Another Anti-AY Suit Gets Tossed

i loathe the anti-AY people. GO AWAY. that area is a total dump right now.

it's going to have new apartments and a stadium.

how wonderful! how amazing that someone who has vision and isn't a useless writer in his underpants in his little rental can step up to the plate and do something BIG.

die already you losers.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:05 PM

I agree with 12:05 PM.

Do the AY haters have any data to prove that it will negatively impact the area.

Show it to us and you may get yourself a bunch of allies

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:09 PM

12:05. I want to replace yours and all your neighbors homes with stores selling "i love new york" snowglobes. see how you like it.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:12 PM

It's about time! Let Ratner start the project. Not thrilled about a stadium, but office building and moderately income homes is good.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:13 PM

They'll take it to the Supremes.

We'll see. The conservative jurists might take the case.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:14 PM

There is a great deal of data about the negatives of the project and the spin that has successfully made you think otherwise at
www.atlanticyardsreport.com

it isn't laid out on a plate for you there- you actually have to read it.

You can also visit dddb.org to read other information- it's been there for years.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:15 PM

Uh, yeah, 12:09. It's in the 1400-page environmental impact statement prepared for the Empire State Development Corporation and paid for by the developer. Even if people ignore such issues as a possible terror threat and glare from aluminum-clad Gehry-designed buildings, the report is full of negative impacts, many of which the study admits are "unmitigatable." I tire of the hysteria too, but there is no doubt that there will be negative impacts associated with this project.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:17 PM

There are legitimate issues with the proper scope of eminent domain, but the environmental lawsuit is bogus. There is no better place to put people and activity than at a transit hub like that one. The fact that living near the project will not be the equivalent of living in the woods does not change this.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:24 PM

www.atlanticyardsreport.com

dddb.org

Talk about spin! Problem is they're spinning a very sad but inconsequential song and howling wildly across the barren the wilderness of special-interest and NIMBY.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:29 PM

If you are dumb enough to drive 5 inches from the second largest transit hub in the city, then you deserve every traffic-induced headache you encounter.

And don't talk to me about asthma--if you want to breathe clean air, move to Vermont.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:34 PM

You go, Johnny. I agree. Too dense, too tall and study after study has shown marginal public good and pyback of sports arenas. I like development and adore housing but appropriate height and density, respect for an urban grid, variation in the urban fabric appear ignore in this project.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:34 PM

Quoting and modifying from the above blurb:

...Here's what Bruce Ratner had to say: "Today's decision is more than another victory for Atlantic Yards...It is a victory for our good and the importance of investing in our diverse bank accounts throughout the City. Atlantic Yards will bring thousands of dollars and, in fact, millions to our pockets. We believe, and the courts have repeatedly agreed, that these are real benefits to us that will have a significantly positive impact our wealth.”

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:51 PM

Hey 12:34pm: You gonna go tell the poor, inner-city, minority families whose children are disproportionately afflicted with asthma to move to Vermont? I'd love to watch you try and see them kick you in your fat, dumb ass. Did you not know that around 200 people die every year (including little kids) in NYC from asthma? Hey, air pollution? No problem. NOT.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 12:52 PM

For those of you wildly in favor of the project, please, when you pay your city taxes, add 500 dollars or a grand to the amount to show your appreciation for Mr R, cause that is where your tax dollars are going.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:12 PM

Another issue:
Thanks to the closing of the walkable Carlton Avenue Bridge and NO pedestrian overpass, I now have double the walk time to go from one neighb to the other.

I thought I could walk it the other night with heavy groceries like I usually do but half way through I opted to take a cab that was idling at a red light. I didn't think I could make the second half of the huge walk-around I now have to do. Because of all the one-way issues, etc. it cost me $6+ to get from 6th Avenue to mid-Fort Greene.

I had hoped to take the B67 Bus on 7th Avenue. Hung out for a while and then realized the schedule at that hour is only one bus every 30 minutes (ideally) so I walked down Union and then along 6th Ave.

With the walk AND the cab, I STILL took me longer than my normal 20 minute walk down I always did down 7th Avenue, crossing Flatbush and then taking Carlton all the way into FG.

Signed,
Annoyed in Brooklyn

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:12 PM

Asthma is another red-hearing - it is far far more correlated to Demographic issues then enviromental ones (Central Harlem & Bushwick have very high rates - and Chinatown has low rates - explain???) and besides locating convenient it mass transit is the BEST way of improving the enviroment for ALL.

I am still cautious but feeling slightly more confident.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:13 PM

Nobody's said it yet, so I will:

D O N E D E A L ! ! !

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:18 PM

"Another issue:
Thanks to the closing of the walkable Carlton Avenue Bridge and NO pedestrian overpass, I now have double the walk time to go from one neighb to the other."

