic brownies they could have attracted a larger, if not more energetic crowd.
Atlantic Yards Report was happy a print reporter actually showed up:
New York Daily News sports columnist Michael O'Keeffe was in the audience at Borough Hall on Thursday and--like any sports reporter trained to tell the story of the game in front of him, not the press release--told it like it was.
...
I've been suggesting for nearly two years that columnists should cover Atlantic Yards. That means actually showing up.
Posted by amy at 11:41 AM
June 7, 2008
TODAY: 2 MEGA Stoop Sales!
Benefiting Develop Don't Destroy. 10am - 4pm
Stoop Sale 1: 622 Carlton Avenue. Between Park and Prospect Place.
Stoop Sale 2: 420 Dean Street (between 4th and 5th Avenues)
DONATE or SHOP FOR: Arts & Crafts, Toys, Good books, Music & media, Clean - lightly used clothing, Household items and Small Furniture.
Posted by amy at 9:15 AM
Brooklyn: Dazed and Confused
not another f*cking blog! covers "Brooklyn Day," which by our count seems to have garnered more ridicule than positive coverage:
To me it seemed desperate, sad and pathetic. Bruce Ratner didn't even show up. I guess he knew how lame it was going to be.If Forest City Ratner hadn't given away food and t-shirts, hadn't had the unions "ask" their members to take the day off and attend, hadn't had "supporters" bussed to the event, hadn't "invited" former and current ball players to stand on the steps behind the podium, and hadn't delegated his underlings to organize and coordinate the "celebration", the only ones who would have shown up were the people who happened to be going to one of the many government offices in the area, those heading to the green market (unrelated to the "rally"), and the media recording the charade for posterity.
link
NoLandGrab: View more of Tracy Collins' photos here.
Posted by amy at 8:42 AM
Atlantic Yards Supporters Rally in Downtown Brooklyn
Gothamist
Rallies aren’t just for grassroots activists – moneyed developers can hold them too, as Bruce Ratner proved yesterday by financing an afternoon rally in downtown Brooklyn to support his beleaguered Atlantic Yards project. Organizers of the so-called “Brooklyn Day” event handed out free hot dogs and T-shirts to passersby in an attempt to drum up enthusiasm for the $4.2 billion project, though there were no free turkeys to fully evoke the Tammany Hall spirit.
link
NoLandGrab: More of Adrian Kinloch's photos of the event can be found here.
Posted by amy at 8:36 AM
June 6, 2008
"Fun day"? At FCR’s “Brooklyn Day” rally, déjà vu and defensiveness
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder has the play-by-play of yesterday's Forest City Ratner-sponsored "Brooklyn Day" rally, and it seems the playbook has not been updated.
If you listened to the arguments for Atlantic Yards offered at the Forest City Ratner-sponsored “Brooklyn Day” rally yesterday at Borough Hall, they sounded suspiciously like those aired at rallies in 2004, or the public meetings in 2006. Jobs, housing, and hoops. The half-century-old loss of the Dodgers. The failure of “opponents” to step up.
The difference in 2008, with the project at this moment stalled, was a palpable air of defensiveness, calls for “our share” and “a piece of the pie,” even as developer Forest City Ratner, behind the scenes, seeks more subsidies.
The edge in Borough President Marty Markowitz’s voice was undeniable, as he and others flailed the opposition for delaying the project, but offering no more insight other than “build it now.” They mentioned nothing about the credit crisis, the limited pool of tax-exempt bonds, the state’s extended deadline for construction, and the developer’s subsidy request.
Though speakers like ACORN New York head Bertha Lewis and Carpenters Union Local 926 President Sal Zarzana at times were able to whip up the crowd, Brooklyn was just not very much in the house.
NoLandGrab: While several speakers cited the need to feed families and to create affordable housing as reasons to "build it now," no one explained how sinking nearly $1 billion into a basketball arena was a good use of a shrinking pool of tax revenues.
Posted by eric at 10:22 AM
ATLANTIC 'RALLY' YARDS
NY Post
by Rich Calder
The regular Post headline writers must be on vacation.
Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner certainly knows how to throw a party. The man who wants to bring the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn spared no expense yesterday in organizing a gala rally on the steps of Borough Hall to garner support for his $4 billion project, which includes an NBA arena, housing and office space.
More than 3,500 people turned out for the event.
Daniel Goldstein, spokesman for anti-Atlantic Yards group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, said the rally stunk of "desperation" and was likely done to get more subsidies.
Posted by eric at 10:19 AM
Ratner cooks up rally for Brooklyn project
NY Daily News
by Brooke Naylor, Ayala Falk and Melissa Grace
Scores of people turned out to support the controversial Atlantic Yards project on Thursday at a rally paid for by the developer.
As part of Brooklyn Day celebrations, Forest City Ratner handed out free hot dogs and T-shirts at Columbus Park near Borough Hall. The developer's $4.2 billion project in downtown Brooklyn includes offices, apartments and a basketball arena for the Nets.
"This is Brooklyn's future," Borough President Marty Markowitz said from the stage. "Nobody is going to hold it back, nobody. We deserve it."
The developer said 3,000 attended the rally, held on a day city public schools were closed.
NoLandGrab: Those kids look like they'd rather be in school than listening to speeches by the likes of Marty Markowitz.
Posted by eric at 9:21 AM
June 5, 2008
Rally Seeks to Jump Start Atlantic Yards Project
WNYC Radio
by Matthew Schuerman
An estimated 3,500 people turned out for a rally in support of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. Many of them were union construction workers who took time off nearby jobs. They said they felt the project, which will be union-built, was being threatened by local elected officials who are having second thoughts about a project that has already got all of its approvals. Anthony Williamson represents general construction laborers.
WILLIAMSON: And we're sending a message to people opposed to this, including political leaders who oppose this, that in this hard time, people need to have, you know, people need to put food on the table. People need to give their kids a decent education.
REPORTER: The developer, Forest City Ratner, says the company held the rally in order to celebrate Brooklyn Day, a traditional public school holiday. A spokesman, Loren Riegelhaupt, said five thousand sandwiches, fifteen hundred hot dogs and three thousand t-shirts were given away for free.
NoLandGrab: Well, not exactly free, since the hundreds of millions in public subsidies probably helped offset the cost of the swag.
Posted by eric at 11:04 PM
June 4, 2008
BROOKLYN MATTERS: Screening next Monday
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MONDAY, JUNE 9, 7:30pm.
Park Slope Methodist Church
6th Avenue & 8th Street
Sponsored by the Park Slope Greens
Posted by lumi at 5:00 AM
June 3, 2008
At Borough Hall on Thursday, another FCR-organized AY rally
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder plumbs the motivations behind Forest City Ratner's not-so-spontaneous "Brooklyn Day" extravaganza.
First, Forest City Ratner quietly orchestrated a counter-protest in response to the "Time Out" rally on May 3. Now the developer is offering an Atlantic Yards rally on Thursday, complete with free lunch, and drawing on the combined efforts of construction trade unions and community organizations, notably those associated with the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement (CBA).
Despite the fig leaf of a "Brooklyn Day" celebrating the borough, the rally suggests the developer's worried that the project, is not a "done deal." (Given the once-a-month schedule, should we expect another rally during the first week of July?)
It'll be interesting if we hear are any specifics regarding the developer's plans--when exactly might the project move forward, given the lack of arena bonds and housing bonds or an anchor tenant for Building 1? Will those lured to the rally be simply used as props for a photo op? Will they be cited in legal papers aiming to clear the three extant lawsuits? Will they be used to help leverage more subsidies?
The rally poster suggests that the developer is de-emphasizing the promises of affordable housing--after all, the developer has 12+ years to build Phase 1, and no deadline for Phase 2--and returning to the old mantra of basketball. After all, the basketball motif dominates the poster and, at the top, "The Nets moving to Brooklyn!" appears in larger type than "support the Atlantic Yards Project." Can the iconographic power of the flag and the Brooklyn Bridge nudge the stalled project forward?
What does Delia Hunley-Adossa do when she's not monitoring the project's environmental impacts?
