Pictures from yesterday's rally

What you need to notice is that 25 of the apts. out of 60 he owns are empty therefore what happened to the people who lived in those apts. They are gone never to be heard from again. Why weren't they offered a deal? Also if you read the whole article you will see that he hasn't contacted anyone yet.

"But many renters - including some who have lived in the area for decades and pay very little rent - complain they still have not heard from Ratner.

"They don't know anything," said tenant organizer Artemio Guerra of the Fifth Avenue Committee, which is representing low-income renters at 810 and 812 Pacific St.

I wouldn't believe anything Ratner says until it's put into a binding agreement with penalties for not following through and verified by an independent body. Not these so called community groups who were handpicked by Ratner and are going to sign this sham Community Bebefits Agreement(CBA). Remember all the promises of jobs that he made at Metrotech

The vacant apartment were not vacated by force. If someone moves because they get a new job somewhere else or needs more space, there is no need for them to be compensated and no requirement that the units be re-rented.

People are talking about eminent domain abuse and people being forced from their homes. Ratner has said that he does not want to use eminent domain and would rather work on a win/win situation for everyone involved. This is showing that he is willing to do that. Another developer may have simply made the case for ED and been done with it. This was the big fear at the beginning of this process and Ratner is showing that the fear is unfounded.

If in the end there are a stubborn few who will not move for any amount of money on principle then I say screw them. Developing this site will do great things for Brooklyn as a whole. I think the greedy ones are the ones that want to prevent the development from happening because they are trying to deny the city a major source of jobs and income to fund more schools, parks, firehouses, subways, etc. Right now that site contributes zero to this community and the greedy ones are the ones that want to keep it that way.

Subject: ???

Do you work for Ratner?

Ben wrote: The vacant apartment were not vacated by force. If someone moves because they get a new job somewhere else or needs more space, there is no need for them to be compensated and no requirement that the units be re-rented.

People are talking about eminent domain abuse and people being forced from their homes. Ratner has said that he does not want to use eminent domain and would rather work on a win/win situation for everyone involved. This is showing that he is willing to do that. Another developer may have simply made the case for ED and been done with it. This was the big fear at the beginning of this process and Ratner is showing that the fear is unfounded.

If in the end there are a stubborn few who will not move for any amount of money on principle then I say screw them. Developing this site will do great things for Brooklyn as a whole. I think the greedy ones are the ones that want to prevent the development from happening because they are trying to deny the city a major source of jobs and income to fund more schools, parks, firehouses, subways, etc. Right now that site contributes zero to this community and the greedy ones are the ones that want to keep it that way.

I just think the scale of the project is Waaaaay out of hand. If he wanted to build another metrotech I'd be cool with it, maybe even a couple of big buildings. I dont see the value in tearing down homes with people living there, so what if they dont want to move, shit they "invested" in the area first. And whats up with giving it tax free, how can anyone who gets a paycheck be ok with that, you must be insane, take a closer look at the numbers next time you get one.

Also, if it all turns out to be a bad idea 10 years from now(not long for a residents view), the traffic is a mess, the city is broke, basketball goes on stike again, the buildings end up project houses, police and fire resources are taxed past there limit. Will Marty, Bloomberg, or Ratner be held responsible? No, they will be chilling on yacht somehwre far from brooklyn laughing their asses off. Us taxpayers will get fucked, none of this is well thought out, it is a "great investment" if you are a business guy, their return is instantaneous compared the the return to us. For the taxpayer it is a risky gamble.

1) announcements of low and moderate income housing that pleased even ACORN (for more on ACORNs roots see here: http://www.nysun.com/article/14922)

2) announcements of compensation for not only owners but renters who will be impacted by this project.

As I stated previously, I still have questions about the scope of the project.

Minet's comments show just how hysterical some people have become over this whole thing. Just because Ben dares disagree, he must therefore be a paid employee of Ratner? Just because ACORN and BUILD support the project, then they must be funded by Ratner? Captain's dire predictions sure gave me a belly laugh. Please explain how the residential towers would become "project houses". I'd love to hear that one. While we're at it, let's predict that Satan himself will emerge from a manhole on the corner of Vanderbilt and Pacific and spew his hellish flames. Hail Beelzebub of ProHo!

Jack,
I disagree with being characterized as hysterical. (Probably many people who are against this project would also.)
I was asking a legitimate question. Ben is entitled to his opinion, as are you. Yes, I disagree with him and you. But I don't think asking him a specific question can be classified as hysterical.
If you want to get technical- your statement about Satan popping up would probably be considered "hysterical". But I would not want to make such a sweeping generalization.
By the way, do you work for Ratner or any of his lobbying groups?
Thanks

Jack Krohn wrote: Minet's comments show just how hysterical some people have become over this whole thing. Just because Ben dares disagree, he must therefore be a paid employee of Ratner? Just because ACORN and BUILD support the project, then they must be funded by Ratner? Captain's dire predictions sure gave me a belly laugh. Please explain how the residential towers would become "project houses". I'd love to hear that one. While we're at it, let's predict that Satan himself will emerge from a manhole on the corner of Vanderbilt and Pacific and spew his hellish flames. Hail Beelzebub of ProHo!

