Ratner's Atlantic Yards block party cancelled
Atlantic Yards
Three years ago today, Forest City Ratner entered into a community benefits agreement for its Atlantic Yards project, promising affordable housing and work for local and minority businesses to help build Brooklyn's biggest-ever development. A block party planned for today to celebrate the anniversary has been canceled.
The party was to be in the footprint of the struggling Atlantic Yards project, on Pacific Street between Vanderbilt and Carlton avenues. Delia Hunley-Adossa, chairwoman of the Atlantic Yards Community Benefit Agreement, said the block party had been planned for months, but was canceled after the U.S. Supreme's Court decision Monday not to hear an eminent domain petition presented by property owners and tenants challenging the government's ability to seize their homes. The ruling followed a string of legal losses for the project's opponents.
"We wanted to be sensitive to the community that the decision came down Monday," said Hunley-Adossa, who works with both the developer and the community.
Daniel Goldstein of community group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, a plaintiff in several lawsuits against the project, said that flyers were first emailed out Monday afternoon, soon after the Supreme Court's decision.
"The flyer was emailed out at 4:30 p.m. on Monday," Goldstein said. "The decision came out after 10 a.m. I believe that it was scheduled because of that decision and I believe it was canceled because somebody realized it was a really bad, offensive idea."
Goldstein said the block is full of rent-stabilized tenants, including some families who have lived there for generations, and all of the homes are threatened by the project.
"We work to prevent displacement due to gentrification," Hunley-Adossa said. "We're getting 2,250 units of affordable housing [in the Atlantic Yards project]. For all of what has been done, the commitment is where it should be."
Adossa said Forest City Ratner has been using local and minority businesses in pre-construction work.
"I think the third quarter is when the actual ground will be broken," Hunley-Adossa said. "There's no doubt that we'll get all we fought for."
Last week, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn asked the Public Authorities Control Board to investigate the financing of the project because of its increased cost.
Scrutiny of Atlantic Yards has intensified following Ratner's recent decisions to downsize the project and delay construction of a centerpiece tower until an anchor tenant is secured.
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Comments
It's time for compromise. I am personally a fan the development, however, am wary of the social & cultural impact it will have for Brooklyn. I love Brooklyn just the way it is from Williamsburg, SunSet, FlatBush to ConeyIsland. The completion of the existing construction of these large scale developments will soon change the makeup of the borough. Namely, Atlantic Rail yard, ConeyIslands park development by Thor, and clusters of new construction projects in The Gowanus, Parkslope and SunSet. These are developments with more than 12 floors and 80 units per building. These developments projects are attracting Clusters of these types of luxury development will have an cultural impact on Brooklyn
Comment #1 Posted By: 06/27/08
FredUp
Community activists are always talking in quarters and developer jargon, like: oh yeah, let's do that flyering campaign in the first quarter, then why don't we're gonna hold that bake sale in the middle of the second quarter, then we'll have that protest march right around the start of the third quarter, then just a little bit further into the third quarter I think we'll break ground."
Comment #2 Posted By: FredUp 06/28/08
Anonymous
haha bakesale, too easy
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 06/28/08
Anonymous
We wanted to be sensitive to the community we knocked down, by not having the "block party" on the block where we are running a homeless shelter out of town, and then we cancelled the "block party" to be "sensitive" to the community that we have thus far been completely insensitive too.
Now that is just just gdamn hilarious tongue twisting, perhaps from the Book of Bush!
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 06/29/08
Anonymous
The flyers were priceless. Who was throwing that "party?' What kind of food? What community groups. The flyers were meant to look like some tiny grass roots organization made them, not a huge company that pays gazillions to Dan Klores Pr firm.
And then, the party was scheduled for Friday from 2 to 6? And they call the opponents elitist?
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 06/29/08
Michael D. D. White
Obviously, the insensitive mismanagement of this situation constitutes something of a public relations fiasco for Forest City Ratner.
Real estate and housing professionals a will particularly appreciate going a step deeper with the analysis. The party (on a Friday? At 2: PM) was to celebrate a “Community Benefits Agreement” regularly depicted by Rater on parchment (including on the invitation flyers) to promote the idea it has value. When examined carefully, the terms of that agreement afford startlingly little benefit to the community.
For more on this google: ACORN+MOU "virtually nothing"
Comment #6 Posted By: Michael D. D. White 06/29/08
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