Bumped - Bouldin

Mermaid Parade Queen's Bid To Save Coney Island Gains Support While Coney Sellout Recchia Under Investigation For Conflict Of Interest Loan

NEW YORK – It's been a long, media blitz weekend for Savitri D, Queen Of The Coney Island Mermaid Parade and Director of Reverend Billy and the Church Of Stop Shopping, as her hunger strike to save Coney Island enters its fourth day.

Her vigil without food, while living in the window of the Sideshows By The Seashore building and broadcasting live over webcam, aims to draw New Yorkers to a June 24th Community Meeting at Lincoln High School to halt a reduction of Coney Island amusement space from 60 acres to 9 acres. The hunger strike has won the hearts of thousands of New Yorkers, with appearances on television, print, radio and the blogosphere.

Speaking of the surprise proposal to replace large swaths of Coney Island with high-rise “hotels” and a shopping mall, Savitri remarked in a recent interview:

Harlem-based community advocacy group Voices of the Everyday People (VOTE People) will announce a challenge to the City's proposed rezoning of 125th Street on Tuesday, April 1 at 9 am at City Hall.

The announcement will come as the Zoning Subcommittee of the City Council's Land Use Committee will hold a public hearing (at 9:30) and consider the proposal.

Come out to oppose the rezoning -- a proposal that would evict a community, destroy a history, erase a culture by paving the way for "luxury development" without protection for long-time cultural institutions, businesses and residents.

Be there at 9 to support VOTE People and the fight to save Harlem. Hang around 'til 9:30 and testify at the hearing!

VOTE People's position paper on the rezoning is available at: www.votepeople.net.

Tuesday, April 1, 7pm. Screening of Isabel Hill's Atlantic Yards documentary "Brooklyn Matters". Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
357 Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn
(btwn. Greene & Lafayette Aves.). Co-sponsors: Society for Clinton Hill, The Fort Greene Association, and DDDB

This documentary has been very highly acclaimed. For example:

“It wasn’t until viewing Isabel Hill’s film that I realized the true scope of what is at stake for the future of Brooklyn in proceeding with the development of the Atlantic Yards in its present form.”
-Carmi Bee, FAIA, RKT&B Architects & Planners

“Brooklyn Matters is a remarkable film that slowly, quietly, calmly reveals the extreme ugliness at the heart of one of the most ill-conceived mega-development schemes in New York history.”
-Francis Morrone, Architectural Historian

"Isabel Hill’s revealing documentary about the proposed Atlantic Yards project takes an honest look at the complex role that race, class, power, and money play in the redevelopment of our communities and calls for a more open discussion about equitable urban development."

Here is the latest from Lambda Independent Democrats:

Thumbs Down on Atlantic Yards, Noach Dear

At its meeting held October 22, 2007, Lambda Independent Democrats, Brooklyn's LGBT Political voice adopted a resolution opposing the Atlantic Yards Project of the Forest City Ratner Development Company.

The club also contined to express it's disappointment in the Brooklyn Democratic party's support for Noach Dear. LID co-President Chrisopher Murray said "Brooklyn's LGBT community and the thousands of LGBT Democrats we represent feel that Noach Dear's lack of courtroom experience and bar associations' assessments and his past statements and actions against the interests of our community deem him an unsuitable candidate for the Civil Court bench. We continue to be disappointed in the leadership of the Democratic party of Brooklyn over their support of his candidacy."

Here is the resolution Lambda adopted opposing Bruce Ratner's overdevelopment of Brooklyn:

Resolution Item: Atlantic Yards. Date Voted: 10/22/07

Last Sunday was the 3rd Annual Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn Walkathon to celebrate my son's birthday. Okay...so it is only coincidental that it always happens around my son's birthday, but my son has now gone to three of these events. And he always drags us along with him.

Sunday was a beautiful day for a Walkathon. Turnout seemed quite good and the path of the walk was excellent for demonstrating solidarity with the community. Last year went through Prospect Park, which may have been nicer, but didn't really connect with the affected community. This year we started at Freddie's bar in the footprint of Bruce Ratner's giganormous, overdevelopment sinkhole for taxpayer money, went up Flatbush, around Grand Army Plaza, and over to Soda bar where a party ensued. I always tell people these events are really fun, and I think the fact that we started at a bar and ended at a bar is indicative of the fun factor of the walkathons.