Hunley-Adossa (with megaphone, at the May 3 rally), heads a group called the Brooklyn Endeavor Experience (BEE), which has a Potemkin role in monitoring AY environmental assurances, given that the developer is in compliance by following the state-mandated process. Like five of the eight CBA signatories, the BEE had no track record in its assigned CBA role. There's no evidence of external fundraising, so, as with several other CBA signatories, BEE is likely funded by the developer. In other words, CBA signatories are funded by Forest City Ratner to generate public and political support for the project.
The lack of actual environmental monitoring leaves more time to organize rallies; Hunley-Adossa's e-mail message said she'd "make arrangements to transport large groups." It also referred to a (student?) organization, not known to me, apparently called "Help 2":
All HELP 2 participants and parents are to call Dee upon receipt...this is a day that we want our members to participate and volunteer their services.
Posted by eric at 9:57 AM
Brooklyn Day!
On December 10th, 2003, Atlantic Yards was rolled out at Brooklyn Borough Hall as a done deal, with the apparent support of nearly every power-brokering politician in Brooklyn, New York City, and Albany.
Why then, would Forest City Ratner need to throw itself a rally on June 5th, 2008 to "support the Atlantic Yards Project and The Nets moving to Brooklyn!"? Haven't they done this before?
We can only surmise that Ratner's marquee mega-project is truly on the ropes, what with the American flag and Brooklyn Bridge imagery included on the flyer and the call to all Brooklyn building trades to abandon their work sites to come to the desperate PR event "rally." An email sent by Delia Hunley-Adossa yesterday aimed at drumming up bodies for the event repeatedly used all caps to emphasize all the FREE stuff attendees will receive.
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and Atlantic Yards Report have lengthy analyses of the materials and the motivations behind the "rally." Thanks, guys, for saving us the trouble.
Posted by eric at 9:01 AM
May 27, 2008
Tour de Brooklyn, 2008
Photo, by Tracy Collins, via flickr Atlantic Yards Photo Pool.
This year, the Tour de Brooklyn passed the footprint of Bruce Ratner's controversial Atlantic Yards plan.
Posted by lumi at 5:42 AM
May 23, 2008
4th Annual Tour de Brooklyn
FreeNYC
Dust off your bikes for the summer time and take a little ride in the Tour de Brooklyn. The Tour de Brooklyn is an exciting free fun family bike tour through 18 miles of Brooklyn. Each year the route changes to highlight the diverse neighborhoods of the borough. This year's tour will ride by Brooklyn's waterfronts, Atlantic Yards, Eastern Parkway with a brief rest stop at Maria Hernandez Park, continuing towards East Williamsburg and into the exclusive Brooklyn Navy Yards.
NoLandGrab: "Atlantic Yards" is still just a plan — not a place. But a ride past the Vanderbilt Yards and their environs could be educational for those not familiar with the details of Bruce Ratner's land grab. Regardless, the Tour de Brooklyn is great fun, and the forecast looks smashing.
Posted by eric at 2:11 PM
May 22, 2008
At MAS, AY as an example of a neighborhood planning struggle
Atlantic Yards Report
When it comes to discussions of “David vs. Goliath,” the subject of a Municipal Art Society (MAS) Planning Center Forum on May 14, Atlantic Yards is an inevitable subject, though--as I’ll note below--the politics of AY means that more than one set of parties might consider themselves “Davids.”
The panel addressed the issue of “neighborhood planning in the face of large-scale development,” and planner/architect Stuart Pertz, in his introduction, noted that some projects are inherently large, and only work if built on a large scale. “Unfortunately, it often gets out of hand,” he said, suggesting that “Goliath in development has extraordinary leverage, using powerful lawyers, contractors, planners, and unions.” Then again, he said, “there are many Davids.”
A fair amount of the discussion revolved around the Atlantic Yards-alternative UNITY Plan.
Architect Marshall Brown (right), a developer of the UNITY plan for the Metropolitian Transportation Authority’s Vanderbilt Yard (and beyond), said, with perhaps some retrospective bravado, “Four years ago we realized we needed to have something in place for the probable occurrence of Forest City Ratner’s plans running aground.” He suggested that Atlantic Yards exemplified a “willful ignorance of limits,” including the physical limit of an eight-acre railyard, the legal limit of eminent domain, the democratic limit of ULURP (the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, bypassed in this case for a fast-track state review), and “finally, the all too evident limit of the talents of a single architect.”
He noted that he wasn’t dissing Frank Gehry, just pointing out--as have others, and even Gehry himself--that megaprojects require multiple architects.
Brown suggested that questions of sustainability and the “looming environmental apocalypse” meant that the Bloomberg administration should prioritize quality ahead of quantity: “I’d say it’s a city of limits.”
Lawyer Candace Carponter (right), a co-chair of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN), described how the coalition, formed to respond to the Atlantic Yards environmental review, moved from officially agnostic to ultimately oppositional, joining a lawsuit challenging the review, and becoming a supporter of the UNITY plan. She suggested that the combination of a new governor, “detrimental economics,” and the Newark option for the Nets might provide an opening for the UNITY plan--though of course, that remains to be seen.
Posted by eric at 10:45 AM
May 20, 2008
How build big in NYC? Not via the AY example, panelists suggest
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder files an in-depth report on last night's "Can NYC Build BIG Anymore" panel discussion, and offers plenty of reasons why opponents of Atlantic Yards won't miss Empire State Development Corporation President Avi Schick when he leaves at the end of the summer.
What are the right ways to build big projects in a growing city? Although panelists who spoke Monday night didn’t make the point explicitly, the answers they offered--public planning, realistic timetables, public ownership, infrastructure first, and media skepticism toward overhyped renderings--generally point to the opposite of the process behind Atlantic Yards.
The panel, titled Can NYC Build BIG Anymore?, was sponsored by Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century and held at Iguana Restaurant in Midtown. Notably, the acting head of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) also offered a hearty defense of Atlantic Yards, adopting some of developer Forest City Ratner's talking points.
The question, panelists agreed, was not “can” but “how.” “One of the problems we have to confront is that people want to build big too fast,” observed Avi Schick, acting president of the ESDC, which approved and is overseeing Atlantic Yards. “Sometimes they bit off a little too much when they tried to push an entire plan forward at once.”
Posted by eric at 9:09 AM
May 17, 2008
Grassroots Preservation Award for DDDB from the Historic Districts Council
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
Last night Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn was honored to receive the Grassroots Preservation Award from the Historic Districts Council. We'd like to thank HDC for the award and recognition of our work. And we'd like to thank all of our donors, volunteers and supporters for everything they have contributed to the fight over the past 4 years.
Posted by amy at 10:11 AM
HDC Honors Duffield Defenders
Duffield St. Underground
The Historic Districts Council honored the Duffield Street coalition yesterday at their 2008 Grassroots Preservation Awards. The event got off to a strong start with Reverend Billy, who gave a rousing defense of the importance of free speech icons such as Union Square. Here is a video of Rev. Billy's defense of public space, or as he would say, Preservaluliah. The other awardees were Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, DUMBO Neighborhood Association, Juniper Park Civic Association, Council Member Jessica Lappin and Brownstoner.
Posted by amy at 10:07 AM
TODAY: Mega Stoop Sale Benefit
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
Spring Cleaning? Donate Your Rummage...Please DONATE and VOLUNTEER for a day of Thrifty Shopping to raise money for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's court cases against the Atlantic Yards project and eminent domain abuse.
BRING YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS to a Stoop Sale of arts & crafts, books, music & media, lightly-used clothing, household items, small furniture, and more.
Saturday May 17th
10 AM to 4 PM
At 622 Carlton Avenue [map]** You can bring items to the Mega Stoop Sale on Saturday May 17th after 9:30AM.
And you can come shop for stoop treasures from 10 - 4.
Posted by amy at 9:09 AM
May 15, 2008
TONIGHT: Brooklyn Songwriters Against Atlantic Yards
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Posted by lumi at 5:46 AM
TONIGHT: "Brooklyn Was Mine" at WORD
Thursday, May 15, 7:30pm
Contributors to Brooklyn Was Mine, including Philip Dray, Rachel Cline and Joanna Hershon read and sign books at Greenpoint's WORD.
