Today was the rally calling for Bruce Ratner to put up or shut up. Brooklyn is getting tired of Ratner making promises then breaking those promises even as he demands more taxpayer money. The rally was well attended, though we came slightly late and were way at the back, so didn't really see the whole crowd.

Chris Owens, President of Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats and Brooklyn Progressive Activist, led the rally. Three groups organized the rally: Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, and Brooklyn Speaks. MANY local politicians attended, including some who had previously been pretty solidly behind Ratner. Ratner has worn out his welcome even among his supporters.

Here are some excerpts from the press release from the three organizing groups:

The rally called on the Governor to suspend demolitions, displacement of residents and businesses, infrastructure disruptions and further subsidies to the project so that changes to the project can be assessed and a new plan prepared with community involvement. Officials speaking at the rally included NYS Senator Velmanette Montgomery, NYS Assemblywoman Joan Millman, NYS Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, and NYC Councilmembers Letitia James, David Yassky, and Tony Avella. NYS Assemblyman Jim Brennan and NYC Councilmember Bill de Blasio had previous commitments but sent statements.

The Time Out rally was sponsored by Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods and BrooklynSpeaks, in response to the growing uncertainty and risks in plans for the Vanderbilt railyards and the proposed Atlantic Yards project. In addition to a weakened real estate market and the credit crisis, scarcity of housing bonds, and drastically increased construction costs, recent statements by Bruce Ratner, CEO of Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Ratner, have created concerns that key elements and promised public benefits of the original plan would be delayed, perhaps indefinitely. The rally represented the first time the three coalitions and elected officials who have previously expressed a range of views on Atlantic Yards joined publicly to call for action by the Governor on the project.

The State approved the Atlantic Yards project on the basis of its promise to create affordable housing, local jobs, publicly-accessible open space and an arena for the New Jersey Nets basketball team. On March 21, Mr. Ratner said in an interview with the New York Times that a downturn in the real estate and financial markets had left only the arena with a committed date for construction. The bulk of the affordable housing and open space was being placed on hold indefinitely. The developer has also said it “needs more” subsidy in order to build the project, beyond the $2 billion of public funds already estimated to be provided under direct and indirect subsidies. But FCR has continued demolition across the entire 22-acre site, prompting concerns among residents and elected officials that the site could become blighted for years or decades.

Speaking on behalf of the rally sponsors, Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee, said, “The Atlantic Yards review and approval process was unresponsive to the public’s concerns. But now, neither the public nor its elected representatives even know what is planned for the site. The Empire State Development Corporation claimed Atlantic Yards would connect the surrounding neighborhoods. Instead, the agency is blighting and dividing our neighborhoods. We need the Governor to intervene immediately so that we aren’t left with a huge bill and a massive parking lot. The project that was approved doesn’t work for Brooklyn, and the current situation is unacceptable.”

Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, whose district includes most of the Atlantic Yards project, said, "Given the tremendous uncertainty that clouds the future of this project, we must proceed with extreme caution before demolishing buildings and blighting parts of the neighborhood on sites that may never be developed.”

“Forest City's promises for Atlantic Yards have proven to be false. The project, which I have opposed from day one because of its lack of input from the community and lack of accountability, is bad for my community, bad for my district and bad for Brooklyn,” said State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, whose district includes the Atlantic Yards site. “I believe that when Governor Paterson comes to fully understand all of the project's problems and abuses, he will put a halt to it and start over. My colleagues and I will make sure that the Governor is fully apprised of those problems and abuses.”

“The Empire State Development Corporation is failing in its obligation to assure that affordable housing is built simultaneously with other elements of the project. A stand-alone arena is not acceptable,” said Assemblyman Jim Brennan in a statement. “The excessive size of the project may be adding to delays by creating more financial risks, as well as adverse environmental consequences. ESDC needs to look at a downsizing and a reconfiguration of the entire project to assure that it can proceed.”

Said Council Member David Yassky, "Brooklyn residents and city taxpayers deserve to know what the real plan is for Atlantic Yards before another dollar is spent on this project.”

Council Member Bill de Blasio issued a statement stating that, “With thousands of units of affordable housing and jobs hanging in the balance, the number of unanswered questions and the level of uncertainty surrounding this project is unacceptable. Forest City Ratner must immediately provide the community with a timeline for construction, including all units of affordable housing, and release any revisions that have been made to the General Project Plan to date. We cannot tolerate further demolitions and certainly will not consider additional public investment in this project until these very reasonable requests are met.”

"I remain steadfast in my opposition to Atlantic Yards,” said Councilmember Letitia James who represents the district where the project would be built. “The project has definitively proven itself to be a classic bait and switch. For this reason, the demolitions need to stop, the subsidies need to stop and eminent domain must be taken off the table. It's time to stop blighting my district. I’m calling on Governor Paterson to put a halt to the project. Then, my city and state colleagues and I, along with the Governor, can start over with a new plan to develop the rail yards that works for the people of Brooklyn."

I should note that in 2006 Hakeem Jeffries and David Yassky were considered largely pro-Ratner. Each has become more and more disillusioned with the project since then. Bill DeBlasio was solidly pro-Ratner until Ratner's recent backing out of his promise to build the affordable housing. Seeing David Yassky and Chris Owens share a stage shows how much support Ratner is losing. Opposition to Ratner can bring together these two fierce rivals for the 2006 NY-11 Congressional race.

I will also mention I saw many others there. I saw Josh Skaller and Bob Zuckerman, two of the rivals for Bill DeBlasio's City Council seat. Similarly, JoAnne Simon and Ken Baer, rivals for David Yassky's city council seat, were both there. Paul Newell also showed up. Paul Newell is running against Shelly Silver, one of the three most powerful men in Albany. Although Paul is running for a Manhatten seat, he made clear that the Albany dysfunction that Shelly Silver leads is the primary reason why people like Bruce Ratner (a law school buddy of former Governor Pataki and hence about as much of an Albany insider as you can get) can get anything they want from the government without any accountability. Paul's interest relates to the general fight against the Albany dysfunction that Pataki, Joe Bruno and Shelly Silver were masters of. Also present were local activists Ken Diamondstone and Kenn Lowey. Lots of Kens around!

I also will mention there was a loud counter rally voicing support for the Atlantic Yards project. It should be noted that the counter demonstrators were being paid to be there (hope they are getting time and a half from Ratner to work on a Saturday when they should be home with their families). They may well have honestly believed what they were voicing, but I am willing to bet they wouldn't have been out without being bribed to be there.

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