Egan: Apathy and Resignation To Blame in AY Fight
In her NY Times op-ed piece this weekend, author, Fort Greene resident and DDDB board member Jennifer Egan contrasts the wily public relations machinations of Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner with the relative apathy and inaction of those who claim to oppose the project that would indelibly change the landscape and character of the borough….
In her NY Times op-ed piece this weekend, author, Fort Greene resident and DDDB board member Jennifer Egan contrasts the wily public relations machinations of Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner with the relative apathy and inaction of those who claim to oppose the project that would indelibly change the landscape and character of the borough. The combination of presenting the project as a fait accompli from day one and casting himself as the champion of the working class was, she opines, effective in a race-baiting sort of way. In the end, she laments the passive role it has placed the borough in, to be molded and shaped by profit-seeking developers, not the people who live here.
What was mostly lost in this caustic debate was the biggest question of all: what do we Brooklynites — a diverse and even divided collective — want our borough to be? Do we want it transformed from a sunny, low-lying place into knots of vertical superblocks? Are we content to let our borough’s future be imposed on us by developers and politicians? A strong girding of power and ideas is our best defense against developers who might wish to control the process. And an active and vocal public will send a healthy warning to elected officials who might consider placing these developers’ interests above our own.
What surprised us most was the tone of resignation that underlay the essay, playing right into Ratner “formidable spin machine “.
A Developing Story [NY Times]
In all honesty, Coney Island is so far away that it actually encourages people with cars to drive.
CIR?? I didn’t even mention color or poor neighborhoods. I mentioned fun filled recreational activities all in one radius. East NY and Brownsville are stupid suggestions save your belly aching.
I’m curious how’d you come to that conclusion that I was white? Because guess what I’m black like you.
Did you really think all opponents are white and the black home owners in the foot print of this stadium are supporters? Please don’t believe Ratner and his propaganda machine and don’t follow his puppets.
Only a few can see the developer’s true intentions of using the stadium like one carrot in front of a bunch of mules. “bring a team to Brooklyn! Yeah Ra Ra Ra” His real focuses are the skyscrapers and the money he will pocket. Even the whole “Nimby” phrase is a trick to cover the truth and every one is running around “nimby” this “nimby” that taking attention away from the victims of this project.
Yes this is America so let him build his junk towers one by one in Prospect Heights and Clinton Hill in lots that belong to him and put the stadium in an area that’s packed with similar activities. All with his money not mine I didn’t budget for that. I won’t hate but at least people can keep their homes.
Imagine you receive a letter in 2007 that your home was just jacked by a tycoon and the powers that be in government don’t care and cant pick up the phone to answer questions because their palms are to greasy. All they do is remind you that NY was built this way on Eminent Domain. Yes it was but they all fail to mention that NY was also snatched up from the locals who didn’t really understand the value of a dollar and shiny trinkets.
The past is the past why do we need to repeat it and for the life of me I can’t understand why this is happening to innocent people and folks are ok with it.
If you really live in CI and you’re not one of his employees can you explain why the stadium is so bad for Coney without pulling out the emergency race card?
Duh…if the arena was at Coney, the city would make way more money. The masses would be able to watch a basketball game, cross the street and take a spin on the Ferris Wheel, then a nice stroll to the Aquarium to catch the sea lion show.
Win win situation. And yes all this by not stealing people’s homes.
Note: To the folks concerned about transportation. A wise man once told me “if you build it they will come”.
p.s. don’t call me nimby if you’re not from Coney Island
SP’er the only strawman is you…. You advocated Midrise housing at AY and Mid rise housing down Atlantic and 4th Ave and I responded that it is sprawl to have the same density miles away from the city center as you have 1 subway stop from city center. But it is a nice distraction technique to claim that I said you were advocating empty lots at AY.
BTW – let me add that Midrise Development is totally out of the question for the railyard site b/c the cost of building a deck makes anything but high density uneconomical.
Finally your suggestion for midrise construction down 4th Ave is already late – since most of 4th Ave has been re-zoned for such construction (of which I am in favor) but I must point out that many of the same people oppossing AY are now complaining about the construction on 4th Ave for the very same reasons.
To the lard ass at 2:34pm who’s excited about steak houses coming to Brooklyn — will you be taking the subway with your clients to those fancy restaurants, or will you be driving???
you people really dont know prospect heights. The neighborhood is already booming with or with out Ratner. You people should leave whatever outskirts yall from and visit our LOCAL community it’s really not “underutilized” or “outmoded”.
David,
You keep making strawman arguments. Who ever said that there should be empty lots in the AY footprint? And the last I noticed, there was no empty lot at the corner of Dean and Carlton. Are you going to claim that those buildings are “outmoded”? “Under-utilized”? That’s a way to justify tearing down anything and everything. Apparently in your conception of urban planning, high rises are the way to go everywhere. Thanks but no thanks. I prefer my cities to be pleasant places to live.
Anon at 2?56 writes:
“Give us the break down of all the public transportation options to CI from Staten Island, Long Island, Queens and Manhattan. Please include time of commute too.”
You know, I’m not even strongly anti-arena at AY. I would be for it if it were accompanied by a reasonable transit plan. Yes, there’s a lot of public transportation options to AY. So why is there going to be a 1000 car open air parking lot? Why are there going to be thousands of additional underground parking spots created. Come one, get real. People are going to drive to AY unless they know in advance that there is absolutely nowhere to put their car. If the arena were being proposed WITHOUT any on-site parking, I’d be for it. But that’s not the plan. Just one more example of FCRC doing whatever the f*ck it pleases and disregarding those of us who are going to have to live with the consequences.
Since people ARE going to drive, let’s put the arena in a place where there is room for all those cars. Or, if you’re really serious about a “transit-oriented” project, show me how you’re going to prevent severe congestion.
No sprawl is putting mid-rise construction all the way out to Bay Ridge and East New York while forcing the same density or even empty lots over the largest transportation hub in NYC (and probably the country) which is literally 1 stop into the center of America’s largest city.
And yes if West 3rd and its vicinity was an empty railyard, empty lots, and underutilized and outmoded buildings then yes a 40+story building would definetly be appropriate.
David — your definition of “sprawl” is mid-rise construction on top of a subway line? That’s truly weird! That, plus your obsession with Birkenstocks, which seem to come up a lot for you. Some kind of traumatic incident perhaps?
I think that what makes Brooklyn a unique and desirable place to live is its neighborhoods. In my view, plunking a cluster of 16 high rises in the midst of low rise neighborhoods is damaging to what makes Brooklyn a great place to live. That’s why I think we would be better served by mid-rises along the broadest streets and avenues of the borough.
I suppose lots of people would prefer to live and work right in Manhattan. Does that mean we should have a 40 story apartment tower on the corner of 6th Ave and West 3rd?