Over the past 5 years, I’ve gotten to know many involved in the fight over developer Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards.  From the beginning, filmmaker Michael Galinsky and crew have been following this story on a budget that’s typical of many documentaries: next to nothing.  Money’s even tighter in this economy, so they’re reaching out to family, friends, supporters, strangers and the internets for funding.

If they reach $25,000 in pledges by December 1st, they will receive a matching grant.  Please make a pledge today! This is a story that must be told.

You can check out clips here.

Thanks!

From the Kickstarter web site:

Friends,

As you know, for the past 6 years we’ve been shooting our film, “Battle of Brooklyn,” a documentary which chronicles the efforts of local community activists to stop a massive development that threatens to decimate their neighborhood. Our main character, Daniel Goldstein, refused to sell to the developer and now New York State is attempting to seize his home via the power of eminent domain — a hot button issue that has made headlines across the country. (Dan and his family are not the only ones whose home is threatened. However, in order to tell the most compelling story the film increasingly focuses on him and his family.).

After she recently viewed a rough cut, Mindy Fullilove, professor of clinical psychiatry and public health at Columbia University, wrote us: “I keep reflecting on your movie. It’s so superb that you have documented the nitty gritty reality of fighting City Hall so that all of us will know it’s possible.”

Now we’re approaching the end of this incredible story: If the developer doesn’t get shovels in the ground by Dec 31, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to proceed. If he does, Dan, his family, many other owners and renters, and the lareger community outside the project footprint that have come together, will have lost their fight…and their homes. After shooting 300 hours of footage over six years, we have a character driven film that shines a bright light on the world of New York politics, billion dollar real estate, urban renewal, and the power of grass roots community activism.

Now we need your help to finish it. Our plan is to pre-sell 1000 copies of the DVD for $25. If we reach our goal of $25,000 by December 1, then we’ll get a matching grant which will provide the finishing funds.

The audience is the key to the success of any film – and we’re asking you to pre-buy a digital download and signed DVD of “The Battle of Brooklyn” for $25.

Eminent Domain is an issue that matters regardless of your beliefs. One of the reasons that we were so drawn to the story is that we think it’s a great way to get people to think more deeply about their own relationship to partisan politics. As with Horns and Halos we know that people will leave the theater with a lot of questions. We think that’s a good thing.

They will believe in the power people have to stand up and fight for what they believe in – even when it seems all hope is lost and there’s no way that they can win.

Every day we’ll be posting a new piece of media from the film. It could be raw footage or a scene. We encourage your feedback and comments as we continue to shape the final cut.

Check out today’s piece of video.

Our 30 day fundraising campaign begins next Wednesday November 4th. We’re counting on you, our family, friends, and fans to back our project and help spread the word.

With heartfelt thanks,

Suki, Michael,David

Last week, after reading the problematic opinion piece “Us Against Ourselves” by Henrik Krogius at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, I couldn’t just let false statements lie and shot off a reply.  I fully expected that Mr. Krogius would not reply publicly or privately, but to my surprise, I’m happy(?) to see that he responded in today’s online edition: Letter to the Editor: Challenges Views On Atlantic Yards.

To recap, the general gist of his “argument” was that Atlantic Yards opponents are fearful of outsiders, and that we cloak our opposition to this development with “a variety of more respectable arguments, including traffic…eminent domain…impact of scale on brownstone neighborhoods…and financing arrangements.”  I called him out on two of his statements: “…eminent domain (which affects a small handful of people for a 22-acre project)” and “..impact of scale on brownstone neighborhoods (which in fact don’t abut the site).”

His rebuttal to my points (in italics) is confused and/or evasive:

Editor’s Note:

1) On eminent domain, we’ll see how the Court of Appeals rules.

Yes, we will see. However, he completely ignores my point, which was: if eminent domain were to be exercised for Atlantic Yards, although technically only a relatively small number of people would be directly affected, it would have far-reaching ramifications for all New Yorkers and possibly Americans.  Eminent domain used for economic benefit, as well as for the transfer of private property from one private owner to another private owner, reinforces a precedent that I and many believe puts all private property in jeopardy.  If the state can be convinced that someone else might make better “use” of your property than you, you better start packing your bags.  Your property won’t be yours for long.