In all the discussions about developing the Vanderbilt Yards (commonly called "Atlantic Yards"), most of the media coverage portrays the controversy as being a choice between Ratner or no development. That is a false choice based on Ratner propaganda. Truth is, there are FOUR proposals for development of the area, including Ratner's low-bid, corrupt, no-business-plan proposal. Yes...FOUR plans. Many have never heard of the other plans, which is just how Ratner's three stooges, Pataki (now out of the picture), Bloomberg and Markowitz, wanted it. For those who want to learn about the other three plans, you can find an analysis of them on the Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn website (left hand side under "Community-Based Plans").

One of those Community-Based Plans, the Unity Plan, really was designed with full community input, led by Councilwoman Letisha James. This is an idea that really should be seen more: the community working out its OWN vision for development with government USING that vision as a guide for actual development. If you like the idea of COMMUNITY-based development, you can be a part of making the Unity Plan a reality. This comes from Develop, Don't Destroy Brooklyn:

Oak Point is a very heavily industrialized, isolated neighborhood in the South Bronx. It juts out into the Harlem River, adjoins a rail-line and is close to the Interstate.

After the jump is a somewhat long-winded press release from opponents of a Bloomberg Administration plan to build a jail in the South Bronx at one of the last undeveloped industrial sites in New York City.

The Punch line: the people want Jobs not a Jail on the site. They will march at 5PM on Friday April 13, 2007 from 976 Longwood Avenue (Take the #6 local to Longwood Ave.) to the Oak Point site.

If you have never been to the South Bronx, this is your chance.

There are complex policy issues at the root of this dispute. Those of you who attended the Drum Major Institute conference on the future of middle class in New York City, may recall there was a stark conflict which was never addressed. In a key speech Adam Friedman, director of the NY Industrial Retention Network showed listeners the importance of industry to NYC residents. Unfortunately, in my view, Mayor Bloomberg has vigorously opposed any industrial development in NYC in favor, usually, for luxury housing -- but in this case -- as a special favor to the people of the South Bronx, a jail. For more on the proposals see Maggie Williams DMI post here. Call Kelly Terry-Septulveda 347-539-1191 for more info.

Brooklyn Matters is a movie getting lots of attention...attention Ratner doesn't want it to get. So far I have heard nothing but rave reviews of it and some of those from people who were formerly neutral on Ratner's plan. And many of the most rave reviews come from people who don't live in Brooklyn. This movie deals with citywide issues, not just Brooklyn issues.

No single event will have a more drastic and long-lasting impact on Brooklyn than the proposed Atlantic Yards development. This uncommon proposal, however, is mostly misunderstood. Brooklyn Matters is an insightful documentary that reveals the fuller truth about the Atlantic Yards proposal and highlights how a few powerful men are circumventing community participation and planning principles to try to push their own interests forward.

Producer/Director- Isabel Hill, buildinghistory@verizon.net
Editor- Marian Sears Hunter
Director of Photography- Chuck Clifton
Sound Recordist- Michelle Clifton

Brooklyn Matters is the movie about Brooklyn development that has caught the attention of the whole city. I am taking this from their website, but this is also the kind of stuff I am hearing from people from all over the city who have seen the movie: (note the qualifications of thes people)

Affordable housing in NYC is becoming almost as endangered a species as the mountain gorilla or the whooping crane. And way too often when someone advocates "affordable housing" it is no such thing but rather an excuse to give developers like Ratner a free pass to tread on personal property rights and destroy entire NYC communities. But the Mitchell-Lama housing program seems like something that NYC would be stupid to abandon.

This comes from Assemblyman Jonathan Bing's newsletter:

Some primary concern for many citizens of Brooklyn has been development, overdevelopment, corruption in development, and even possible criminal involvement to further development. Here is how the candidates for the 40th City Council district in Brooklyn answered a question on developer money at the DFNYC/CBID candidates forum: