Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn

Opponents of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn have never held back in criticizing the media’s coverage—or what they say is a lack thereof—of the more than $4 billion planned development. Now, as Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn points out to us, the issue has apparently piqued the interest of a TV mini-series that examines flaws of mainstream print and broadcast outlets.

The IFC Media Project, made up of producers who worked on Michael Moore films, will air an episode that devotes 10 minutes to Atlantic Yards, according to the series’ Web site.

The film's take on print journalism's Atlantic Yards coverage seems less than laudatory:  read more »

It's been almost two full years since the state approved Atlantic Yards, the courts have repeatedly ruled against legal challenges to the Brooklyn project, and the economy has fallen into shambles. Still, the group leading the legal fight, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, reports it brought in a considerable sum, $45,000, at its fourth annual walkathon on Sunday.

The amount is just slightly less than the $50,000 it reported at the event last year, but less than half the $100,000 it reported in the heat of the battle in 2006.

The money goes toward the legal challenge, which is currently focused on the use of eminent domain at the Prospect Heights site. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a federal lawsuit brought by the group, prompting a separate suit in state court, which will be heard next year, as a state judge recently rejected an attempt to dismiss the challenge.  read more »

Six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their federal lawsuit, landowners fighting the use of eminent domain for the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn have filed another suit, this time in state court.

Opposition group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn put out a release today announcing the lawsuit, filed Friday, which claims the development was approved to benefit a private developer (Bruce Ratner) as opposed to benefit the public (which would justify the use of eminent domain), among other charges.

"Far from emerging from a legitimate democratic process where the public interest is identified and articulated," the suit says, "the Project is the product of a developer's dream-and a conscious effort to bypass City procedures mandating meaningful local review, planning, democratic oversight and community input.  read more »

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up an appeal in the fight over Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project, putting to an end the federal lawsuit filed by landowners and tenants in late 2006 that challenged the state’s use of eminent domain for the mega-project.

The plaintiffs in the suit are now pledging to take the case to state court, a route they initially avoided as eminent domain laws in New York tend to be relatively favorable to the state.

In the federal suit, the landowners and tenants charged that the state’s use of eminent domain was improper as it was intended for a private gain of developer Bruce Ratner, who sought to move the Nets basketball team to a new arena on the site and build over 6,000 apartments.  read more »

Elected officials are pushing to halt work on Brooklyn’s $4 billion-plus Atlantic Yards development in order to re-examine the project, given the new governor and delays caused by the slow economy.

A rally is scheduled for Saturday.  read more »

Today brings another legal blow for Atlantic Yards opponents, this time a bit more minor than Friday’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the environmental review for the project.

Tenant attorney George Locker, who lost a case in November related to eminent domain and tenants in the project's footprint, saw his appeal dismissed today, according to developer Forest City Ratner.  read more »

Brooklyn writers are joining the fight against Bruce Ratner's vision for Atlantic Yards by donating short essays and stories to Brooklyn Was Mine, an anthology compiled by two Vogue senior editors that will benefit Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn. The book will be available in stores—mostly in the quaint, tweedy-type joints—starting today. According to press notes, 20 authors submitted works, including Jonthan Lethem, who published "a wild, dystopian ride into Brooklyn's future" called "Ruckus Flatbush," and Jennifer Egan, who wrote about a Brooklyn Navy Yard worker who writes letters to her husband fighting in World War II. "Who is to say what will become of the place, or whether Brooklyn will retain its soul?" asked contributing writer Phillip Lopate in the introduction. "Whatever happens to Brooklyn," he answers, "its literary soul is sound and robust, and its writers fiercely loyal."

Jennifer Egan, Susan Choi and Darin Strauss will have a reading at the Park Slope Barnes & Noble next Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Full release after the jump.  read more »

... in the Atlantic Yards footprint. Or he never had them in the beginning. Norman Oder is reporting on a state Supreme Court ruling released on Tuesday. Don't miss Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's jubilant statement.

The Real Estate has calls into Forest City Ratner and will update this post when it gets a response.

- Matthew Schuerman

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn has collected 3,600 form letters, online and on the street, urging the Public Authorities Control Board to postpone its vote on Atlantic Yards until after "the courts" rule on its eminent domain lawsuit -- which, frankly, could take a few years, especially if the case goes all the way to the Supreme Court.

Most of them, spokesman Daniel Goldstein said, were collected in Brooklyn, but there are 400 signers from state Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver's Lower Manhattan district among them. Silver, Gov. Pataki, and state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno control the votes on the authorities control board.

The letters will be delivered Tuesday.  read more »

- Matthew Schuerman

Here is a letter from three Brooklyn Assembly members asking for changes in the design of the Atlantic Yards project, but stopping short of actually opposing it.

Assembly members James Brennan, Joan Millman and Annette Robinson said the venture should be scaled down, with guaranteed affordable housing and more extensive disclosure of the project's finances.

"A delay of several months while concerns are incorporated into the Project will cause no harm to Atlantic Yards and major long-term benefits to the community."

The letter was emailed out today by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and posted on the group's website, although the moderate tone seems to be at odds with DDDB's more absolutist opposition.

Is this a sign that the Atlantic Yards opposition is beginning to coalesce around an eventual compromise position? Or am I just reading too much into this?

-- Azi Paybarah

Blogger Norman Oder has a rundown of the first court appearance on Tuesday for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's eminent domain lawsuit against Forest City Ratner's Atlantic Yards. Another piece of the project opponents' legal strategy emerged: that government's power to take private property rests with the legislature, not the executive branch. The Atlantic Yards condemnations are being undertaken by the Empire State Development Corporation, which is appointed by the governor.

