Marty Axes CB6 Members Who Opposed AY Project
In a move likely to cloud his legacy as the Brooklyn’s biggest professional cheerleader, Borough President Marty Markowitz purged Community Board 6 yesterday of nine members, apparently as retribution for having voted against the proposed plan for the Atlantic Yards project back in September 2006. I’m rather disappointed. I think that it could have been…
In a move likely to cloud his legacy as the Brooklyn’s biggest professional cheerleader, Borough President Marty Markowitz purged Community Board 6 yesterday of nine members, apparently as retribution for having voted against the proposed plan for the Atlantic Yards project back in September 2006. I’m rather disappointed. I think that it could have been handled better and I think that I will continue to work for my community and the greater good of the community through the Community Board, Jerry Armer, who had served on CB6 for more than two decades, told the NY Observer. What we were doing was giving the community a voice and reflecting the community. Today on the Atlantic Yard Report, Norman Oder notes that Armer and other dismissed members purposefully did not align themselves with the most vocal opponents of the project. Instead, Oder notes, he “participated in numerous meetings of the Brooklyn Borough Board Atlantic Yards Committee, cordially raising some worthy questions…He spoke courteously, even ponderously, in testimony to the Empire State Development Corporation.” What an embarrassment.
Project’s Foes Shown Door in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Markowitz Purges Community Board 6 [NY Observer]
The Ironies of the CB 6 Purge [AY Report]
Arena Foes Slam Dunked [NY Post]
CB6 Letter, 9/29/06 [DDDB]
Yankee stadium, for instance, is only serviced by a couple of trains, and it does just fine. why does Ratner’s cash cow need all the trains? no reason at all. this Ratner money grab should be sited somewhere else, somewhere that needs development. that is a fact.
11:34 you are a crazy one. I don’t think the window boxes Prospect Heights will all die from lack of sunlight because sun does not come from the north.
You can’t deny that if they were to build an arena in Brooklyn, AY is the best spot – it’s all about transportation options not helping neighborhood citizens walk to their jobs. Get real.
the basketball players will be in PS, alright – walking with Beyonce from OPP along a thriving Vandy Ave, through some newly created greenspace, playing their game in a state of the art arena and having a post-game cocktail back on Vandy and putting their head down ona a pillow in a penthouse with views of Prospect Park, NY Harbor and Manhattan – Jason Kidd may be wise to stick around.
Basketball players would be much more comfortable working and living among their own kind in Brownsville or ENY. Plus, there they could serve as proper role models and inspire young men to clean up their acts, stay off the streets and get an education and decent job. You see it makes perfect sense for everyone. Urban youths get their STADIUM, sports stars and jobs, and we get to keep downtown Brooklyn safer, quieter and cleaner. Everybody wins.
if i may, this story isn’t about atlantic yards. this story is about people being removed from an independent city agency for having a difference of opinion with the person who appoints them. although only advisory (and any number of other criticisms), community boards should have the autonomy to express their opinions and the opinions of the residents and businesses in their districts without fear of retribution. borough president’s should appoint people who will make the effort to inform themselves about the issues and take action, not just a bunch of people who agree with him or her. i would say that marty should be ashamed, but he proved a long time ago that he has no shame. i didn’t think that my opinion of him could sink any lower but he keeps surprising me.
Marty is trying to kiss as much powerful a$$ as he can because term limits mean he is out of a job before too long. He’s trying to stay alive and is no idiot. When he needs a new gig, its not the board members who have any leverage to get him one, its the bloombergs, the cuomos, the ratners. So rah rah Marty could care less about his precious boro, he is worried about having enough friends in high places.
This really has nothing to do with AY, but I know all these armchair developers, architects, urban planners love to hear themselves talk. Time will tell people.
The reasn why the community has not gotten further in their attempts to modify the AY, and I think there has always been some built-in “give back” in the proposal, is because they act like loony-birds.
Who is going to take anyone seriously who says that a sports stadium built on top of a regional transportation hub, is an evil, corrupt, powergrab that will sink the boro into darkenss forever? Loony.
Agreed, 12:07. For some reason beyond my understanding, AY opponents love drama and rely heavily on it, even though it’s gotten them nowhere. Their fight is more about catharsis than effectiveness.
nice work 11:34 you’ve convinced me!
no not really…more hysterics please.