Brooklyn Was Mine gives some of today's best writers an opportunity to pay tribute to the borough they love in 20 original essays that draw on past and present to create a mosaic that brilliantly captures the quality and diversity of a unique, literary landscape.
WORD, an independent bookseller with selections for adults and children, opened in Greenpoint in March and has been featured in The New York Times, Lucky Magazine, New York Magazine's Intelligencer, The Brooklyn Paper and Shelf Awareness.
WORD is located at 126 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Take the G train to Greenpoint Avenue. Call 718.383.0096 or visit wordbrooklyn.com.
Posted by lumi at 5:45 AM
May 13, 2008
Rocking and rolling against Ratner's Atlantic Yards plan
Courier-Life Publications
By Meredith Deliso
Over the past four years, DDDB has had approximately 15 benefit performances with more than 30 artists in genres ranging from klezmer to hip-hop to punk. For the upcoming benefit, event coordinator Rob Reilly wanted to feature up-and-coming indie talent in Brooklyn.
"I haven't gotten another response beyond 'I would love to do this, schedule permitting,'" says Reilly, a Cobble Hill resident who volunteers his time to put together benefit concerts for DDDB. "For me it's a matter of setting up the right line up for the night out."
Those who schedule permitted and made for a good indi-heavy line up, are John Wesley Harding, Clare and the Reasons, Richard Julian and Jolie Holland.
[Click image to enlarge.]
Posted by lumi at 5:40 AM
May 12, 2008
THURSDAY: Brooklyn Songwriters Against Atlantic Yards
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More info at Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's web site.
News of this event came to us via Carroll Garden's neighborhood watchblog Pardon Me For Asking.
Posted by lumi at 4:20 AM
May 10, 2008
Tale of two rallies
The Brooklyn Paper
Ben Muessig
“Just because we don’t want the arena to happen doesn’t mean we don’t want development,” said Lillian Hope of Prospect Heights. “We’re not saying they shouldn’t have jobs. We just don’t want them working to build Ratner’s vision.”Others said that union members should have joined the anti-Ratner rally, given that the developer originally promised 15,000 union construction jobs, but has since admitted that Atlantic Yards will employ 1,500 construction workers per year over its proposed 10-year buildout.
“Protest Ratner, he’s the one not building and he’s the one who proposed a project that couldn’t happen or get financing,” said Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
Though Goldstein sought common ground, the standoff between camps was tense — especially when a group of protestors from the pro-Yards rally looped around the “Time Out” demonstration, surrounding the opponents of the project. Police officers, with plastic handcuffs dangling from their belts, formed a human wall that halted the energetic, though nonviolent, procession.
Posted by amy at 12:34 PM
May 4, 2008
Not a done deal: “Time Out” rally met with “Build It Now” counter-protest
Atlantic Yards Report offers complete coverage of the rally and the counter-protest. See Norman Oder get manhandled by a cop! See civil rights get trampled on! Ponder the mysterious Ukrainian contingent!
“I now believe that you were so right,” proclaimed State Senator Velmanette Montgomery from the podium at the “Time Out” rally held Saturday afternoon on Pacific Street near Carlton Avenue by three groups critical of or opposed to Atlantic Yards. “It’s not a done deal.”The rally, with City Council Member Letitia James speaking at right, aimed to get Gov. David Paterson “to suspend demolitions, displacement of residents and businesses, infrastructure disruptions and further subsidies to the project so that changes to the project can be assessed and a new plan prepared with community involvement.”
Confirming that was the first-ever example of a counter-protest, a well-engineered effort by Forest City Ratner--with several operatives on hand--to assemble a boisterous crowd of union workers and Community Benefits Agreement signatories, groups that have received the developer's support. No pro-project elected officials were visible.
Posted by amy at 3:12 PM
Rally Coverage
Click here for NoLandGrab's photo coverage...
Four Good Legs: Saturday, May 3, Brooklyn - a day of protests, rallies, speeches and street art
Gowanus Lounge: Atlantic Yards Opponents Demand “Time Out” at Rally as Supporters Stage Counter- Demonstration
The Daily Gotham: mole333: Bruce Ratner: Put up or Shut up!
Found In Brooklyn: The Atlantic Yards Rally
set speed aka onehansonplace.com: Atlantic Yards rally
Brooklyn Born: All we're saying is give "Time Out" a chance.
The Kingston Lounge: Atlantic Yards Rally - "Time Out!"
Jonathan Barkey (photos): Atlantic Yards TIME OUT Rally and Counter Demonstration
Posted by amy at 2:54 PM
May 1, 2008
TONIGHT: BROOKLYN MATTERS
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The First Cinema Screening of Isabel Hill's Atlantic Yards Documentary "Brooklyn Matters"
THURSDAY, MAY 1, 7:30pm.
Cobble Hill Cinemas
265 Court Street Brooklyn [Map]
(at Butler Street)
First Come, First Seated
Posted by lumi at 5:09 AM
April 25, 2008
Rally for AY "time out" to be held Saturday, May 3
Atlantic Yards Report
Three "flavors," one rally:
The "Atlantic Yards stall" has brought groups representing different flavors of project criticism and opposition together for a rally at 2 pm on Saturday, May 3, with a range of local political officials confirmed as attendees. The location is 752 Pacific Street near Carlton Avenue in the AY footprint, a block planned to hold "interim surface parking" that could last indefinitely. (The Brooklyn Paper broke the news, though the lead of the article says Sunday rather than Saturday and stresses stopping demolitions.)
The stated purpose--asking Gov. David Paterson for a "time out"--is certainly milder than the full agenda of Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods (CBN) and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB). Indeed, DDDB restates its opposition to the project in its rally announcement.
What does the statement that "Brooklyn needs a new plan and community involvement" mean? It could mean the UNITY plan, which DDDB and CBN support, but it also could be a restatement of the position of more moderate coalition BrooklynSpeaks, which has taken a "mend it, don't end it" posture toward AY and has avoided joining any lawsuits.
...
(Note that the rally location is outside a building owned by Henry Weinstein, a plaintiff in the eminent domain case and a party in a suit, so far successful, against his tenant Shaya Boymelgreen, who then assigned leases to Forest City Ratner.)
Posted by lumi at 5:19 AM
April 23, 2008
4 Brooklyn Groups To Receive Grassroots Preservation Awards
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
By Linda Collins
Four Brooklyn organizations have been selected to receive preservation awards at the Historic Districts Council (HDC) Ninth Annual Grassroots Preservation Awards in Manhattan on Thursday, May 15, it was announced this week.
...
The following are the four Brooklyn award winners (of six total):
227 Duffield Street Coalition, consisting of Joy Chatel of 227 Duffield St., Jennifer Levy of South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE), for their successful efforts to save 227 Duffield St. from demolition and raise awareness about Downtown Brooklyn’s important abolitionist history.
DUMBO Neighborhood Assoc., for its successful efforts to have DUMBO designated as a New York City historic district, as well as its continued work advocating for appropriate zoning and new development in the neighborhood.
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, for its ongoing campaign to stop the Atlantic Yards mega project and advocate for appropriate development on the Vanderbilt Rail Yards.
Brownstoner.com, a Brooklyn-based blog, will be honored with a “Friend from the Media” Award for its role in informing and interesting the public about issues affecting land use in Brooklyn and across the city.
NoLandGrab: Congratulations to all of our friends and colleagues who are so richly deserving of this award and thanks to the Historic Districts Council for all of their efforts citywide!
Posted by lumi at 5:18 AM
April 19, 2008
Symbolism: Exxon is a Sponsor of McCarren Park Earth Day Event
Gowanus Lounge
We woke up this morning to an email from a group called The Change You Want to See, that was widely distributed by the New York Action Network point out that today's Go Green! Greenpoint Earth Day festivities in McCarren Park have a number of interesting corporate sponsors. We'll start with the most ironic of them: ExxonMobil, which of course, is responsible for the horrific oil spill under Greenpoint along Newtown Creek. The spill is the largest in American history and the slow pace of the cleanup (which has stretch to nearly a half-century) is the topic of much local anger and controversy. Other sponsores include BP America, Waste Management and Forest City Ratner Company. The release we got said "These companies are no friend to our community, and no friend to the environment." A group calling itself Greenpoint SuperFUNd SuperFriendz is starting an online email campaign to send messages protesting the sponsorship and asking for faster action on the oil spill cleanup to City Council Members and Members of Congress.
link
NoLandGrab: Although we're not convinced that this is real, it makes sense that FCR would make friends with other "green" companies. If you want a real earth day experience, head over to eco-eatery Habana Outpost today and tomorrow for their Earth Day Expo. While you're there you can puzzle over how a restaurant run off of solar panels could function in shadows...