2) Yes, there is even a little group of former townhouses on Dean Street indicated for preservation within the Atlantic Yards footprint. However, on the south side of Dean Street, which would not be affected by shadows, there are a firehouse, open yard area and commercial establishments. The point is that the project’s impact on residential areas has been greatly exaggerated, and neighborhoods like Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Park Slope and Cobble Hill (all of which have raised alarms) are separated from Atlantic Yards by commercial blocks and distance.

I have no idea what he’s talking about, and neither does he. I never made any reference to shadows.  ”[T]here is even a little group of former townhouses on Dean Street indicated for preservation within the Atlantic Yards footprint.”  What???  Where???  Again, he’s completely WRONG.  Maybe his eyesight is failing?  Maybe this will help:

NO STRUCTURES WITHIN THE ATLANTIC YARDS FOOTPRINT WOULD BE PRESERVED.

Also, even though there is a firehouse, a playground (open yard area?), and several small business on the south side of Dean Street on the project’s southern border, the rest of this stretch of Dean Street is all low-rise residential.

He continues lying typing while off his meds when he states that “Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Park Slope and Cobble Hill are separated from Atlantic Yards by commercial blocks and distance.”  Has he ever visited the area?  Can he read a map?  Bad eyesight the culprit, again?  Granted, Cobble Hill is some blocks away from the site’s western boundary, but:

FORT GREENE, BOERUM HILL AND PARK SLOPE DIRECTLY ABUT THE ATLANTIC YARDS FOOTPRINT.

Maybe a visual aid would help:

Atlantic Yards photo map

I don’t know why I bother.

This coming Sunday I’ll be one of the artists participating in the round table discussion for the Brooklyn Utopias exhibit. The discussion will focus on large-scale planning initiatives, so Atlantic Yards will certainly be in the mix. Atlantic Yards is also the topic of my photographs in the group exhibit.

Details below.  Hope to see you there.

Public Program at Brooklyn Historical Society: “Utopian Urban Planning:” Artists and Community Leaders Discuss Brooklyn’s Future

Sunday, October 25, 2009, 2-4pm,

Brooklyn Historical Society
128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (map)
First Floor Community Gallery and basement conference room
www.brooklynhistory.org

Admission: FREE

At this round table event, Brooklyn Utopias? artists and curator will debate their ideas with community leaders, architects and urban planners, and the general public, with a focus on large-scale planning initiatives. Special guest speakers include Amy Sananman, Executive Director/Founder, Groundswell Community Mural Project, Shin-pei Tsay, Deputy Director of Transportation Alternatives, Derek Denckla, Founder, Propeller Group and Alexander Gorlin, FAIA, Principal/Founder of Alexander Gorlin Architects and designer of Brooklyn affordable housing project the Nehemiah/Spring Creek Houses. The event will feature an exhibit walk-through with artists and curators, followed by a panel discussion moderated by architectural/urban historian and licensed architect Marta Gutman, PhD.

The tour is from noon to 5p.m.  Tickets are available for $25 at The Forest Floor, 659 Vanderbilt Avenue, between Park Place and Prospect Place.

See photos of homes on the tour here.

State of New York Court of Appeals, Eminent Domain Oral Arguments, Oct 14, 2009

When a factually incorrect or otherwise dubious opinion article concerning Atlantic Yards comes across my computer screen, I usually leave the editorial dissection in the very capable hands of others fighting this boondoggle. For some reason, when I read the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Consulting Editor Henrik Krogius’s October 14th editorial, “Us Against Ourselves,” I just could not remain silent, however unlikely that he’d actually read my response, let alone reply personally, online or in print.

His editorial isn’t specifically about Atlantic Yards, but the controversial development scheme is mentioned in the context of “[t]he latest perversity” in “the concerted opposition to an expansion of Brooklyn Friends School into Boerum Hill.” He says, “[a]s with every other project, the opponents have seized on the always handy objection: ‘traffic.’” He alludes that traffic “is only a conveniently ‘neutral’ argument” and that “there is the general unease we’ve seen in Brooklyn during the past couple of decades over any project that brings outsiders into our midst.”

In his opinion, the opposition to Atlantic Yards is really about fear of invading alien outsiders, but our fears have been cloaked in more “respectable arguments”:

With Atlantic Yards, too, the unease about outsiders coming in has clothed itself in a variety of more respectable arguments, including traffic (never mind that the site is uniquely well served by public transit), eminent domain (which affects a small handful of people for a 22-acre project), impact of scale on brownstone neighborhoods (which in fact don’t abut the site), and financing arrangements (as if the developer hadn’t incurred considerable risk).

