April 21, 2007
Ratner Free to Proceed With Demolition
The organizers at Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn are planning a protest for this upcoming Monday in reaction to a judge's ruling that allows Forest City Ratner to proceed with its demolition plans, refusing a group of 26 co-plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order. The protest will begin at 8 a.m. in front of 191 Flatbush Ave. between 5th Ave. and Dean St. The state lawsuit maintains that an environmental impact study of the project was flawed. An earlier lawsuit challenging the legality of the eminent domain procedure has thus far failed to stop the Atlantic Yards project. From the Develop Don't Destroy press release about the judge's ruling:
Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden today declined to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would have blocked developer Forest City Ratner from commencing demolitions within the footprint of the “Atlantic Yards” project before the legal challenge to the state’s environmental review and approval of the project, as well as a motion for a preliminary injunction, can be heard in court on May 3rd.The court expressly stated that in making today's TRO decision it was not pre-judging the merits of petitioners' claims filed on April 5th.
So Monday morning on Brooklyn's Flatbush Ave. could be quite a scene, with area residents protesting and construction workers showing up to knock down some buildings. We wonder if Bruce Ratner will be standing in a window high above the action, taking it all in and perhaps muttering "Excellent" as he drums his fingers together.
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Develop Don't Destroy AKA Only WE Can Decide What Is Right
Yeah, demolishing abandoned buildings.
Ooh, this is going to be fun.
This is an issue of "The Right money" . Ratner and his people want to build something that they know is going to be a waste and will only destroy the neighborhoods diversity . That's what this is all about . The sad thing here is, Our own Borough President is fighting for this project to go forward and has enlisted the help of some powerful people to back him up . They have judges that want no part of this fiasco conjuring up bullshit rulings that they know aren't right . You have businesses that have promised to build and maintain properties their .( An example of the business climate is what's happening inside the Atlantic Center Mall, They can't seem to keep businesses there!) There using the lore of jobs to get the public on their side . When the reality is that the very people that will eventually be working there are the same ones that will not be able to live in the very neighborhood they work in ! It's going too be a playground for the rich . Plain and simple the Nets ( whatever they do when they start playing their) will be an after thought whether or not they win or lose . The commercialization of the area in conjunction with Fulton Mall will be a traffic nightmare, A Public hazard, With nothing but Condos, and Hotels filling the void where there used to be a thriving neighborhood ! I can see a social class war on the horizon folks . Because the poor folk are going to get tired of being priced out of their own neighborhoods by wealthy folks looking for the closest locations they can find . You see what's happening in most of Parkslope, as well as parts of Gowanus, Bed Stuy & Cobble Hill . I've witnessed some of the robberies when those folks get off the train late at nite trying too get home . Bottom line this is just going to add to that growing ball of shit that's tumbling downhill .
Madison Square Garden is housed above one of the largest transit hubs on the eastern seaboard and can only get 50% of people attending events there to take mass transit. The traffic in that area is so bad already.
The Atlantic Terminal Mall and the Atlantic Center mall are reason enough why this project should be reconsidered-both ugly and non -functional.
I moved to 5th ave park slope in 2000 so I am part of the probelm so to speak but I will say that some of the changes I have seen over this time in the area are not all for the better.
Gothamist: The eminent domain lawsuit has not yet been heard. Fix your post.
re: Madison Square Garden, in addition to em's comment, MSG also doesn't have the denseset residential commuinty in the country right next to it, as Atlantic Yards and the Nets Arena would.