today, while having brunch with old and new friends at a home in Park Slope, the wide-ranging conversation eventually wound its way to a discussion of Atlantic Yards. from that discussion with educated, well-informed and engaged Brooklynites, it became immediately apparent to me that we in the Atlantic Yards opposition are not doing a great job of getting our point-of-view heard, accurately represented and understood. i’ll try to clear up what i see as some of the biggest misrepresentations:
misconception #1: the Atlantic Yards opposition doesn’t want any development to occur over the open Vanderbilt rail yard of the MTA.
this could not be further from the truth. personally, as a home owner who lives a block from the rail yard, i was initially excited to hear of the possibility of a basketball arena in my hood. and, the thought of public parks, shops, restaurants and more built over the rail yard made me love my neighborhood that much more. if developed intelligently, and by including the neighborhood in a real open dialogue about the possibilities, the Vanderbilt rail yard could be transformed into the type of development that truly would enhance the community, my community.
misconception #2: the opposition has not presented any alternative to Atlantic Yards.
this is also not true. one alternative is the UNITY plan, whose website was coincidentally just updated. there was also the Extell plan that was submitted during the sham Request For Proposals, after Forest City Ratner was already anointed by the MTA, city and state.
misconception #3: it’s a done deal
no, it’s not. there are still two outstanding lawsuits: one in state court seeks to annul the “Atlantic Yards” Final Environmental Impact Statement and approval, and the other is a federal case contesting the use of eminent domain. it’s estimated that these lawsuits will not be resolved one way or another for probably another year.
clearly, we, in the opposition, are fighting a very tough uphill battle against a billionaire developer with friends in very high places and the weight of eminent domain precedence in its favor. Forest City Ratner has the money, experience and connections to get its message spread far and wide to create, or at least enhance, these misconceptions.
excellent online resources to stay informed about Atlantic Yards:
you were happy to hear about the arena but support the plan that pointedly doesn’t include one.
the suits may not be settled for a year, but two things people keep forgetting: 1) the number of plaintiffs keeps dropping as landowners make deals with Ratner. That cannot help the plaintiffs’ case. 2) if the courts keep ruling against the plaintiffs, the defendants can ask that the TRO be vacated and condemnation begin. There is nothing to stop the court from doing that. And if there are fewer and fewer plaintiffs, that is a strong argument for the defendants.
Sounds like whistling past the graveyard to me.
Bobbo, care to name a single property owner who has dropped off the eminent domain suit? you can’t, because none have dropped off.
2. “if the courts KEEP ruling against plaintiffs..”
First, the courts don’t keep ruling against plaintiffs. Plus, there is no TRO.
and Bobbo, you willfully ignore the EIS lawsuit.
a suit that was filed nearly 9 months ago with a pending decision. you can learn about it here:
http://www.dddb/net/FEIS
as for the post. the opposition will never have the ability to inform in the way Ratner does. and if there are many who are misguided about the opposition, it means they haven’t been paying much attention to a four year old fight.
as you point out, they should visit,
http://www.unityplan.org and they’ll find out the opposition aboslutley wants to develop the rail yards.
but not to worry, when he lawsuits go for the opposition your friends in Park Slope will know.
thanks for setting them straight on their myths.
bobbo,
i was happy about the arena until i understood the full scope of Atlantic Yards. i wasn’t initially aware that use of eminent domain was threatened to make it happen, and i don’t support use of eminent domain to support a private development. eminent domain abuse is only one of the reasons i oppose Atlantic Yards.
the lack of an arena is not why i support the UNITY plan. if someone comes up with a plan that includes an arena, but doesn’t require eminent domain, gets at least fair market value for the rights to develop over public property (Vanderbilt Yards), includes a significant percentage of housing affordable to those in the immediate vicinity, seriously addresses issues of traffic and infrastructure, is not vastly denser than surrounding communities, etc, etc, then i’ll support that plan.
i’m not a lawyer, so i’m referencing others whom i believe to understand the legal details when i said it may be a year before the suits are resolved. are they wrong? i don’t know.
assuming you’re correct about the TRO being vacated, and then the plaintiffs’ property is condemned and demolished, what would be the implications if the plaintiffs ultimately win their eminent domain suit? i have no idea, but i can’t imagine that Forest City Ratner would be foolish enough to do that to save a year on his construction schedule, especially when they’re so far behind schedule anyway. it would seem to me that that would be a public relations disaster, at the least.