I can actually FEEL my heart breaking! This is devastating!!!

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:28 PM

"You gonna go tell the poor, inner-city, minority families"

I'll ask them if they want to try for a job at an AY business or AY-related business, and perhaps they or a family member will qualify for low/moderate -income housing in the development. That should go over pretty well.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:31 PM

Atlantic Yards, if it gets built, will go down as the biggest scam in New York City real estate history. Stadiums bring nothing but YUCK FACTOR to the communities/neighborhoods they get plopped down in. (Just thinking about the junk food wrappers is making me ill.) Such an outrage that we have to pay for this. Never mind the--count them--SIXTEEN high rises. Hello Le Frak City, good-bye Brooklyn as we know it.

Not a single one of Ratner's developments in America is well liked. Ask your friends in Boston, Ohio, etc.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:33 PM

hey, you guys, anyone want to talk about the eminent domain case this post is about? that would be neat!

Bruce Ratner. Blight Mogul!

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 1:42 PM

Yeah ok - there is ZERO repeat ZERO chance that the Supreme ct will consider this case - they just reviewed Kelo and this case has EXACTLY the same fact pattern, there is NO issue for the Supreme Ct here.

I don't know if AY gets stopped again by another lawsuit or delay tactic - but in terms of Eminent Domain this is definetly = DONE DEAL

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 2:01 PM

I agree that there's no tooth left in against the eminent domain taking. But I know the good people of Brooklyn will continue to fight while Ratner continues to bulldoze and place bizarre little rat attracting hay bales at the base of the chain link fencing. With all the literature available about successful urban planning it's a shame we're probably going to get stuck with this.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 2:29 PM

"hey, you guys, anyone want to talk about the eminent domain case this post is about? that would be neat!"

Fine. Its has absolutely no chance.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 2:42 PM

"I counted three pro-AY posts who did I have trouble taking the rest of you seriously."

If you have so much trouble taking non-signers-in seriously, why bother to mention us? Could it be that you aren't being completely truthful?

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:06 PM

"Own up to your words and prove that you aren't shills for the rat."

You're a shill for whining, self-interested NIMBY rich boy Goldstein. But you registered, so that makes it OK, correct?

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:08 PM

3:05 - destroying the character of Brownstone Brooklyn - too much! it's a SHIT HOLE there!

a total yuck near crap on either side of it.

i did live in prospect heights and moved because it's so frickin' ghetto.

hilarious post!

and, hello, who cares if there's glass? big deal. sorry, but a brownstone front to the place that you live in doesn't make your actual living space better - it just makes your block really dark and overbearing...

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:10 PM

I cannot believe it's going to be built. I strongly suspect it's a boondoggle to benefit Mr. Ratner at taxpayer's expense. The "affordable" housing predicted to be built in "phase 2" (whenever that is) will never be actually constructed. The funding will just somehow fail to materialize.

And my quiet neighborhood will be filled with honking sports & arena music fans, night after night after night.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:13 PM

If AY is built brooklyn is done.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:27 PM

For all of the people shouting about how important and necessary eminent domain is- take a look at the myrtle corridor. those building were bought on the market and torn down to build. I didn't see any protest there because
a) no ED was used
b) the zoning was in place

It's possible to build without ED. That's what the lawsuit is about. Eminent Domain

It would be nice if people would take that threat seriously.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 4:27 PM

4:27 - there is no lawsuit, it was dismissed and here is a good idea for all those people predicting that AY will 'destroy Brooklyn' - MOVE.
Simple solution and everyone will be happier for it.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 5:01 PM

"I'll ask them if they want to try for a job at an AY business or AY-related business, and perhaps they or a family member will qualify for low/moderate -income housing in the development. That should go over pretty well" It is hard to belive you are actually that uniformed, but if you are please be assured, none of these things are going to happen. My brother works at Elmhurst Hospital and his union is publicizing applications for the low income housing - and there is very very little of it -even if they bother to build it. So the odds on locals getting it is miniscule.As for jobs - there are few of them and all minimum wage. For this we (all of us taxpayers) are giving Ratner 2 Billion dollars - great deal , huh?

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 5:15 PM

5:15 - there are virtually no jobs (including Fast Food) that pay minimum wage in NYC - so I think your wrong.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 5:20 PM

When the "lowe/moderate income housing" disappears, all the asshats who come on here and tout it should have to give up their homes to low/moderate income people.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 5:33 PM

On September 24, 2001, as New York firefighters were still picking their comrades' body parts out of the World Trade Center wreckage, New York Times Co.Vice Chairman and Senior Vice President Michael Golden announced that the Gray Lady was ready to do its part in the healing.

Those "values" and "democratic ideals" included using eminent domain to forcibly evict 55 businesses--including a trade school, a student housing unit, a Donna Karan outlet, and several mom-and-pop stores--against their will, under the legal cover of erasing "blight," in order to clear ground for a 52-story skyscraper. The Times and Ratner, who never bothered making an offer to the property owners, bought the Port Authority-adjacent property at a steep discount ($85 million) from a state agency that seized the 11 buildings on it; should legal settlements with the original tenants exceed that amount, taxpayers will have to make up the difference. On top of that gift, the city and state offered the Times $26 million in tax breaks for the project, and Ratner even lobbied to receive $400 million worth of U.S. Treasury-backed Liberty Bonds--instruments created by Congress to help rebuild Lower Manhattan. Which is four miles away.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 6:37 PM

This along with all the other over development disasters (Domino sugar plant etc) will go down as the beginning of the end of this City.
The justification for all of these abuses is that the City is expecting an additional 1 million people in the next 30 years.
It's all a big lie. They are not accounting for the millions who are leaving. And that doesn't even take into consideration the millions who are NOW being forced out of this City.
Put this note in a vault -
In 2030 The population of NYC will be little more than it is now. It may very well be considerably less. The city will be full of barren monstrosities that will be used as homeless shelters. And we will be begging the state and the federal government for financing to bail us out.
While somewhere in Israel, Europe the Caribbean, or god knows where, the Ratners, and Katan's of this world will be laughing at the stupid New Yorkers.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 7:21 PM

I agree with 12:05 PM.

Do the AY haters have any data to prove that it will negatively impact the area.

YOU AGREE WITH A GUY WHO SAYS PEOPLE SHOULD DIE FOR NOT WANTING TO HAND OVER THEIR PROPERTY FOR SOME RICH SCHMUCK NAMED RATNER?
AND THEN YOU CALL THEM AY HATERS??
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND????

YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DIE OVER THIS?
YOU" PRO AY "LOVERS" ARE JUST SICK TWISTED HATE MONGERS AND WHY ANYONE BOTHERS TO FIGHT FOR A BORO FULL OF YOU NAZIESQUE PEOPLE
DIE? REALLY?
UNBELIEVABLE< PLEASE GET A GRIP ON WHO "HATES" WHO!

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 7:30 PM

Asthma is red herring?
Say what?

"However, if you look inside the average to its highs and lows, it becomes clear that not every New York family is benefiting from decreased infant mortalities. If you live in Kips Bay in Manhattan or Red Hook, Brooklyn, infant deaths are the lowest in the city: 1.4 to 2.2 per 1000 births, respectively. If you happen to give birth to a child in Central Harlem, however, the death rate more than doubles from the city average to 13.1 babies dying for every 1000 born. In Bedford, Brooklyn, 10 out of every 1000 infants die, and in Flatbush, 7.4."
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/children/20030506/2/379

"Babies born in poor neighborhoods are 10 times more likely to die than babies born in the most economically advantaged neighborhoods," wrote Frieden, promising to "prioritize public health efforts to communities that need them the most."

The most common causes of infant deaths are premature births/low birth weight, birth defects, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

But hey at least when Ratner's done, it will be a very rich wealthy neighborhood so if any poor folk remain...maybe they be healthier.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 7:38 PM

Brownstoner will be worthless once AY is built.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 7:43 PM

Alot of you anti yards people are lunatics. Grow up, Brooklyn will progress. If you want to live on a farm move to Iowa

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 9:07 PM

Alot of you pro yards people are lunatics. Grow up, Brooklyn can progress without imitating Manhattan. If you want to live in Manhattan, move there.

Posted by: guest at February 1, 2008 9:35 PM

I guess you haven't heard your own perspective then. BrooklynLove? More like BrooklynDisrespect.

Posted by: guest at February 2, 2008 9:39 AM

No worries, folks. AY is quickly unraveling due to economic inviability.

Posted by: guest at February 2, 2008 11:00 AM

"only people i know of who are not happy with the development are EDd property owners and displaced residents.

truthfully, most people i encounter who are against this project, never go around the area, have no connection to it, and are just generally against anything involving EmmD."

Very odd -- on the one hand, some people say we're all NIMBYs, and this person the opposite.

How about we're both -- some live in the area, some don't, but we can all recognize that this scam stinks to high heaven -- and our numbers are growing every day.

Posted by: guest at February 2, 2008 8:30 PM

The use of ED centeres around the constitutionality of the "compelling interest"?

Using that standard there is a compelling interest to see development take place just not just Ratner's planned development.

And in economic terms, one could argue that if the state was looking to enhance "community benefit" that could have been best accomplished by building a platform over the yards and then seeking RFP's!!!

Posted by: guest at February 3, 2008 9:50 AM

D-O-N-E-D-E-A-L!!!

Posted by: guest at February 6, 2008 3:00 PM