Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards

• When Clowns Go Bad Part II: THE PURGE OF COMMUNITY BOARD 6- Well, two weeks after I reported on it, the big purge comes. Community Board 6 is being purged of most if not all of its members who have opposed the corrupt and irresponsible Ratner plan for developing Atlantic Yards. (photo comes from here) Marty Markowitz has been a consistent supporter of Pataki's law school buddy, Bruce Ratner's, plan for development. This despite the fact the project has no business plan (who supports a project so huge without a business plan???) and NYC taxpayers are being asked to pay for the acquisition of the land for Ratner (wish they'd paid for my land acquisition when I bought my apartment!)...and despite considerable doubts as to the real costs and benefits to the community.
• THE PURGE: Revenge of the Clown- Well, you heard it here first...now even the NY Times is reporting on it. Brooklyn Borough Clown Marty Markowitz has flexed his muscles and ousted members of Community Board 6 who voted against him on Atlantic Yards. At least 5 people have been ousted, all of them opposed to Ratner's corrupt Atlantic Yards project. I am still waiting to hear details as to just how hard Marty has flexed, but other boards may be involved as well. But CB6 seems the focus of the Clown's revenge. (UPDATE AT BOTTOM) (Image from the Brooklyn Record)
• Remembering Steve Gilliard: Steve on Atlantic Yards- Was reminded of this by Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn. Steve Gilliard was one of the top bloggers and his death is quite a loss. This photo from Campus Progress: One topic he wrote about was the sheer insanity and hypocricy of Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. This is only part of a long article he wrote for his blog, The News Blog:

  Forest City Ratner basically told working class black people that they would get jobs and shiny new homes. Which is probably not going to happen. Atlantic Yards is overscale, ugly and will destroy the character of the neighborhood. But more importantly, those jobs will not materialize, because they never do. Unless there are firm committments, nothing happens... Lets understand something. Most of the people Ratner bougtht off want jobs and have ZERO power to enforce any deal...

• "It's Not A Done Deal" Benefit for DDDB: Victorian House Tour & Book Party- The "It's Not A Done Deal" Benefit: Victorian House & Book Party ------------------------------------------------------------------- Clem Labine, Everett Ortner, Burnley Duke Dame, Kathy Evers, and Deirdre Lawrence invite you to... The "It's Not A Done Deal" Benefit, Victorian House & Book Party Spend a delightful afternoon with your neighbors and help preserve Brooklyn's Character. A Fund-Raiser for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and the legal expenses to block the Atlantic Yards mega-project, and send it back to the drawing board. All proceeds from the party will go to the Legal Fund: Sunday, June 24, 2007. 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. 199 Berkeley Place [map] Between 7th & 8th Avenues. Park Slope. Click here to purchase discounted online tickets (You can also purchase tickets at the door at full cost.) Tour one of Brooklyn's most famous restored Victorian Brownstones. Relax in the nationally famous Peacock Parlor.
• Hypocrisy in Brooklyn: Bill and Marty- [UPDATE: Typos corrected! Put this out too quickly for spelling's sake! Thanks to a kind proofreader!] I have to call BS on Bill de Blasio and Marty Markowitz. I really do. On Marty it's easy. He has gone from populist to Ratner yes-man and doesn't seem to understand that helping Ratner destroy Brooklyn is NOT what he was elected for. But Bill...Bill is smarter and I am surprised he would put himself in a position of such utter blatant hypocrisy.
• Crony Capitalism Comes to Brooklyn- [Editor's note: While I am on vacation I am reposting articles that I consider important, relavent and interesting. This one remains relavent, unfortunately. I would add that among the Corrupt Crony Capitalists I mention in this article, I should add Marty Markowitz and Vito Lopez] I've been insanely busy, so it seems that Michael Bouldin has been covering Atlantic Yards, an issue that I covered extensively before. But I finally find the time to sit down and put into words the disgust and forboding that I feel as our state government green lights one of the most un-American, corrupt and poorly conceived development plans in American history: the Bruce Ratner plan to profit from the exploitation of Brooklyn, with the help of tax money from NYC and NY State.
• Hakeem and Velmanette stand up- In the ongoing battle over Atlantic Yards, one central critique of good government advocates has been the abject failure of the legislature to do its due diligence and examine whether this project is indeed in the public interest, and therefore worthy of public dollars. One of the myriad lollipops being thrown at Bruce Ratner is this: a 421-a tax reform bill just passed by the Assembly reformed the 421-a tax break given to developers; now, one must actually build affordable housing to receive tax breaks for it. From Develop Don't Destroy:

  The Assembly passed a bill reforming the 36-year old 421-a property tax break. No longer will developers building new construction receive tax breaks when they build all market rate buildings. Now they must provide 20% of the units at "affordable" rates in each building, based on a cap set at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI). AMI for New York City is about $71,000 for a family of four (AMI for Brooklyn is about $35,000). But Bruce Ratner gets a special deal written in clause 13 of the bill. For his Atlantic Yards project, he gets the tax break for his market rate condos. No other developer in the 421-a "Geographic Exception Areas" (which include Central Brooklyn where the project is proposed) will receive tax breaks if they build all market rate.

  Mayor Bloomberg has called for a veto of the bill, and now, the two legislators who represent Atlantic Yards in the legislature, Velmanette Montgomery and Hakeem Jeffries, have made their displeasure known in no uncertain terms.
• What a Difference Party Affiliation Makes- Strange things are afoot as City Hall and Albany squabble over how much money should be thrown at Bruce Ratner's feet. First, Michael Bloomberg, Republican mayor of NYC, steamrolls a massive amount of NYC taxpayer money to help out Bruce Ratner, the good friend of fellow Republican Pataki. Bloomberg not only piled over $100 million in city money for infrastructure improvement, but also $100 million in city money to buy the land for Ratner. Which means Ratner had to pay nothing for the land. This, to me, was nothing but typical Republican crony capitalism at its worst. Some more reasonable minds, including David Yassky and Tish James, objected strenuously...to no avail.
• The Tide Slowly Turns: Hakeem Jeffries on Bruce Ratner- UPDATE at bottom. Last year, the central triumvirate trying to funnel taxpayer money into Bruce Ratner's pockets were, of course, Pataki, Bloomberg and, perhaps Lepidus to their Pompeius and Caesar, Markowitz. Below them were a whole slew of supporters (like Yvette Clarke) and what I considered enablers, people who were helping along the process despite apparant concerns. Hakeem Jeffries and David Yassky were among what I considered the enablers. Well, it's a year later and things have changed. On Ratner's side, of course, Pataki has faded away, but Vito Lopez, never one to shirk from corruption, has jumped in with such sleazy deals for Ratner that it is starting to drive away others. David Yassky's concerns, voiced last year yet hollow sounding next to his apparant acceptance of the corrupt deal, have escalated until Yassky has become a major critic of the project.
• Vito Lopez: Bought By Bruce Ratner?- I have written extensively about the lies and corruption surrounding Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. From Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn's Clown and whiny wannabe mayor of NYC, to Bloomberg and Pataki promising more and more land (at taxpayer expense) to Ratner in backroom deals, Ratner is surrounded by corruption.
• MIT Sues Frank Gehry for Design Flaws: Brooklyn Take Note- Brooklynites concerned about Bruce Ratner's overdevlopment plan for Brooklyn might want to pay attention to a lawsuit MIT has filed against Ratner's architect, Frank Gehry. Frank Gehry is a controversial figure, though I have always kind of liked his architecture. He has been criticized for wasting space and designing buildings that are too large and inconvenient for the people who use them. But to me his architecture always had a touch of the same playfulness I always have liked in the archtecture of Antoni Gaudi. Of course Gaudi was ridiculed early in his career, too.
• Opposition to Taxbreaks for Ratner: Letitia James and David Yassky Team Up- Seems Councilmembers Letitia James and David Yassky are teaming up to oppose the massive tax giveaways to developer Bruce Ratner. Here's the press release:

  [Councilmembers] Yassky and James to Proposed Atlantic Yards Amendment to MSG Tax Resolution Today at the Finance Committee hearing, the committee will review and vote on Proposed Resolution 90, which asks the State of New York to end the twenty-year-old property tax exemption for Madison Square Garden. If the Council thinks subsidizing MSG is a bad deal fort the City and State, they should take another look at the tax breaks and subsidies being offered to the proposed Atlantic Yards Development: they are even worse.