Posted by amy at 1:07 PM
April 5, 2008
Atlantic Yards Report Digest: Saturday Edition
Norman Oder's Atlantic Yards Report features four brief posts today.
Times Style writer arches eyebrows at "obligatory chorus" of protesters
To those on one side of the museum’s new glass-walled addition, Mr. Ratner is a deep-pocketed patron and, as the museum’s director, Arnold Lehman, said, “a nice boychick from Cleveland, Ohio.” To those at curbside on Eastern Parkway, he was viewed less benignly, as Satan. Most developers are.
“Atlantic Yards is truly going to make a lot of people miserable,” said one protester, Eleanor Price, referring to Mr. Ratner’s $4 billion plan to refashion downtown Brooklyn into a commercial wonderland of shops, a basketball arena and fanciful buildings by Frank Gehry.
Let's just say that if he's calling the site "downtown Brooklyn," an error the Times has corrected in more than a dozen articles, and that this was merely an "obligatory" protest, he's not doing his reading. The Times's CityRoom blog, maybe, thought it was news. Maybe the news side should've sent a reporter.
NoLandGrab: One Times error that even Oder didn't catch was the writer's listing of "Kristen Davis" among the celebrities attending the Museum event. Were pretty sure The Times means "Kristin Davis," former star of "Sex and the City" — not the recently busted East Side Madam.
AY web site talks of suites but not stall
Anyone looking at the In The News page at the official Atlantic Yards web site is getting a rather skewed sense of the news.
At the top of the page are links to tabloid articles about the luxury suites planned for the Atlantic Yards arena. Then comes a link to a Daily News column by Errol Louis (whose last name is misspelled) decrying delays in the project.
There's no link, however, to real coverage of the Atlantic Yards stall, much less news that the developer has 6+ years to build the arena.
NoLandGrab: How clever of the FCRC webmaster to spell Errol Louis's name L-e-w-i-s, in order to confuse those who might otherwise think the Daily News columnist is doing the developer's bidding.
Stoler: Outer-borough office market in trouble
From an article headlined Office Space Glut Talk of the Industry, by Michael Stoler in Thursday's New York Sun:
At least 4 million square feet of office buildings are in the planning stages in Brooklyn and Queens, not including Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards development.Construction has not yet commenced on Tishman Speyer's planned office development on the site of the Queens Plaza Municipal garage. The developer has announced plans to build the Gotham Center: four towers, some more than 40 stories tall, totaling 3.5 million square feet of mixed-use space on the two parcels in Queens Plaza. Real estate sources said the first phase of the project will be a 20-story, 750,000-square-foot office tower, with the city committed to leasing about half of the space.
Industry leaders are voicing skepticism about new office development in Brooklyn and Queens, however. As one real estate banking officer put it: "If these projects did not happen when the market was hot as a pistol, I don't see this going to happen over the next couple of years. Who is going to pay the rents for the new construction in these locations?"
"Brooklyn Views": the ironies of "The Moment"
From "The Moment" blog of the New York Times's "T" Magazine. under the headline Now Screening | ‘Brooklyn Views: The Home of Arnold Lehman
This Saturday, the Brooklyn Museum opens its new Takashi Murakami show, “(c) Murakami.” This morning, the museum’s director, Arnold Lehman, invites T Magazine into his Brooklyn Heights apartment to view his personal collection of contemporary art. In our film, Lehman walks through his apartment, giving his perspective on collecting, curating and the Brooklyn cityscape, of which his apartment has a 360-degree view.Of course Brooklyn Views is also the name of a once-active blog written by architect Jonathan Cohn critiquing the Atlantic Yards project, and Lehman's museum has just been slammed for honoring Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner. And one criticism of the museum is that it has not been willing to screen the AY documentary Brooklyn Matters.
NoLandGrab: Is the prolific Oder really in need of more material? This one seems like a bit of a stretch.
Posted by eric at 10:00 AM
This Is Not a Sidewalk Bag
The New York Times
by Guy Trebay
This article mostly covers what went on inside Thursday's Brooklyn Museum of Art event honoring Bruce Ratner, but does take notice to the protest outside.
Here, then, at the gala opening of the Takashi Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum on Thursday, an evening of unseasonal chill and spitting rain, was the obligatory chorus of protesters on Eastern Parkway, raising voices against the developer Bruce C. Ratner, who was being honored that night for his support of the arts at the annual Brooklyn Ball.
To those on one side of the museum’s new glass-walled addition, Mr. Ratner is a deep-pocketed patron and, as the museum’s director, Arnold Lehman, said, “a nice boychick from Cleveland, Ohio.” To those at curbside on Eastern Parkway, he was viewed less benignly, as Satan. Most developers are.
“Atlantic Yards is truly going to make a lot of people miserable,” said one protester, Eleanor Price, referring to Mr. Ratner’s $4 billion plan to refashion downtown Brooklyn into a commercial wonderland of shops, a basketball arena and fanciful buildings by Frank Gehry. “They’re using eminent domain to get rid of a lot of people and to close businesses,” Ms. Price said. “Where are they going to go?”
NoLandGrab: Perhaps it's useless to mention yet again, but could The Times's editors get it straight that the proposed Atlantic Yards project is located in Prospect Heights, NOT in downtown Brooklyn?
Posted by steve at 7:47 AM
April 4, 2008
FIRST LADY OF BROOKLYN'S $8K SWAG SNAG
Radar Online
Seems like the rabble was inside the Museum last night.
Without a doubt, the person who got the most out of Thursday night's Takashi Murakami retrospective opening at the Brooklyn Museum of Art was Jamie Snow, the wife of Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz. She grabbed eight of the limited-addition Murakami technicolor fiberglass place mats that were being given out as gifts to party-goers—mats that fetched up to $1,000 on eBay after similar events. And she was wasn't about to give even one of them up.
Hundreds of wealthy Manhattanites braved the light drizzle by taking hired towncars out to the Brooklyn art museum for the multi-tiered extravaganza. Some were there in honor of bulldozing developer Bruce Ratner, who was being given an award by the museum for donating lots of monies. (The gaggle outside protesting his Atlantic Yards project probably disagree with the museum's selection.) Some were there for the opening of the gigantic Murakami exhibit, which also includs a full-service Louis Vuitton store (Murakami-designed "Monogramouflage" handbags are $1,500 and up). Some were there to see Kanye West perform and check out Marc Jacobs' "performance art" installation, in which Jacobs sought to bring attention "to the serious issue of counterfeiting" by setting up a fake Canal Street stall. Still others were there to eat food catered by Nobu, drink a lot of wine, and hoard swag.
Snow was in the last category.
The mats were intended to be taken by seated guests, but after wolfing down dinner, the enterprising Snow, perhaps sensing a business opportunity, rounded up eight of the mats and rushed over to Murakami to have them signed. When party-goers who ended up placemat-less asked her if she would kindly relinquish one, Snow snidely remarked, "You guys really should have acted faster. This is Brooklyn," and skulked away.
NoLandGrab: We're speechless — almost. All we can say is, when you honor Bruce Ratner, really, what else can you expect?
More Blogosphere coverage of the Museum protest:
Gowanus Lounge, Brooklyn Museum Ratner Protest is Angry & Visual
Gothamist.com, Murakami Gala at Brooklyn Museum Eclipsed by Ratner Protest: Photo Gallery
Brownstoner.com, 'Angry' Anti-Ratner Protest at the Brooklyn Museum
The Kingston Lounge, Brooklyn Museum Ratner protest - card I of II
Brooklyn Vegan, Protesters outside the Kanye West show last night
Posted by eric at 2:52 PM
April 3, 2008
Protest the Brooklyn Museum's Bruce Ratner Celebration - An Affront to Brooklyn's Communities
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From Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn:
Join your friends, neighbors and the Brooklyn community to protest the Museum’s insensitivity to all those whose lives have been, and would be, turned upside down by Ratner’s Atlantic Yards – a project that has become the national posterchild for bad development.
