Atlantic Yards, The Morning After
Yesterday’s news about the closing of the bond and real estate deals related to the Atlantic Yards project (along with the go-ahead for property seizure via eminent domain) certainly had an air of finality about them, but the project’s opponents are insisting that the fight is not over. “The property owners and tenants fighting to…
Yesterday’s news about the closing of the bond and real estate deals related to the Atlantic Yards project (along with the go-ahead for property seizure via eminent domain) certainly had an air of finality about them, but the project’s opponents are insisting that the fight is not over. “The property owners and tenants fighting to keep their homes and business will vigorously challenge the legal papers filed by the ESDC today,” said Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn in a press release. DDDB also points out that there are still two outstanding lawsuits that would “stop it cold,” one of which will be heard in state Supreme Court on January 15. I want to make it very clear to the Governor, the ESDC and Ratner, that Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, our scores of allied community organizations and our thousands of supporters will not easily give up our fight against Atlantic Yards, said Daniel Goldstein. The lawyer for DDDB, Jeff Baker, had a slightly more tempered take on the situation: “Obviously this fight is in its final stages, but it is not over.” Meanwhile State Senator Bill Perkins continues to hammer away at the Governor and Attorney General for a written statement regarding the legality (or lack thereof) of the unusual manner in which process for issuing the arena bonds was structured to avoid review by the Public Authorities Control Board.
AY Fight in Final Stages, But Not Over, says Attorney [AY Report]
Sports Briefing: Gains for Atlantic Yards [NY Times]
Documents Signed, Atlantic Yards Moves Ahead [NY Times]
Ratner closes on Atlantic Yards [NY Post]
Bloomberg Cheers Ratner; Opponents Continue To Fight [Brooklyn Eagle]
Photo by Tracy Collins
I’m amazed that anyone is putting up a fight at this point, since WE’RE IN A RECESSION!!! If Atlantic Yards is moving forward, this is excellent news. That’s not to say we shouldn’t be concerned about how it’s developed, but killing the project at this point would be horrible.
johnny – i just read your post. wtf? how can you write so much and have no idea what you are talking about? disturbing.
Between the lack of movement on the Atlantic Yards and the “Freedom Tower(s)” I frankly don’t give a fu#@ anymore.
Between the lack of movement on the Atlantic Yards and the “Freedom Tower(s)” I frankly don’t give a fu#@ anymore.
I totally agree that DDDB is coming across as cultish, though only more so, as they have always come across as such. They have failed miserably here and with each step look all the more foolish. Their delay tactics could have been deemed successful if they had blocked the project, but since they failed at that, their efforts have been in vain.
Good riddance, Goldstein! Brooklyn is better of without you and your unique brand of insanity.
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/
someone please wake me up when get the part where goldstein gets drawn and quartered.
Spero che presto ci vediamo.
Posted by: benson at December 24, 2009 12:36 PM
Same here my friend. Definitely hope to make it to the next gathering.
I,
You’re right. if your business is owning a basketball team, you’ve got two large expenses – salaries and a stadium. We – the benevolent taxpayers of New York – are now building the Nets a stadium, pretty much gratis.
The Nets, if they were competently managed, should have doubled, tripled, or quadrupled in price, scoring the owners literally hundreds of millions in (unrealized, untaxed) profit.
E-D aside, the question remains the same. Why are you and I building Ratner a stadium with our money? The end result being an increase in congestion and pollution that will leave us all far worse off than we already are with just the corporate welfare we’re providing.
Short term economic impact is minimal – always is with stadiums. Medium term impact is negative – massive congestion for miles in every direction. Permanent change in traffic patterns through what used to be quiet brownstone streets. Long term impact . . . makes the short term impact look pleasant. 3-5 years the threats of relocation start (as they nearly always do) and more handouts to Nets owners continue.
This mess will be costing us for the rest of our lives.
Invisible,
Ratner never expected to make money on the Nets. The Nets and the arena was a loss leader to an out of scale real estate development project that never would have had a chance of getting political support without the hook of bringing the Nets to Brooklyn. Ratner subsequently did a great job of pawning off a good portion of the cost of the Arena onto other parties such as taxpayers.