Top Ten Brooklyn Stories of Last Decade?
Rich Calder of The Post takes a stab at defining the ten biggest Brooklyn stories of the last decade. It seems like a decent list to us, though we would have put the rezonings of Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg higher on the list. What about you? What’s missing or shouldn’t have made the cut? 1….
Rich Calder of The Post takes a stab at defining the ten biggest Brooklyn stories of the last decade. It seems like a decent list to us, though we would have put the rezonings of Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg higher on the list. What about you? What’s missing or shouldn’t have made the cut?
1. Atlantic Yards
2. The Fight (Sitt vs. Bloomberg) for Coney Island’s Future
3. Cyclones Arrive at Keyspan Park
4. Condos Added to Brooklyn Bridge Park Plan
5. Astroland Closes
6. Rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg
7. Marty Markowitz Becomes Borough President
8. Clarence Norman Busted for Selling Judgeships
9. Ikea Comes to Red Hook
10. Opening of Brooklyn Cruise Terminal
Calder’s Honorable Mentions on the jump…
Brooklyn’s Top 10 Stories of the Decade [NY Post]
Honorable mention:
– Feds call for Superfund designation of Gowanus Canal;
– Jehovah Witnesses begin selling properties in Heights and DUMBO;
– Walentas continues transformation of DUMBO;
– Hasids and Hipsters fight over bike lanes in W’burg.
Photo by loop_oh
the real reasons for crime dropping during those years has nothing to do with any of those political hacks. it was merely just crack going out of favor (for the most part) and the increase in section 8 vouchers, which allowed crime to be spread out from nyc more into jersey, long island, and upstate new york. the same amount of crime is being done, it’s just more spread out now and in smaller communities the crime is easier to get away with than in a large city.
*rob*
Yes slopefarms assessment was great….too bad it is based on completely wrong statistics!
http://www.scribd.com/doc/322928/Langan-rel
MM that is a great development, but I dont know how much bein black had to do with it, I had the same problems and I am a white man….I used to have to tell the driver if he refused to go to Brooklyn – “Ok, then take me to the nearest police precinct” – I actually used to know most of them by location – it would work about 75% of the time.
8. Clarence Norman Busted for Selling Judgeships
Sad, but true.
The extent of Brooklyn political corruption has been disgraceful.
“[Giuliani] was the biggest of jerks, a petty, vindictive divider who was very good at pitting factions against each other so they forgot the big picture.”
Posted by: Montrose Morris at January 6, 2010 10:26 AM
But maybe these traits were exactly what NYC needed in a Mayor?
The city thrived under Giuliani, and it wasn’t just a coincidence.
He drew attention to improtant issues with his rouge tactics.
Even his notoriously harsh and arguably inappropriate Brooklyn Museum tactics, in the end, helped the NYC art world. A Mayor who becomes involved in an art dispute? Is art really that important? Awesome!
He was hard.
He was involved.
He was petty.
He was tough.
He was mean.
He was effective.
He was NYC.
Brenda- agreed. And I think Slopefarm posted a very accurate take on a very complex subject. What struck me most about Dinkin’s administration was that people freaked because he was African-American and from the second he got elected, everyone began cutting him a new one. Even his damn bed was the subject of newspaper commentary. His best decision? Hiring Ray Kelly who Guiliani replaced with that thug, Kerik.
Thank you, Slopey, that was a fair and nuanced assessment.
Let’s move back to Brooklyn concerns.
I think one of the highlights of the last 10 years is the ability for me, as a black woman, to get a yellow cab in Manhattan to take me to Crown Heights without an argument or having to handcuff myself to the back seat. 10 years ago? I remember a night in Soho at 2am after a very long workday, finishing up a line for a fashion show, trying to get a cab to Bed Stuy. Took 5 cabs to find one who would go to Brooklyn. Times have changed.
I’ll never forgive Giuliani for courting Pat Robertson. The man who said we got what we deserved on 9/11. Doesn’t matter to me what else he did. The mayor of 9/11 betrayed us all.
I have no issue giving Dinkins “credit” for reducing crime (from the higher level that it got under his same admin) but given the slight declines (2%) in the final year, I dont know how you can give him credit for the REMARKABLE reductions that followed his exit. Which is what you (and many others) do by implication when you say “the crime rate reductions BEGAN under Dinkins”,
It seems clear to me that any fair reading of the statistics demonstrates that “something” changed when Guilinai came into office, and given the focus of the Guiliani administration in the 1st term and the lack of any obvious demographic or societal changes in NYC vs other major cities, it seems very fair to give the credit to Guiliani, without the spin of trying to attribute it in some iplied way to Dinkins – cause you (and others) personally disliked Rudy.
The deal Dinkins negotiated with the USTA for the expansion of the National Tennis Center is the only arena deal I know of where the municipality wasn’t totally screwed. For this alone he deserves praise, especially in light of the subsequent giveaways at Citi Field, Yankee Stadium, Keyspan Park, Richmond County Ballpark, and most likely, Barclay’s Arena.