• Ratner Lies Now on Record- Well, it is now on record in court records. Ratner has lied to us about the so-called "benefits" of his Atlantic Yards project. In fact, it sure sounds to me like Ratner's lawyer has admitted that he lied under oath: From the Brooklyn Papers:

  Forest City Ratner now admits that its claim of a tax revenue windfall — a justification for the government’s support of the $4 billion project — was actually concocted by Ratner’s paid consultant, and was not based on an analysis by state officials as the developer repeatedly claimed. “The $4.4 billion figure is in the report of a consultant who had been retained by [Forest City Ratner Companies] and does not appear in the state’s [Final Environmental Review Statement,]” said Ratner attorney Jeffrey Braun in a legal document that surfaced this week. Braun himself previously stated in court that the $4.4 billion number came from the state.

• Screening of Isabel Hill's Atlantic Yards documentary "Brooklyn Matters"- Tuesday, April 1, 7pm. Screening of Isabel Hill's Atlantic Yards documentary "Brooklyn Matters". Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School 357 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn (btwn. Greene & Lafayette Aves.). Co-sponsors: Society for Clinton Hill, The Fort Greene Association, and DDDB This documentary has been very highly acclaimed. For example: “It wasn’t until viewing Isabel Hill’s film that I realized the true scope of what is at stake for the future of Brooklyn in proceeding with the development of the Atlantic Yards in its present form.” -Carmi Bee, FAIA, RKT&B Architects & Planners “Brooklyn Matters is a remarkable film that slowly, quietly, calmly reveals the extreme ugliness at the heart of one of the most ill-conceived mega-development schemes in New York history.” -Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian "Isabel Hill’s revealing documentary about the proposed Atlantic Yards project takes an honest look at the complex role that race, class, power, and money play in the redevelopment of our communities and calls for a more open discussion about equitable urban development."
• Bill DeBlasio: We Told You So!- Councilman Bill DeBlasio has seemed to have never met a developer dollar he didn't like. Rumor has it he has admitted as much. But it is certain that he by and large sides quite proudly with any developer who pays lip service, no matter how far fetched, to affordable housing.
• Bruce Ratner: Put up or Shut up!- Today was the rally calling for Bruce Ratner to put up or shut up. Brooklyn is getting tired of Ratner making promises then breaking those promises even as he demands more taxpayer money. The rally was well attended, though we came slightly late and were way at the back, so didn't really see the whole crowd. Chris Owens, President of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats and Brooklyn Progressive Activist, led the rally. Three groups organized the rally: Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, and Brooklyn Speaks. MANY local politicians attended, including some who had previously been pretty solidly behind Ratner. Ratner has worn out his welcome even among his supporters. Here are some excerpts from the press release from the three organizing groups:
• Only Bruce Ratner Could Bring Them Together- DDDB sent me a link to some pictures from Saturday's "Put Up or Shut Up Ratner" Rally (as I call it). Once again, I am struck at the politicians that have come together to oppose Ratner. The iconic picture for me is Chris Owens and David Yassky, on the same stage to demand accountability in all aspects of the Atlantic Yards project: How times have changed since 2006. And Ratner brought them together. This picture gives a good impression of the turnout: Though I think this might be facing only one way from the stage and so show about half the crowd. A was the far end of the crowd in this picture, so I couldn't see to the other end. This seems to give an impression of the crowd facing the other way: Not a bad turnout for a dreary Saturday.
• Pimping for Ratner?- The Brooklyn Papers has an interesting revelation that one of the people leading the pro-Ratner counter rally to Community opposition to Ratner's Atlantic Yards is an admitted pimp:

  One of Bruce Ratner’s boosters at the pro–Atlantic Yards rally on Saturday is a former strip club manager who used to arrange for dancers to have sex with NBA stars. The Atlantic Yards supporter, Thomas “Ziggy” Sicignano, who now runs Brooklyn U.S.A., a youth basketball program in Park Slope, said that Ratner’s foundation gave his organization $10,000 in 2005. That donation came four years after his stunning courtroom admission that he prostituted strippers to attract NBA stars to the Gold Club in Atlanta.

  This comes as no surprise. After all, the counter-rally wasn't a community based rally, but were getting paid to be there. And many people suddenly become Ratner supporters after getting paid money by him. Sicignano had his price. Vito Lopez had his price. Ratner's whole scheme is about buying favors, so he and a pimp would get along just fine.