Bertha Lewis Celebrates
We can’t be 100% sure that this is legit, but it sure looks it and the source vouched heavily for it. Tell us what you really think, Bertha! ———- Forwarded message ———- From: Bertha Lewis Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 8:04 PM Subject: Daniel Goldstein and the 7 year itch To: [REDACTED] Finally, the…
We can’t be 100% sure that this is legit, but it sure looks it and the source vouched heavily for it. Tell us what you really think, Bertha!
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Bertha Lewis
Date: Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 8:04 PM
Subject: Daniel Goldstein and the 7 year itch
To: [REDACTED]
Finally, the itch that was Daniel Goldstein has been scratched and scratched out. After almost seven years of flawed strategies, smear campaigns, stupid tactics, disingenuous rhetoric and total disregard for people who have lived in the downtown Brooklyn community for years before he even thought about coming here; finally he got what he really wanted. A Deal. Not for the community he claimed to love so much, but for the only beneficiary of his community of one, himself, Double Dealing Danny Goldstein. How utterly despicable for him to be in the newspaper today whining that he did not have enough time to move, and had nowhere to go because he was being stiffed by the State and Forest City Ratner, when low and behold, all the time, he was negotiating, not for the community , but for himself. Well good riddance and don’t let the door hit ya’. Low and moderate income people have had to wait years for housing while he obstructed the Atlantic Yards Project that could have been well over half done by now. He never had to worry about housing so he did’nt care how long other people had to wait. Behold, the Gentrifier. He has slandered and denigrated not only me but my organization and my members relentlessly. What benefit has he delivered to the community? None except for his own pocket. Well, the housing at Atlantic Yards will be built, and the day after he moves out, which I hope will be sooner rather than later, the building that he squatted in these past years should be razed to ground immediately, and salt poured into the soil, so that never again can the likes of one of the biggest shakedown artists in Brooklyn return. We will still be here, we will still be fighting for the all the people that Danny spurned and used for his own enrichment. We hope that now everyone in Brooklyn and New York can see him for what he really is and can see what his actions cost Brooklyn. I hope whatever he settled for was worth the pain and misery he caused to so many people who just wanted a decent place to live in Brooklyn and who just wanted a decent job and a place for their family. Now that the flim flam man is gone, they can finally see it on the horizon.
—
Bertha Lewis
ACORN
2-4 Nevins Street
Brooklyn, New York 11217
718 246 7900
718 246 7939 fax
[REDACTED] cell
blewis@acornmail.net
Let’s go to the heart and soul of the Atlantic Yards opponents. The homes, businesses and buildings that comprised the arena’s footprint was not blighted. Blight was the premise for the use of eminent domain.
How did we know that the area was not blighted? The presence of market development as evidenced by Newswalk, and condo development at Sixth and Pacific and by Dan’s building. Market forces were moving the community along without the large scale subsidies that Ratner will require from the government and an uneforceable community benefits agreement.
Ratner thought that he could divide along racial and class lines. The seven year itch was the opposition of a coalition from different parts of the community. Who clearly said, “We are not blighted and this plan and the community benefits agreement will benefit no one but the developer.”
Dan could have accepte an offer at half of the announced settlement amount years ago. His reasons may or may not have been altruistic. One thing is for certain, AY will definitely affect the way eminent domain will be handled on a go forward basis
I don’t know if this is legitimate, but it seems consistent with the shorter B.L quote in this morning’s Times. What more could one expect from the despicable Lewis, who sold out to FCR long ago?
>> “The DDDB demographic actually mirrors the demographic here on Brownstoner…hence the lack of diversity of opinion on Brownstoner on issues like Atlantic Yards”
There may be some truth in this (you won’t be flamed from me, corey), but I actually think there are a diverse array of opinions on Brownstoner re: DDDB, and plenty of us who have been critical of DDDB/DG all along.
Perhaps it seems like the opinion is skewed the other way, though, because — taking a cue from their false idol leader DG — so many pro-DDDB folks just shout the loudest and spew misappropriated rhetoric…
There is nothing wrong with the email. Stating obvious, he held out for money…ok. He protrayed himself as a hero, but in the end only to his wife and kids and I guess who else matters in the end. I did the same thing as a renter in Downtown Brooklyn, until the rats came. Then, I got the hell out with my little piece of change. The difference is he held up construction and was the last one standing…I left two people on my block, one business, and about 1000 critters.
Bwahhhh. Bertha, you whiney squirreltreasure. Nobody owes you or the community squat. And if Rattner and his boys paid it, then it’s only because they’re making boatloads more. A project this big, motivated and sponsored by private financial interests should never move forward without passing a full gauntlet so I applaud Dan G. for doing it. He earned his reward. Go give tax advice to fake pimps and drink your fecieccino and shut up!
So…did anyone take advantage of the bond sale for this development? Just asking.
Interesting.
Bertha clearly has her own issues, but the email (if legit) shines a light on the elephant in the room…race.
I’ve brought this up a couple of times here on Brownstoner and pretty much got flamed on each time, but for a lot of us who grew up in this hood…for folks who grew up in this part of Brooklyn when Myrtle avenue was “Murder” Avenue and Bed-Stuy was “Do or Die” Bed Stuy, we have viewed the Atlantic Yards saga largely as a case of middle class-to-upper middle class white people not only gentrifying our neighborhood, but also telling the people who grew up here exactly HOW our neighborhood should be gentrified (UNITY Plan = Good, Atlantic Yards = Bad).
Remember back when Goldstein said that local black leaders who supported Ratner and Atlantic Yards (i.e. Bertha Lewis) were kissing up to their “white masters”? That didn’t go over very well in the hood, and he lost a lot of otherwise supportive local black folks right there.
If you look at most of DDDB’s supporters, they are overwhelming white, overwhelmingly middle class and overwhelmingly folks who have moved into the area in the last 10 years. Even the few black DDDB supporters fall into the latter two categories (middle class newcomers). The DDDB demographic actually mirrors the demographic here on Brownstoner…hence the lack of diversity of opinion on Brownstoner on issues like Atlantic Yards.
What a lot of folks who have seen and lived in this neighborhood through thick (the relatively good times in the 70s) and thin (the crack days back in the 80’s) resented about DDDB was the fact that we were supposedly not smart enough to know that were were getting “played” by Ratner with the Community Benefits Agreement.
If anything, Bertha’s email is reflective of that sentiment.
Go ahead and flame away, but I’m just letting you guys know what a lot of people in my hood who grew up here have been saying for years.
ENY: it’s a bit of a downer at the end, no?
I agree, Ditmas, Joe. That’s a great film.