Sje, thanks for giving me an even bigger laugh than the Captain. Wow, I thought that I had seen the best of the "doom and gloom" theories, but the ones on this board are in a class all their own. Yes, I suppose that ProHo becoming the next Cabrini-Green is a possibility, as you say, but, then again, so is the emergence of Satan. Minet, my apologies to you for generalizing. No, I don't work for Ratner, but perhaps I should call his outfit and inquire about employment opportunities. I get such a kick out of debating on this board - it'd be even better to get paid for doing so.

I stand by my comment that opponents are undecided on what effect the housing would have. Again, it seems that the gentfirication argument has been replaced by predictions of fleeing residents and, as of today, the biggest homeless shelter in the world.

Homeless shelter! Ha! Ha! Ha! That's a good one!

Subject: questions?

So, I bought my apartment 6 years ago because I liked the neighborhood. I chose not to live near any stadium or high rise building. (Particularly 17-20 of them) (Does any one know how tall they will be?- I hear that they will be Citibank Building in Queens big)
What I would like to know is how is the infrastructure of "downtown" Brooklyn going to handle that many people coming and going? It is not physically possible for any of the already overcrowded trains and stations to accommodate that many people. Also, traffic on Atlantic and Flatbush is already a big problem. How would that be handled? The state government will not give any more money to the MTA.
What kind of "jobs" are going to be produced?
What companies will be moving into the "new" buildings?
How would having a transient (sorry, a lot of renters are) group be helpful to the neighborhood?
Wouldn't this complex take away from the "Ground Zero" project?
Thank you

Anonymous wrote: this country and it's love affair with sports. it makes me sick! read a book...to your kid!

Thank god I'm not the only one, I dont even have kids! Build another metrotech and bring in a bank with real jobs, build a universityand give people who dont have jobs can get an education, put in a giant public pool so brooklyn can actually compete in the next olympics, put in basketball courts so people can actually play basketball, put in an arts village ( Annapolis MD, I think, has this ), a museam, a monument tribute to all the people that have come through brooklyn, hell...build all of them, you can have my tax money. Too bad Markowitz is an easy sellout and fails to see whats best for brooklyn, he'd rather see the unemployed selling hot dogs, rich people make a quick buck, and break the back of the taxpayer.

Subject: Re: questions?

any wrote: So, I bought my apartment 6 years ago because I liked the neighborhood. I chose not to live near any stadium or high rise building. (Particularly 17-20 of them) (Does any one know how tall they will be?- I hear that they will be Citibank Building in Queens big)
What I would like to know is how is the infrastructure of "downtown" Brooklyn going to handle that many people coming and going? It is not physically possible for any of the already overcrowded trains and stations to accommodate that many people. Also, traffic on Atlantic and Flatbush is already a big problem. How would that be handled? The state government will not give any more money to the MTA.
What kind of "jobs" are going to be produced?
What companies will be moving into the "new" buildings?
How would having a transient (sorry, a lot of renters are) group be helpful to the neighborhood?
Wouldn't this complex take away from the "Ground Zero" project?
Thank you

Those are all good questions I would be interested in hearing answered by pro-stadium people. Unfortunately the best defense they seem to have is to call people against the stadium crazy.

I would like to acknowledge a regular who thinks he is posting anonymously for the insight that most of the protestors are white. Thanks for pointing that out.

In fact, if you really think that's relevant, you may also find it relevant that the majority of people living in Kings County are "white" (or to prove me wrong, go here and split the data in a different way)

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Sorry about editing your post. It's poor form for Mr. XXXX to post inflammatory comments anonymously in this forum. On the other hand, anonymous comments are not disallowed (as you know, Guest), so let's not name names. I think most people who follow threads of an "Atlantic Yards" nature will be able to put 2 and 2 together.

I live in the neighborhood. I was lucky enough to purchase a home for very cheap on the block where my in-laws have live for the past 30 years and have seen it go from really seedy to wonderful. My husband and I combined do not make more than $100,000 a year. I agree that this neighborhood can use some revitalization but at what expense? The government coming in to exercise eminent domain for these development projects? Eminent domain as far as I remember was to be used in cases where the property was need for say a school, hospital, fire house, police station, etc. Hopefully the Supreme Court will rule in the people's favor and Ratner will have a much, much harder (if not impossible) time. The money that is being "given" by the city to this project is ridiculous. My son attends PS 9. I have to buy supplies for his school such as toilet paper, tissues, hand soap, etc. Some the books are from when my husband attended that school over 25 years ago. We need to take care of our children. We are finally attracting teachers who are willing to go the extra yard with our children and we will lose them if we cannot offer them comparable or better salaries than private or suburb schools. What the hell is this City thinking? One of my biggest concerns is safety. Who is going to foot the bill for that. If you remember after 9/11 when they were checking cars and buses before they entered the bridges the traffic was backed up all the way down Flatbush. Dont you think the same thing will happen with a stadium. This is not the boondocks of Brooklyn, this is a major hub that happens to have more residential that commercial around it.

I love to have a Brooklyn Sports Team (oh yeah we already have one - the Brooklyn Cyclones!!) but there are so many other parts of Brooklyn that would make more sense for a large stadium.

Captain Marvelous hit the nail on the head, develop it but develop for all walks of life to enjoy, culturally, educationally and recreationally !

I disagree that there are "other parts of Brooklyn better suited for a stadium". I think it's best to put the stadium near the largest transportation hub in the borough to encourage people to use mass transit rather than driving. And comparing a minor league team like the Brooklyn Cyclones to a major league NBC team is simply ridiculous.