Bring your signs and friends.
Where: Brooklyn Museum of Art, 200 Eastern Parkway at Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, New York
When: Thursday, April 3, 2008 - 6:30 PM
We don’t question the Museum’s right to raise funds to support itself. We don’t even question the Museum accepting donations from Bruce Ratner. What we do take issue with is honoring and celebrating Bruce Ratner in light of what he has done and proposes to do to Brooklyn’s communities.
Posted by steve at 10:42 AM
March 8, 2008
Civic Calendar
The Brooklyn Paper
Thursday, March 13Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Community update on the fight against Atlantic Yards. Hanson Place United Methodist Church (144 St. Felix St., at Hanson Place in Fort Greene). 7 pm. Call (718) 362-4784 for info.
Posted by amy at 9:54 AM
March 5, 2008
TOMORROW: Brooklyn Matters Screening
March 6, 6pm
NYU Law School
Vanderbilt Hall, Room 214
40 Washington Sq. South (at Sullivan St.)
Posted by lumi at 4:55 AM
March 3, 2008
BROOKLYN MATTERS SCREENING
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March 6, 6pm
NYU Law School
Vanderbilt Hall, Room 214
40 Washington Sq. South (at Sullivan St.)
March 11, 6pm
Brooklyn Law School
“Geraldo’s” in Feil Hall. 1st Floor
205 State St. (btwn. Boerum Pl. & Court St.)
Please RSVP: andrew.rafter-(at)-brooklaw.edu
April 1 (No Joke), 7pm
Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
357 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn
(btwn. Greene & Lafayette Aves.)
Posted by lumi at 4:27 AM
February 28, 2008
The UNITY plan expands, and will be up for discussion
Atlantic Yards Report
The UNITY plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Vanderbilt Yard was unveiled in September, the project web site was re-launched in mid-January, and there's a public meeting Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., to update people and seek further input on UNITY.
The discussion will broaden to more of the Atlantic Yards footprint rather than just the 8.5-acre Vanderbilt Yard.
...What's clear is that two very different visions have emerged. While the UNITY plan would add significant residential density (1500 units over eight acres would be 187.5 units/acre, compared to 6430 units over 22 acres, or 292 units/acre), it would concentrate the tallest buildings at the east end of the site, near Vanderbilt Avenue.
It would place a park at the congested intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, while Forest City Ratner's plan would have an Urban Room, which will serve as a subway entrance and an entrance to the arena and arena block buildings, while housing an atrium, retail, and Nets ticket windows.
NoLandGrab: Click here for more info regarding Saturday's workshop.
Posted by eric at 9:35 AM
February 25, 2008
MEETING: STOP ATLANTIC YARDS PROJECT, PROMOTE FAIR DEVELOPMENT.
From The Indypendent's events listing:
THU MAR 13
7pm • Free
MEETING: “STOP ATLANTIC YARDS PROJECT, PROMOTE FAIR DEVELOPMENT.”Updates and planning. Sponsored by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Hanson Pl United Methodist Church, Main Sanctuary, 144 St Felix St, Fort Greene, Bklyn • dddb.net
dddbnews@gmail.com
Posted by lumi at 6:53 PM
February 24, 2008
Re-Zoning the “Atlantic Yards” Footprint
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
What if our community was given a voice in planning redevelopment over and around the Vanderbilt rail yards?
What’s your vision for our neighborhood’s future?
The original UNITY Plan, the community-created alternative to Forest City Ratner’s “Atlantic Yards” project, covered only the publicly owned Vanderbilt rail yards. FCR has since taken control of and blighted or torn down many properties around the rail yards. But now the financing for “Atlantic Yards” is in doubt, even according to the developer – the bond financing for the arena and the affordable housing may not be feasible. What happens next?
Join your neighbors, elected officials and expert planners for a public workshop devoted to creating a community plan for the entire area – now that the global credit crisis threatens to scuttle “Atlantic Yards.”
Saturday, MARCH 1, 2008
10 am to 2 pm
St. Cyril’s Belarusian Cathedral
401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street)
RSVP to Hunter College CCPD at: 212-650-3328 or ccpd@hunter.cuny.edu
Presented by the Hunter College Center for Community Preservation and Development (CCPD)
Sponsored by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods
Posted by amy at 1:28 PM
February 15, 2008
Atlantic Yards Week: Expanded Unity Plan Workshop
From Brit in Brooklyn
The Unity Plan is the community-developed alternative to the Forest City Ratner project. Until now it has included only the the area directly on the Vanderbilt Railyards.
"Join your neighbors, elected officials and expert planners for a public workshop devoted to creating a community plan for the entire area - now that the global credit crisis threatens to scuttle Atlantic Yards."
From Unity
Saturday, MARCH 1, 2008
10 am to 2 pm
St. Cyril's Belarusian Cathedral
401 Atlantic Avenue (at Bond Street)RSVP to Hunter College CCPD at 212-650-3328, ccpd AT hunter DOT cuny DOT edu
Posted by lumi at 6:24 AM
February 10, 2008
Atlantic Yards Camera Club Meets [today!] @3pm
not another f*cking blog!
the first (monthly? annual?) meeting of the Atlantic Yards Camera Club takes place tomorrow, Feb 10, 3pm, at the Brooklyn Bears Community Garden, Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue, entrance on Pacific. If there's *heavy* rain or snow, the meeting place will be Freddy's Bar, 485 Dean, corner of Sixth Avenue.this event is in response to a recent incident involving artist Katherin McInnis, where she was harassed by MTA police for videotaping the Vanderbilt Yard.
i personally have never been approached by police, MTA or otherwise, while out shooting around the Atlantic Yards footprint, but have been told numerous times by rent-a-cops and demolition company foremen that i wasn't allowed to photograph from a public sidewalk, despite that i'm well within my rights to do so.
so, come out and shoot!
link
Additional coverage:
mcbrooklyn: Atlantic Yards Photoshoot: Right to Bear Cameras
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn: Sunday: Atlantic Yards "Camera Club" Mobilization
metrodenuevayork: Protesta en contra de acoso policial a fotógrafa
telescreen.org: Sun Rises In East, Pope Still Catholic, Photography STILL Not A Crime
Photography is not a crime: New York City photographers plan protest Sunday against ongoing harassment
Who Walk In Brooklyn Calling All Bears! Calling All Bears!
Posted by amy at 12:10 PM
February 8, 2008
Atlantic Yards Camera Club: Everyone is Invited
Brit in Brooklyn
It was nice of Adrian Kinloch to post details of this Sunday's gathering of the "Atlantic Yards Camera Club" so that Ratner and the MTA can make preparations to handle the extra shutterbuggers.
A group of Atlantic Yards photographers are getting together to take pictures in the footprint on Sunday. This in response to people getting harassed by official staff when taking pictures there. They hope to use the opportunity to help people both sides of the fence, and lens, to be more aware of photographers rights. The Atlantic Yards footprint offers a surprising range of subjects, including beautiful but quickly disappearing homes and industrial architecture.
WHO:
Photographers, videographers, bloggers, and supporters. News media are welcome.WHAT:
A "photographers' rights free expression mobilization" responding to the harassment of video artist/teacher Katherin McInnis by an MTA police officer last Sunday, February 3rd on public property within the Atlantic Yards footprint. We will discuss photographers' rights and the Atlantic Yards situation, then walk and photograph within the footprint. Depending on circumstances, we may have the opportunity to engage in a respectful information exchange with MTA police and/or private security personnel. End point: Freddy's Bar and Backroom, 485 Dean Street, corner of Sixth Avenue.WHERE:
Meet at the Brooklyn Bears Community Garden, Pacific Street and Flatbush Avenue, entrance on Pacific. If there's heavy rain or snow, we'll change the meeting place to Freddy's Bar, 485 Dean, corner of Sixth Avenue.WHEN:
Sunday, February 10th @ 3pm
Posted by lumi at 6:03 AM
January 19, 2008
People You Know
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Beth C. Aplin
Crowds packed BookCourt Tuesday night for a reading by three popular contributors to Brooklyn Was Mine, a new anthology released this month by Riverhead Books. In it, current and former Brooklyn-based writers “pay tribute to the borough they love.”Emily Barton, Darcy Steinke and Alexandra Styron read excerpts of their essays at the Cobble Hill bookstore. The anthology’s proceeds will benefit towards Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB), the major group opposing the Atlantic Yards project.
