Today was the official groundbreaking ceremony for Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards, which former slave traders Barclays has the naming rights for. I was going to try and make the protests against this ceremony to mark the destruction of Central Brooklyn, the increased sewage load on an already over flowing sewage system and the increased gridlock in an already over crowded road system. But I couldn't skip work today. So I missed it. From what I hear, not that many elected officials made the groundbreaking either...perhaps realizing how unpopular the traffic, street closings and sewage overflows are going to be. And maybe when taxpayers realize how much people like Bloomberg, Marty Markowitz and Vito Lopez are making us pay for Ratner to make money, people will like it even less. But now the damage begins.

Here is the statement from Councilmember Tish James on the groundbreaking:

“He, who has money, has power, influence, and ultimately politicians.

It is a sad day in Brooklyn when basketball rules over affordable housing, schools, playgrounds, youth centers, libraries, and MetroCards for students. This ceremonial groundbreaking best represents the priorities of a few misguided men, and will do nothing to fix the budget deficits on either the State, or local levels.

The proposed Atlantic Yards Project is not about jobs or housing, but about bailing out a developer with friends in high places, for a NBA team that is the worst in the league. Governor Patterson and Mayor Bloomberg should commit today to refuse any additional public dollars towards this boondoggle and demand that the affordable housing be built immediately.

I will now take on the fight to keep Forest City Ratner Companies true to their promises: to build much needed affordable housing, provide opportunities for local women and minority businesses, and to mitigate the adverse affects of ongoing construction and traffic congestion in this district.

I refused to celebrate with FCR today, and I renew my objection to this entire project, the process, the land grabbing, and the waste of public funds.

At a recent event at Freddy's highlighting Ratner's eagerness to kick homeless families out into the cold in mid-winter so he can build a parking lot for his construction crews, Velmanette Montgomery said she would lay down in front of the bulldozers if she had to. But it would take more than one brave State Senator laying down in front of the bulldozers to stop Ratner's lousy, overpriced, taxpayer-funded project. With so many politicians bought off, Ratner has gotten his way.

For a rundown of just how bad this is for Brooklyn, please read this summary:

Atlantic Yards: A Scam, A Boondoggle, A Land Grab, A Bait & Switch, A Failure of Democracy