The Brooklyn Papers has an interesting revelation that one of the people leading the pro-Ratner counter rally to Community opposition to Ratner's Atlantic Yards is an admitted pimp:

One of Bruce Ratner’s boosters at the pro–Atlantic Yards rally on Saturday is a former strip club manager who used to arrange for dancers to have sex with NBA stars.

The Atlantic Yards supporter, Thomas “Ziggy” Sicignano, who now runs Brooklyn U.S.A., a youth basketball program in Park Slope, said that Ratner’s foundation gave his organization $10,000 in 2005.

That donation came four years after his stunning courtroom admission that he prostituted strippers to attract NBA stars to the Gold Club in Atlanta.

This comes as no surprise. After all, the counter-rally wasn't a community based rally, but were getting paid to be there. And many people suddenly become Ratner supporters after getting paid money by him. Sicignano had his price. Vito Lopez had his price. Ratner's whole scheme is about buying favors, so he and a pimp would get along just fine.

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.

Brooklynites concerned about Bruce Ratner's overdevlopment plan for Brooklyn might want to pay attention to a lawsuit MIT has filed against Ratner's architect, Frank Gehry.

Frank Gehry is a controversial figure, though I have always kind of liked his architecture. He has been criticized for wasting space and designing buildings that are too large and inconvenient for the people who use them. But to me his architecture always had a touch of the same playfulness I always have liked in the archtecture of Antoni Gaudi. Of course Gaudi was ridiculed early in his career, too.

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

I have written extensively about the lies and corruption surrounding Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project. From Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn's Clown and whiny wannabe mayor of NYC, to Bloomberg and Pataki promising more and more land (at taxpayer expense) to Ratner in backroom deals, Ratner is surrounded by corruption.

Strange things are afoot as City Hall and Albany squabble over how much money should be thrown at Bruce Ratner's feet.

First, Michael Bloomberg, Republican mayor of NYC, steamrolls a massive amount of NYC taxpayer money to help out Bruce Ratner, the good friend of fellow Republican Pataki. Bloomberg not only piled over $100 million in city money for infrastructure improvement, but also $100 million in city money to buy the land for Ratner. Which means Ratner had to pay nothing for the land. This, to me, was nothing but typical Republican crony capitalism at its worst. Some more reasonable minds, including David Yassky and Tish James, objected strenuously...to no avail.

In the ongoing battle over Atlantic Yards, one central critique of good government advocates has been the abject failure of the legislature to do its due diligence and examine whether this project is indeed in the public interest, and therefore worthy of public dollars.

One of the myriad lollipops being thrown at Bruce Ratner is this: a 421-a tax reform bill just passed by the Assembly reformed the 421-a tax break given to developers; now, one must actually build affordable housing to receive tax breaks for it. From Develop Don't Destroy:

The Assembly passed a bill reforming the 36-year old 421-a property tax break. No longer will developers building new construction receive tax breaks when they build all market rate buildings. Now they must provide 20% of the units at "affordable" rates in each building, based on a cap set at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI). AMI for New York City is about $71,000 for a family of four (AMI for Brooklyn is about $35,000).

But Bruce Ratner gets a special deal written in clause 13 of the bill. For his Atlantic Yards project, he gets the tax break for his market rate condos. No other developer in the 421-a "Geographic Exception Areas" (which include Central Brooklyn where the project is proposed) will receive tax breaks if they build all market rate.

Mayor Bloomberg has called for a veto of the bill, and now, the two legislators who represent Atlantic Yards in the legislature, Velmanette Montgomery and Hakeem Jeffries, have made their displeasure known in no uncertain terms.

Last night was CBID's annual dinner at the Montauk Club. My wife (an officer of CBID) and I went, having gotten babysitting for our baby. For those scandalized by my rubbing shoulders with party bigwigs at Cipriani and enjoying the music and food, well tough. Personally I liked the Montauk Club better than Cipriani, though the creepy, ghost-like Native Americans portrayed in relief on the walls, and the half-statue of a Negro (word used intentionally with all its racist connotations) banjo player on the landing halfway up to the second floor were a bit disconcerting, but the building is from a different time. And it is a very striking building, both inside and outside. The Montauk club is one of the more beautiful buildings in Brooklyn.

And the food was quite good. Chicken breasts that were mass produced for a large crowd but still moist and flavorful, vegetables that were not overcooked, and potatoes that, if a bit salty, were still quite good. Only the cake and coffee were dreadful. Everything else was good. Not as good as Cipriani, of course, but quite good.

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 ...