Posted by amy at 11:41 AM
January 17, 2008
The Atlantic Yards quiz, tonight
Atlantic Yards Report ran the listing for tonight's Quiz Don't Destroy event at Rocky Sullivan's, including this teaser:
Here's what Matthew Schuerman, then of the *New York Observer, (predicted: "Word is, Norman Oder could play with one arm tied behind his back--and still win!"
After being named the favorite by the Observer, how could I not compete?
NoLandGrab: Word is that Norman Oder is actually an automaton and that someone, we won't say who, has hacked his programming for tonight.
Seriously, the NoLandGrab crew is planning to show up, but since the search function of NLG is broken (so we can't cheat), don't expect our long-term memory (which includes stuff that happened last week) to do us any favors.
We do expect to have fun though, and, who knows, the Quiz Master might even have a prize for the team with the blankest expression.
Posted by lumi at 5:52 AM
January 16, 2008
Atlantic Yards photo show announcement
Posted by lumi at 11:07 PM
Quiz Don’t Destroy
Time Out New York is carrying the listing for this week's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz, which will test participants' knowledge of all things "Atlantic Yards debacle."
Have you been keeping track of the Atlantic Yards debacle? Pit your knowledge of Bruce Ratner’s pet project against Brooklyn Papers staffers and other know-it-alls at this special edition of Scott M.X. Turner’s weekly pub quiz.
Venue: Rocky Sullivan's
Times: Thu 8pm.
Address: 34 Van Dyke St at Dwight St Red Hook, Brooklyn
Phone: 212-246-8050
Travel: Travel: F, G to Smith–9th Sts, then take the B77 bus to Van Dyke St
Website: rockysullivans.com
Posted by lumi at 5:23 AM
January 12, 2008
People You Know
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Emily Barton, Jennifer Egan, Colin Harrison, Jonathan Lethem, Elizabeth Gaffney, Katie Roiphe, Vijay Seshadri . . . . Anyone who doubts Brooklyn’s current literary prowess need only to turn to the table of contents of Brooklyn Was Mine, a new collection of nonfiction essays written by some of the biggest names in the writing biz. Though most of them currently call the borough home, in this book they all pay tribute to a Brooklyn that has shaped them.Released by Riverhead on January 2, Brooklyn Was Mine consists of 20 original essays and an introduction by native son Philip Lopate. It is edited by Chris Knutsen and Valerie Steiker, both senior editors at Vogue.
Posted by amy at 1:27 PM
January 9, 2008
TONIGHT: Reading, "Brooklyn Was Mine"
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 7:30PM
Barnes & Noble
267 7th Ave., Brooklyn
Readings by:
Jennifer Egan
Susan Choi
Darren Strauss
BROOKLYN WAS MINE
Edited by Chris Knutsen and Valerie Steiker
Riverhead Trade Paperback Original
With essays by Emily Barton, Susan Choi, Rachel Cline, Philip Dray, Jennifer Egan, Colin Harrison, Joanna Hershon, Jonathan Lethem, Dinaw Mengestu, Elizabeth Gaffney, Lara Vapnyar, Lawrence Osborne, Katie Roiphe, John Burnham Schwartz, Vijay Seshadri, Darcey Steinke, Darin Strauss, Alexandra Styron, and Robert Sullivan. And an introduction by Phillip Lopate.
Proceeds from anthology of original work to benefit Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
Posted by lumi at 6:07 AM
January 8, 2008
TONIGHT: Meet the Ombuddy!
Forrest Taylor, the newly appointed Atlantic Yards ombudsman, will be at the next CBN General Meeting to meet our members and participate in a discussion. This is your organization's chance to meet this key player in the ongoing Atlantic Yards project, so please plan to attend!
CBN General Meeting
Tuesday, January 8th, 2008
7:30PM to 9:00PM
St. Cyril's Belarusian Cathedral (Atlantic Avenue at Bond Street)
Posted by lumi at 5:36 PM
Brooklyn Was Mine: Book Readings
Brit in Brooklyn reminds its readers that there are two "Brooklyn Was Mine" readings coming up in the next week.
Wednesday, January 9, 7:30 p.m.
Park Slope Barnes & Noble (267 7th Avenue at 6th Street), Brooklyn.
Featuring readings by Jennifer Egan, Susan Choi and Darin Strauss
Tuesday, January 15, 7:00 p.m.
BookCourt (163 Court Street, near Pacific Street), Brooklyn.
Featuring readings by Emily Barton, Darcey Steinke and Alexandra Styron
NoLandGrab: Possible caption for Adrian Kinloch's photo, "Brooklyn is mine! [Bwa-ha-ha!]"
Posted by lumi at 5:51 AM
January 6, 2008
20 writers, one borough: Brooklyn Was Mine debuts
Courier-Life
Meredith Deliso
With neighborhoods from Fort Greene to Coney Island feeling the pressure of development in their future, and others like Williamsburg already in the midst of it, comes Brooklyn Was Mine, a collection of stories on Brooklyn, by Brooklyn authors. From essays on one of the last remaining seltzer deliverers in the borough to the preciousness of Brighton Beach, 20 writers expound on the concept of Brooklyn, which, as Philip Lopate notes in his introduction, has become not just a place, but “an idea, a symbol, and a contested one at that.”
Posted by amy at 10:36 AM
January 5, 2008
Scribes attempt to write a wrong
The Brooklyn Paper
Dana Rubinstein
Twenty Brooklyn scribblers and opponents of the Atlantic Yards 16-skyscraper-and-arena development are putting their money where their pens are, not only contributing to a collection of essays and short stories about life in Brooklyn — but allowing the proceeds to benefit the mega-development’s biggest opponent.“Brooklyn was Mine,” the $15 paperback book that was released on Wednesday by Riverhead Books, features stories by Brooklyn literary lions Jonathan Lethem, whose story depicts Brooklyn in a dystopian future; and Jennifer Egan, whose story evokes Brooklyn’s ship-building past. The collection also features Colin Harrison, who wrote about his obsession with baseball.
The proceeds will go to Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the organization spearheading the fight against the project by Forest City Ratner. The writers are hoping that their meager contributions will offset the more than more than $2 million that Forest City Ratner spent in 2006 to lobby state and local lawmakers.
Additional Coverage:
Local Authors’ Anthology Benefits Anti-Atlantic Yards Efforts
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
In “Reading Lucy,” Jennifer Egan introduces readers to Lucy — a woman who worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard during World War II and wrote letters almost daily to her husband overseas. Jonathan Lethem’s “Ruckus Flatbush” is a wild, dystopian ride into Brooklyn’s future. In “A Coney Island of the Mind,” Katie Roiphe remembers the thrill of riding the famous Cyclone roller-coaster while on a date with her future husband. Colin Harrison’s “Diamonds” details Brooklyn’s, and his own, ongoing love affair with baseball.
Local Authors Fight Ratner's Atlantic Yards...With Words
Gothamist
Upcoming readings include one at Park Slope's Barnes & Noble on 7th Avenue next Wednesday (the 9th, at 7:30pm) and one at BookCourt on Court and Pacific in Brooklyn next Tuesday (the 8th at 7pm).
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
The Fader
Gentrification is just one of those inescapable beasts when it comes to the NYC housing market (but hey, it got us an organic market in Bushwick!) That said, few developments cause enough stir to inspire twenty authors (including some favorites of ours) to contribute to an anthology in defense of their neighborhood.
Posted by amy at 9:50 AM
December 16, 2007
TODAY: DDDB Holiday Party
Posted by amy at 10:37 AM
December 15, 2007
INTERACTIVE VIDEO ART VISUALIZES ATLANTIC YARDS IN BROOKLYN
For Immediate Release
“Future Perfect”, an interactive video that visualizes the architectural future of the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is to be installed in a gallery in the shadow of the Atlantic Yards development.“Future Perfect” will be displayed in the window of the Soapbox Gallery, 636 Dean Street, Brooklyn. Whenever someone stands in front of the window, a strip of the architectural future is interactively revealed to them, and moves with them as they walk past.