Leaving aside for now his points about traffic and financing (however significant and problematic they are in the Atlantic Yards scheme), I decided that I couldn’t let his errors about eminent domain and the relationship of the project site to brownstone neighborhoods stand. Below is the email I sent to him on October 15th. I have yet to receive a response.

Mr. Krogius,

I am a resident of Dean Street in Prospect Heights, less than a block from the border of the proposed Atlantic Yards site. I have a couple of comments/corrections to your editorial “Review and Comment – Us Against Ourselves” published on October 14, 2009 online at www.brooklyneagle.com:

1. “…eminent domain (which affects a small handful of people for a 22-acre project)”

Although technically true that the exercise of eminent domain for Atlantic Yards would directly affect only those who currently own property or live within the proposed project’s footprint, as a matter of precedent, if the use of eminent domain is allowed, it would put the private property of *all* New Yorkers in jeopardy. I would guess that if it were your home that was being threatened by an economic development project that promised more tax revenue or a subjective public “benefit”, your opinion on this matter would be different. I think that the use of eminent domain for purposes other than explicit public uses is a very slippery slope that leaves it wide open for subjective interpretation of what constitutes a public benefit, at best, and fraud and corruption in the worst case.

2. “…impact of scale on brownstone neighborhoods (which in fact don’t abut the site)”

This is false. The newly created Prospect Heights Historic District directly abuts the Atlantic Yards footprint (http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_collins/3654259151/). Brownstones and low-rise townhouses directly abut this site on Carlton Avenue, between Pacific and Dean Streets; on the intersection of Carlton Avenue south of Dean Street; on Dean Street, between Flatbush and 6th Avenues; on Dean Street, between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues; and on Vanderbilt Avenue between Dean and Pacific Streets. (I’ve included small photos of these areas to fit them all in this email. I can provide larger and other photos if you’d like, or you can view many more here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracy_collins/sets/72157594432323135/)

Respectfully,
Tracy Collins
Dean Street, Prospect Heights

Below are several of the photos I sent with the email:

Dean between Flatbush & 6th

Dean between 6th and Carlton

Dean between 6th and Carlton

Dean at Carlton

Dean at Carlton

Carlton at Dean

Carlton between Dean & Pacific

Dean between Carlton & Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt between Dean & Pacific

When people (read: white-haired old men) hear the term “ED“, most in the post-Viagra era would probably think “erectile dysfunction“:

From Wikipedia:

Erectile dysfunction (ED or “male impotence“) is a sexual dysfunction characterized by the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis sufficient for satisfactory sexual performance.

However fascinating this type of dysfunction may be, this is not the “ED” that I’m talking about here.  I’m referring to another type of dysfunction employed in the erection of other types of phalli:  Eminent Domain:

Also from Wikipedia:

Eminent domain … is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen’s private property … with due monetary compensation, but without the owner’s consent. The property is taken either for government use or by delegation to third parties who will devote it to public or civic use or, in some cases, economic development. The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain are for public utilities, highways, and railroads. Some jurisdictions require that the government body offer to purchase the property before resorting to the use of eminent domain. The legal doctrine of eminent domain … allows expropriation of property within the existing system of law. Otherwise, expropriation may imply either a criminal or a revolutionary act.

I think that eminent domain is not necessarily dysfunctional.  I believe that the government should have the right to force the sale of private property when it needs to provide for the common good when constructing things like roads, railways, schools, hospitals and other truly public facilities. I and many others believe eminent domain becomes dysfunctional when this awesome power of the state is used to transfer ownership of private property from one owner to another for the “public benefit” of “economic development,” especially when those determining these “public benefits” are the very ones who will be taking ownership of the property. If this isn’t an incentive for fraud and corruption, I don’t know what is.  Forty three states (not including New York) also believed that the potential for eminent domain abuse was so great following Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London that they have amended their constitutions to tighten and restrict its use.

This Wednesday, October 14, 2009, the State of New York Court of Appeals will (surprisingly) hear the case of Goldstein et al. v. Empire State Development Corporation, which will decide if the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) has the right to seize the properties from their owners for Forest City Ratner’s private Atlantic Yards land-grab development.

Although they may appear completely unrelated on the surface, both types of ED share a few traits:

(photo of ancient carving of Min, the Egyptian god of fertility from Wikipedia; rendering of Frank Gehry’s obsolete “Miss Brooklyn” of Atlantic Yards, version 0.2)