I am not going to deny that Daniel Goldstein blunered in recent statements he has made. DDDB is not made up of professional PR people, so they are learning this as they go. Doesn't excuse his gaffe, but it is perhaps part of the growing pains of such an organization.

But to me, the whole thing is STILL irrelavent when it comes to the real issues at hand. I will point out that Ratner's supporters have accused their opponants of racism as well. The truth of the matter is that both sides are multiracial and all races should be concerned with the issues raised by Atlantic Yards.

So, by all means take DDDB to task if you want. If they are going to win against Ratner they have to be able to take attacks and to grow into their task. But, as a reminder of what this is all really about, here are some unaswered questions I have posed on this blog for Ratner and his supporters that have, as yet, gone unaswered:

1. Why do we need all that office space when Ratner's previous projects have never filled up or even come close?

2. How affordable will the "affordable housing" be in 5 years? 10 years? If it is tied to the floating market value of the area it will not stay affordable for long. And how will the "affordable housing" clause be enforced?

3. How do you justify the use of Ratner's lawyer by the Empire State Development Corporation, paid for by Ratner himself, to judge Ratner's project?

4. How can you claim community involvement when dissenting groups are disinvited from the negotiations and when surrounding properties have already been promised to Ratner by Bloomberg and Pataki in secret, revealed only by a freedom of information act request made by DDDB? (Give them some credit for that one, folks.)

5. Just where is all that sewage going? Seriously. Brooklyn already is overflowing its system. Upgrading at the site itself is not enough because, in case you hadn't noticed, sewage flows downstream. This stuff will back up into people's apartments. I know. I have suffered such events even without an arena and 17 (or is it 16 now?) skyscrapers.

6. Fire houses. Whatever the cause of the recent fires in Prospect Heights, it is clear that already Brooklyn is not adequately covered by the FDNY since Bloomberg's closing of firehouses. Are there plans to open new firehouses?

7. Schools. Brooklyn schools already have problems. There are great schools and there are lousy schools. The good schools are already filled to capacity. Class size is still far higher than is optimal for teaching children. As far as I know there is no plan for more schools.

8. How can we trust Ratner's promises when he has told so many lies. That glossy pamphlet we all got had more fiction than fact. Nothing in it even showed the arena and skyscrapers! It was a complete misrepresentation of the project. So, how much else is misrepresentation?

9. Traffic congestion. Flatbush is already insanely dangerous. Crossing at 4th Ave. is crazy when traffic is flowing. At other times it is safe to cross because traffic is at a standstill. What happens when all that arena traffic hits?

10. Subway. The upgrade to the Atlantic and Pacific stations was great. Kudos to the city and state. But an arena and 17 skyscrapers will negate all that upgrade, making those stations worse than they ever were! And I know there are no plans to upgrade because the MTA keeps saying it has no money each time they raise our fares. Unless they have some other secret books they can bring out.

11. And not to harp on it, but this is one that really is most frightening to me: where is all that sewage going?

12. And can we put to rest forever the threat of eminent domain? Let's go on record Bloomberg, Pataki: Will eminent domain ever be used to transfer private property from one private citizen to another private citizen for the profit of that second person?

These are the questions I have posed many times to Ratner supporters and never gotten an answer. Once, the "good cop" Ratner thug I was opposite at a Ferrer rally asked me whether I would be open to supporting the Atlantic Yards project if many of my concerns could at least partly be addressed. My answer is SURE! But until these questions are answered definitively and believably, with enforcability, I don't think ANYONE, of any race, of any political persuasion or of any economic class should support Atlantic Yards.

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