...
The Soapbox Gallery is located at 636 Dean Street, on the very same block as part of the Atlantic Yards development.
...
“Future Perfect” will be displayed from Saturday December 15 to Saturday December 29.Project website: www.futureperfectbrooklyn.com
Artist website: www.edpurver.com
Posted by amy at 9:16 AM
December 1, 2007
HISTORIC DUFFIELD STREET HOME SAVED FROM EMINENT DOMAIN!
Press Release from South Brooklyn Legal Services
When: Monday December 3, 2007, 12 PM
Where: 227 Duffield Street (between Fulton & Willoughby Streets in Brooklyn)
Invited Speakers: Councilmembers Charles Barron, Letitia James, Tony Avella, John Liu; Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, US Congressional Representative Yvette Clarke, Assembly Representative Joseph Lentol; Rev. Clinton Miller, Rev. Dyson, Joy Chatel, Families United For Racial and Economic Equality, Jennifer Levy Esq., Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance, Lewis Greenstein, Raul Rothblatt, Christabel Gough, Jim Driscoll, Richard Hourahan, and others.
What: Press Conference
Brooklyn, NY 11/29/07 - In settlement of a lawsuit filed by Joy Chatel and Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) the City has pledged that it will not use eminent domain to condemn 227 Duffield. The property has been the subject of controversy since 2004 when the City announced that it intended to take the property by eminent domain as part of their Downtown Brooklyn Redevelopment Plan. The Downtown Brooklyn Plan is a massive redevelopment plan based on a rezoning of the area in 2004. The plan calls for over 4 million square feet of new retail, commercial and luxury housing in the middle of a historically low-income community.
On January 7, 2004, Joy Chatel, an owner of 227 Duffield Street was given a notice informing her that her home would be taken by eminent domain and demolished to make way for a new parking lot. Many believe that her home was a station on the Underground Railroad and a vital cultural treasure that should be preserved. The Underground Railroad was the network of people and places in which fugitive slaves sought refuge when escaping from the plantation system in the South.
The home, built in 1848, was owned by Thomas and Harriet Lee-Truesdell, prominent abolitionists of that era. Their role in the abolitionist movement, coupled with their relationships with other active abolitionists in Downtown Brooklyn, led the City's own researchers to conclude that the property was "quite possibly" linked to the Underground Railroad and the majority of historians commissioned by the City to review its research advocated for the home's preservation. Despite this historical documentation and the presence of several unexplainable architectural abnormalities in the sub-basements from 227-235 Duffield St, the City of New York initially concluded that the home's historic significance did not warrant its preservation. In response to litigation and years of advocacy on the part of those who support preserving the property, the City has agreed to re-draw its plans for Downtown Brooklyn so that the condemnation of 227 Duffield will not be necessary.
"I want to thank the Mayor for listening to our plea," Joy Chatel, an owner of 227 Duffield Street said, "My vision is to continue the Cultural Center and Museum my daughter and I started years ago; so all people home and abroad can benefit from the rich history downtown Brooklyn has to offer. I am also thankful to the many people who have gone to great lengths to make sure that this vision comes to fruition."
"So many of us in the community did not want to see the Underground Railroad become an underground parking lot," said Randy Leigh, area resident and FUREE board member. "Too much of our history has already been lost, and we know the City did the right thing by listening to the community and protecting our history. "
The suit was brought by Jennifer Levy of South Brooklyn Legal Services who says: "I commend the City for their flexibility. They have shown that it is possible to do development thoughtfully, in a manner that is responsive to community concerns, and with an eye to preserving our history."
Tours of the home will be given on request.
Posted by amy at 9:56 AM
November 10, 2007
Benefit Concert for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn 11/8/07
Jonathan Barkey has posted his photos of Thursday night's big Klezmatics concert for DDDB.
More photos of the event from Adrian Kinloch.
Posted by amy at 11:50 AM
November 8, 2007
The Klezmatics + Kakande + Demolition String Band
From Time Out NY:
Price: advance $20, day of show $25
Venue: Brooklyn Lyceum
Times: Tonight 7pm.
Address: 227 Fourth Ave between President and Union Sts Park Slope, Brooklyn
Phone: 718-857-4816
Travel: Subway: M, R to Union St Plan RouteThe Klezmatics aren’t just the best band in the klezmer vanguard; on a good night, they rank among the greatest bands on the planet. For them, Jewish traditional music is just the starting point for songs that jump, rock and swing, sometimes all at the same time. Tonight they headline a benefit for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (developdontdestroy.org), the organization that’s leading the protest against the Atlantic Yards development.
Posted by lumi at 4:29 AM
November 5, 2007
TONIGHT: BROOKLYN MATTERS SCREENING
MONDAY
NOVEMBER 5, 7 pm
THE OLD STONE HOUSE
5th Avenue
btw 3rd and 4th Streets
map
http://www.brooklynmatters.com
Listen to an interview with Ron Shiffman on the Brian Lehrer Show.
Posted by lumi at 6:54 AM
November 2, 2007
The Museum of Drunken Art
MetroNY
By Amy Zimmer
The latest cultural happening from inside the footprint of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards:
What is the Museum of Drunken Art?
Well, it’s not exactly a museum, and the work doesn’t necessarily need to have been created while drunk (though its so-called director, Peter Teraberry, said inebriation helps the viewing). Many are just doodles and dirty jokes inked on bar napkins.
The collection makes its city debut Saturday night at Freddy’s, the bar that sits in the footprint of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project.
“Some people draw very well when drunk. Others don’t,” said Teraberry, an art handler who’s friends with many artists he collects. “Jackson Pollack did it very well. Teetotalers are welcome to do it. It’s more the drunken spirit. ... It’s basically anything uncouth and unpretentious.”
Much of the work was created at Freddy’s, which has a drop box for patrons’ submissions.
...
O’Finn, a painter, has turned the bar into a haven for kooky artistic happenings like the drunken art museum and other regular events such as Cringe Night (readings of doggerel about high school crushes), Diva Night (professional opera singers stop by to perform arias) and Diorama Lodge (the bar picks a theme at the beginning of the craft night).And as the epicenter for Atlantic Yards foes, it stopped serving Brooklyn Brewery beer when that company’s owner spoke in support of the $4 billion project. They replaced it with Blue Point toasted lager.
“Business is better every week,” O’Finn said. Though Forest City Ratner owns the bar’s building, O’Finn seems unfazed. “We’ll deal with it when it comes to that, if it comes to that.”
Posted by lumi at 8:26 AM
November 1, 2007
Brooklyn Matters Screening at Toronto's Regent Park Film Festival
NowToronto.com
By Deirdre Swain
REGENT PARK FILM FESTIVAL (November 7 to 11)
Befitting its provenance, the Regent Park Film Festival is all about community and preservation.
...
For a less local, more sophisticated take on preservation, check out Brooklyn Matters (both films screen November 10), a devastating indictment of the Frank Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards development that will, the film charges, disrupt neighbourhoods, cause traffic nightmares and damage the environment without providing any real benefit to the community. Although highly biased against the project, it's a fascinating case study of how class and race get wound up in development disputes, one that's relevant to Toronto's continual battles with developers.
NoLandGrab: If depicting a deeply flawed, frustrating and un-democratic political process is "highly biased," then questioning the wisdom of the war in Iraq is probably unpatriotic.
More screening info about Brooklyn Matters can be found at www.brooklynmatters.com.
Posted by lumi at 5:18 AM
October 31, 2007
BROOKLYN MATTERS SCREENING
MONDAY
NOVEMBER 5, 7 pm
THE OLD STONE HOUSE
5th Avenue
btw 3rd and 4th Streets
map
http://www.brooklynmatters.com
Listen to an interview with Ron Shiffman on the Brian Lehrer Show.
