Overflow Crowds at Ratner Hearing Yesterday

So many people showed up for yesterday’s hearing on the future of the Atlantic Yards that at one point police stopped letting people inside. Ratner delivered the news that a lot of owners are selling quickly and that condemnation might not even be needed to make the project happen. (The Daily News reports that Ratner now owns 91% of the condos and co-ops and 63% of rental units on the 21-acre site. He also owns 23 of the 43 commercial properties and is negotiating to buy the rest.) Of course, some people, like Dan Goldstein, are holding out. “This is not a done deal,” Goldstein said. “Forest City Ratner certainly wants people to think it is and they’ve spent millions of dollars to put forth that perception. This is not a done deal. This community is opposed to it.”
Controversial Brooklyn Development Spurs Debate [WABC online]
Ratner Quietly Moves In [NY Daily News]