Oder even catches a moment when the E.S.D.C. lawyer cites a federal appeals court decision to support the idea that judges should not be making eminent domain decisions. But since that case said it was the "legislative" and not "administrative" arm that should be in charge instead, the lawyer had to do some on-the-spot editing.

If the legislature-only principle wins the day, the case will have a huge impact on the way New York state does business.

Meanwhile, City Council Member Letitia James, an Atlantic Yards opponent, met with a Dolan family lobbyist this week, The Brooklyn Papers reports.

- Matthew Schuerman

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn filed its eminent domain lawsuit today on behalf of 10 plaintiffs, and it reveals two essential parts of the opposition's legal strategy to fight Atlantic Yards.

For one, far from trying to battle last year's Kelo v. New London all the way up to a U.S. Supreme Court re-hearing--which would not be preposterous given the popular backlash--the plaintiffs will use the 5-4 decision to its advantage. In the Kelo case, New London, Justice Stevens wrote, "has carefully formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community." By contrast, DDDB's attorney Matthew Brinckerhoff said at the press conference today, Atlantic Yards "was driven entirely by Bruce Ratner" and Atlantic Yards is a case of the government "taking private property in order to enrich a private developer."

In other words, it will be a case about one of our favorite subjects: urban planning.

Two, the plaintiffs are first filing in federal, rather than state, court, and before eminent domain procedures actually have begun ("because otherwise it would be too late," Brinckerhoff said), which also suggests they feel Kelo will work for them, while New York state's notoriously developer-friendly laws will not.

Forest City Ratner says in response: "This is simply a sad attempt to delay a project that is supported by over 60 percent of Brooklyn."

-Matthew Schuerman

Opponents of Atlantic Yards are planning to come out in force at tonight's panel held by the Municipal Arts Society on the arena and housing complex in Central Brooklyn. An e-mail sent out Sunday to volunteers of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, whose leaders had seen a preview three weeks ago, said the esteemed urbanist organization's plan was "UNACCEPTABLE." The e-mail exhorted the volunteers to show up with the same sign ("It will make a good photo-op") and also to "ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS."

Well, the call to arms is still in force, though DDDB has since (they say yesterday) e-mailed an update revising its talking points. "It was clarified to us, or they changed their minds, that they are not going to present a plan, but their principles," DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein told us. Vanessa Gruen, MAS director of special projects, said, "We do not have an alternative plan. I don't know why they have been characterizing it that way."  read more »

More after the jump.

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn admonishes its spokesman in a statement which we suspect came from, or at least via, its spokesman:

We can state with absolute certainty that Daniel Goldstein is not a racist. But his choice of language in this one instance was thoughtless, and we want to assure our allies and our opponents that they do not reflect the values of our organization.

-Matthew Schuerman

A coterie of Brooklyn celebrities has aligned itself against Bruce Ratner's plan for a Nets stadium and surrounding development in Prospect Heights.

The group includes Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Safran Foer and Nicole Krauss, Peter Galassi, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jonathan Lethem and Rosie Perez. They and others, a press release last night announced, have joined an advisory board for Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn, the group that has been vocally opposing the stadium and related plans.

"To my mind Ratner's plan does not respect what is unique, inherent and crucial to Brooklyn's landscape and history. The 'Atlantic Yards' proposal is completely out of character with the existing scale and mocks Brooklyn's beautiful diverse cultures. His vision will increase traffic, pollution and asthma. My husband Heath and I moved to Brooklyn for light and space and air. If Mr. Ratner lived here he would understand what we love about it and why we want to preserve our open skies." - Michelle Williams, Actor

The rest of the list? After the jump.  read more »

- Tom McGeveran

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn has just sent out the word on two forums tonight. Whether you want to call it Atlantic Yards or "Atlantic Yards," you can do a bit of forum-hopping around Brooklyn tonight.

The full release is after the jump.  read more »

The New York Sun reports that “Bruce Ratner”—not Bruce Ratner--has been sending insulting e-mails to “at least one prominent Brooklyn resident.” Daniel Goldstein, leader of the opposition to Ratner’s Atlantic Yards proposal, e-mailed reporters this morning to say, “To be clear, nobody associated with Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn has anything to do with this." -Matthew Schuerman

(UPDATED)*

Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, the anti-Ratner/Nets Stadium organization, just released a letter it sent to M.T.A. chairman Peter Kalikow last Friday, cosigned with 44 other city groups.

The neighborhood group wants the M.T.A. to release information about bids the agency is receiving to develop the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn.

Extell--the developer that's also pursuing a controversial (and recently deadly) development on Brodway and 100th Street--recently put in a bid for the property, setting the stage for another Cablevision/Jets-like showdown with Ratner and the Nets.

"The people will not accept a repeat of the West Side process," wrote Daniel Goldstein in the accompanying press release. "We are expressing very clearly to the MTA that there are two legitimate proposals that they must give equal consideration. The MTA and Ratner have been negotiating for two years, the least they can do is refrain from rushing to a decision in two weeks. Also, the land they are dispensing is public land and therefore the bids should be made public before a decision is made."

No response yet from the M.T.A.  read more »

Rumors the Carlyle group was involved in the Extell bid were prevalent in the conversation about the Atlantic Yards, though a recent report carries a statement from the controversial organization isn't working with Extell on the Brooklyn project, though they have helped Extell acquire property in the past (see second-last graf).

* Original posting omitted 44 signatories to the letter besides DDDB; also asserted Carlyle Group's involvement with the Nets project. - Matthew Grace