Posted by lumi at 10:32 AM
TODAY: CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON EMINENT DOMAIN AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF THE BROOKLYN ATLANTIC YARDS PROJECT
From Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's website (www.dddb.net):
CONVERSATIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION:
"CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON EMINENT DOMAIN AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF THE BROOKLYN ATLANTIC YARDS PROJECT"Jacob Burns Moot Court Room: Professor Stewart Sterk (Cardozo), Professor Richard Epstein (Chicago/NYU), and Matthew Brinckerhoff, a partner at the New York law firm of Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady, and counsel for plaintiffs in federal court litigation challenging aspects of the Atlantic Yards...
Open to the public.
Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
55 Fifth Avenue, Suite 542
New York, NY 10003
Posted by lumi at 7:51 AM
October 21, 2007
Lambda Independent Democrats Holds a Forum on Atlantic Yards
Mole's Progressive Democrat
LID and the Atlantic Yards - Oct. 22ndLID will be taking a hard look at the Atlantic Yards proposal. Until now, the club has remained neutral, but the time has come to take a position. We have invited Councilmember Latitia [sic] James (confirmed) and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (unconfirmed) to talk about the pros and cons of this project. Please join us on October 22nd, 7:30pm at Camp Friendship located at 339 8 Street, just below 6th Avenue.
Posted by amy at 11:05 AM
October 19, 2007
DDDB PRESS RELEASE:
GRAMMY-WINNING BAND, THE KLEZMATICS, TO PLAY A SPECIAL BENEFIT CONCERT FOR DEVELOP DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN
Three Bands will play to raise funds for DDDB’s legal fight against the “Atlantic Yards” project
BROOKLYN, NY, October 18: Grammy-winning band klezmer band the Klezmatics will play a special concert on November 8 at the Brooklyn Lyceum to benefit Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB). Two other area musical groups, Kakande and the Demolition String Band, will also perform.
The benefit concert will raise funds towards DDDB’s state lawsuit challenging the Atlantic Yards project's environmental review and approval and the federal lawsuit challenging the state's abuse of eminent domain. Both of these lawsuits were organized by DDDB, and are funded entirely by individual donations from the community and fundraising events throughout the year. Both lawsuits are pending; a victory in either suit would mean that developer Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards project would not move forward.
DDDB supporters are pleased to receive such significant backing from the area’s musical community. "It is a great honor to have such accomplished musicians as The Klezmatics performing to help raise funds and awareness for the legal fight against Atlantic Yards. We are very proud to have their support," said DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein.
Concert Details are as follows:
The Klezmatics, Kakande, and Demolition String Band
Thursday, November 8
Doors at 7pm
Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 857-4816
$20 in advance, $25 at the door
For online tickets, go to http://www.dddb.net/klezmatics.
Several local merchants, such as Erica’s Rugelach and Maria’s Mexican Bistro, will be donating food, baked goods, and drinks to the show.
ABOUT DEVELOP DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN
DEVELOP DON’T DESTROY BROOKLYN (DDDB) leads a broad-based community coalition advocating for development that will unite Brooklyn’s communities instead of dividing and destroying them. DDDB opposes Forest City Ratner's "Atlantic Yards" proposal in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. For more information, visit: http://www.dddb.net/php/aboutdddb.php
ABOUT THE KLEZMATICS
The Klezmatics are world-renowned superstars of the klezmer world. They erupted out of New York City’s East Village in 1986 and revitalized klezmer for the new century. Their klezmer is one steeped in Jewish spiritualism and Eastern European tradition while incorporating more provocative themes such as social rights and anti-fundamentalism with eclectic musical influences such as gospel, punk, and Arab, African, and Balkan rhythms. Over the course of nearly twenty years, they have released six albums of wild, spiritual, provocative, reflective, and ecstatically danceable music, forever redefining and transcending traditional labels.
ABOUT KAKANDE
Driven by Famoro Dioubate's rockin' African xylophone, Kakande is full of surprises. Athletic African flute and warm cello grooves join a guitarist from Bembeya Jazz and the heartfelt vocals of Missia. "The African Tina Turner" Diabaté. The group carries an 800 year old musical tradition to America– and will make you shake your booty!
ABOUT
Posted by lumi at 8:00 AM
Advance tickets $20, $25 at the door Great eats provided by Maria's Mexican Bistro and Erica's Rugelach! Note: The time has been changed from 8pm to 7pm.
Posted by lumi at 8:31 AM
Thursday and Friday A funeral mass will be held on Saturday morning at St. Augustine's Catholic Church, where Tom served as head usher: Saturday, October 20 Tom joined the fight against Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards in the early days, when the project was first announced. He was a ubiquitous presence at public forums and events and kept his friends and neighbors informed about the latest news and developments concerning the project, which threatens to drastically alter the neighborhood in which he spent his entire life. Tom was a quintessential old-school Brooklynite, the kind of person who cared deeply about his neighborhood, its people and its institutions. Thank you, Tom, for helping to make Prospect Heights, Brooklyn a great place to live, and for your passionate defense of our neighborhoods and quality of life.
Posted by lumi at 9:28 AM
You can help by participating in this Sunday's Walkathon by registering now or sponsoring your favorite team or blogger. Walk Don't Destroy III NOON – 1 pm: SIGN IN. Visit our tables at Freddy's Bar (on the intersection of 6th Avenue and Dean Street) to pick up your registration (or to register if you haven't already done so). 1 pm – 3:00 pm: Join the Grand Marshall to walk to Grand Army Plaza, around and back to the Soda Bar. 3:00-5:00 pm: Celebration event at the Soda Bar!
Posted by lumi at 12:48 PM
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn
Newark Arena Street Closures Point to
Unsafe and Negligent Planning for Atlantic Yards
Call for State Hearing on Atlantic Yards and Terrorism Security
WHAT:
Press Conference on Atlantic Yards Security and Terrorism Concerns in Light of Actions Taken by Newark Police Officials to Shut Down Streets on Eve of Prudential Arena Grand Opening
Call for a State Hearing on Security/Terrorism Planning on the Atlantic Yards Arena Complex
WHEN: Sunday. October 14th, 12:30pm
WHO: Councilwoman Letitia James, Other elected officials
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, Other community groups
WHERE: 485 Dean Street @ 6th Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
(location of narrow residential street that would abut the proposed Atlantic Yards arena, and location of kickoff of Sunday's walkathon fundraiser at 1pm)
BROOKLYN, NY -- Prior to Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's 3rd Annual walkathon fundraiser, elected officials and community groups will call for a state hearing on the absence of security/terrorism planning for Forest City Ratner's Brooklyn Atlantic Yards arena complex, in light of recent, relevant events in Newark, New Jersey and years of silence on such planning from the city, state and developer.
Posted by amy at 12:17 PM
The Politicker
1 p.m. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn will host a Walkathon protesting the Atlantic Yards project. Registration begins at Freddy’s Bar, 6th Avenue and Dean Street. At 3 p.m., the Grand Marshall will lead a march to Grand Army Plaza. An afterparty will be held at Soda Bar, Vanderbilt Avenue and St. Marks Avenue. link
Posted by amy at 8:08 AM
October 18, 2007
DDDB Fundraiser: Klezmatics & Kakande
Thursday, November 8, 7pm
Brooklyn Lyceum
4th Avenue and Union Street
Purchase tickets now at http://www.dddb.net/klezmatics.October 17, 2007
Services for Tom Rooney, Propsect Heights Resident and Activist
Services for Tom Rooney, lifetime resident of Prospect Heights and community activist, will be held:
2-5pm and 7-9pm
Duffy Funeral Home
255 9th St.
718-499-8700
9:45am
St. Augustine's Catholic Church
www.staugustineparkslope.org
116 6th Ave.
(718) 783-3132October 14, 2007
TODAY: This legal fight was brought to you by the letters D, D, D, and B
Don't forget that the legal challenge to Bruce Ratner's eminent-domain-abusing public-money-sucking megaproject is brought to you by the good folks who help raise money for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.
Sunday, October 14 TODAY: Press Conference: Sunday, 12:30pm. Dean St. and 6th Ave.
Sunday, October 14, 12:30
Pre-Walkathon Press Conference on Atlantic Yards Terrorism Security
October 13, 2007
Events for October 13-15, 2007
Sunday
NoLandGrab: Registration begins at NOON tomorrow at Freddy's and the walk begins at 1pm...Council Memb