As tomorrow's big anti-Ratner rally approaches, bringing together not just Ratner's usual opponents but even some former supporters turned sour (e.g. Bill DeBlasio), new revelations are coming out about Ratner's broken promises and the city's willingness to let him get away with anything.

We now know that Bruce Ratner is trying to weasel out of the Affordable Housing part of the deal he made with the city. Affordable Housing was the excuse the city had to throw so much money (taxpayer money) at Ratner's feet. Bringing the Nets to Brooklyn was another excuse. Ratner is backing out of the first promise. Is he backing out of the second one as well? According to the Newark Star-Ledger, Bruce Ratner may be giving up on bringing the Nets to Brooklyn:

The owner of the Devils hockey team and Newark Mayor Cory Booker are seeking to assemble a group of investors to buy the Nets and move the basketball team to Newark, according to people familiar with the effort.

As Bruce Ratner goes public admitting he has no intention of fulfilling the promises he made to New York regarding affordable housing in his Atlantic Yards project, even former allies like Bill DeBlasio are now questioning just why New York City and New York State are giving him so much taxpayer money. On Saturday, May 3rd a major rally will be held where opposition will coalesce against Ratner. Among those sponsoring and publicizing this event are former supporters of Ratner, politicians who have previously been lukewarm in their opposition, and opposition groups that formerly didn't work together. In other words, Ratner may have finally shown his hand and all those who believed his promises or who weren't ready to take a strong stand now are feeling betrayed and angry. Saturday may be the beginning of the end for Ratner because for the first time I have seen the names of politicians who had been solidly, blindly behind Ratner cropping up among the opposition.

From DDDB (and about a dozen other sources!):

Community Groups, Elected Officials To Hold Major Rally To Demand Governor Paterson Call “Time Out” On Atlantic Yards Project

The New York Times, front page, this AM: Slow Economy Likely to Stall Atlantic Yards.

The slowing economy, weighed down by a widening credit crisis, is likely to delay the signature office tower and three residential buildings at the heart of the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the developer said.[...]

But Mr. Ratner has yet to secure an anchor tenant for the Miss Brooklyn building, and now plans to phase in the residential buildings slowly.

When this bill of goods was sold to the public, it was as a shot in the arm for downtown Brooklyn's economy (which is why a lot of public money is being thrown into the hole). The displacement of residents was to be offset by new construction, including a (debatably defined) number of affordable units to maintain some cohesion between existing neighborhoods and new construction. That's now being delayed, but you'll still get that arena, grateful Brooklynites.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Glad someone got around to posting this. Promoted to front page by mole333]

Everyone should read Juan Gonzalez's column today in the Daily News, in which he details Vito Lopez's attempt to sneak a massive tax abatement clause for Bruce Ratner into the new state property tax exemption bill. It is a sweetheart deal that will give Ratner, according to Juan, from $100 to $170 million in tax exemptions and allow him to charge hundreds of dollars more a month for the so-called "affordable" housing units he has to put into his new complexes. The article is reposted at DDDB's site (www.dddb.net)

This clause was so secret that Hakeem Jeffries, who represents that district up in Albany, didn't even know about it, and neither did the representatives for ACORN. They are backers of the Ratner project and *they* are upset over this.

The column also points out that Ratner has applied for $1.4 billion in state approved *tax-exempt* bonds to build his high rise condos.

DDDB is encouraging people to call or write Governor Spitzer urging him to veto this bill, to send it back to the legislature and force them to take out the Ratner clause.

Mike Bloomberg is at it again.

His proposed budget contains a $205 million gift to mega-developer Bruce Ratner. Some details can be found in a March 9th Daily News article.

Basically, $105 million will go toward "infrastructure needs" -- at least, in theory. The other $100 million will officially be spent on "land acquisition costs," meaning we're paying to buy the land and then just giving it away to Ratner to build his stadium.

Word is starting to get out, and City Council members are reacting with scorn -- but nobody is saying they'll block this crooked waste of money. It comes down to about $25 for every person in NYC -- that's your money!

It may take a huge grassroots effort to block this Bloomberg boondoggle, and while I'm not going to recommend any specific activity ...

I used to like Marty Markowitz. I remember greeting him as he crossed back over the Brooklyn Bridge in the NARAL march for Choice just before the Republican Convention. I liked his seeming combination of liberal politics and jovial, well, clownishness.

Only slowly did I begin to realize that behind that jovial exterior lurked a vindictive little shit that began emerging over the past couple of years. Markowitz is now showing that nasty, vindictive side as he fires members of Community Board 6 who failed to blindly support Markowitz's master, Bruce Ratner.

I have now heard this from three sources, so I can report on it. Not one source has yet agreed to be public. But collectively they tell me that Marty Markowitz has become a raging nut case, yelling at people in public and threatening people right and left. One person has, in all seriousness, called Marty's sanity into question. Markowitz seems to have snapped.