Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Extra, Extra
Early Addition
Brooklynites protested the proposed Nets basketball arena and real estate complex yesterday as a coalition of residents argued that 1,000 people would be out of a home if the development goes ahead as planned. Brooklyn Councilwoman Letitia James and others argue that the original number (100) of homes to be razed was grossly underestimated by developer Bruce Ratner and his associates. There is also some question as to whether or not the plan can really bring the kind of economic growth it claims. It's a tough call, because while driving 1,000 out of their homes due to a basketball arena is bad, the same might be said for the gentrification of some Brooklyn neighborhoods, driving out lower income people and businesses for bobos and yuppies and their boutiques.
For more information about the proposed arena, check out Bring Basketball to Brooklyn!.
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
I just want to say that this plan sucks. First of all, this area does NOT need more traffic (the intersection of Atlantic & Flatbush is already a nightmare). It will completely change the character of the neighborhood -- and by that I mean Prospect Heights, not Park Slope. Prospect Heights remains fairly un-yuppified (though somewhat more so in the past year) and supports small neighborhood businesses and a diverse population. It does not need a Jillians-esque pool hall, mega-sports bars and souvenir shops, not to mention "fans" (and it has yet to be proven the Nets have any of those) taking all the parking spots and vomiting and yelling on people's stoops.
The plan will also demolish Freddy's, which for those of you who have not been, is one of the best neighborhood bars ever.
They should keep this sorry franchise in Jersey. I personally think they should develop a plan for Jersey City, which is where half of the banks and brokerage firms are building offices and where most of the folks who work in those places live anyway.
I recall a recent study that basically said the net economic effects of a sports arena are negative. The jobs and economic activity generated by events are not enough to outweigh the steep tax incentives commonly offered by local governments to attract the arena in the first place. At the end of the day, it's usually a net loss for the local economy. A quick Google on the subject turned up this view from Louisville KY: http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2001/04/30/editorial4.html
Not the study I was looking for, but an interesting read, nonetheless.
Good luck to your fight against the arena there in Brooklyn. We tried similar steps here in Memphis to deflate the new arena for the Memphis Grizzlies, but to no avail. As of now, we are left with $250 million of construction debt in addition to another $30 million in debt from the existing arena that is being vacated after only 12 years of occupation. To add insult to injury, citizens of Memphis and Shelby County are left with heavy tax burdens and a city council that is smart enough offer-up a 14% pay raise to our illustrious mayor. The only people benefiting from this deal are the team owners and players.
I wonder what role vision plays in the development of a city. While comments thus far seem to be mostly nostalgic, I wonder what future such nostangia has in the evolution of urban growth.
While I'm sure that I would also mourn the loss of Freddy's, I wonder what else and better this development would bring. Surely the loss of one neighborhood bar cannot outweigh the amount of dollars (and sales tax revenues) that such a development would provide.
PLease get out of your neighborhood-mindset and think big-picture.
chers.
i wish we had some other way of quantifying things besides asking how much money something will generate. but it seems nobody understands things in any terms other than financial. this is why rich guys like Ratner can push us around.
How many people would have to protest this in order for Ratner to realize he is making a mistake. And Marty Markowitz! Jesus--I thought he actually cared for Brooklyn.
Think of the big picture? Maybe the big picture is that a neighborhood is for the betterment and joy of the people who live there, not some random guy who wants to make a buck. You sound like Robert Moses, Douglis.
Bring on the Nets. It's time Brooklyn was a place professional teams moved to, instead of fled.
Nimbys would no doubt protest the comeback of the Dodgers.
How do we know that this arena is a criminal conspiracy? Because all arena scams are acts of fraud, according to a pretty universal consensus among disinterested observers.
Either you believe that a few individuals getting rich is the sacrosanct Way of Nature and somehow beneficial to others, or you believe crime is crime.
It's not inevitable that a few dozen local warlords dominate each U.S. county. We collaborators are the primary architects of whatever social system we choose.
Jail the Markowitz-Ratner regime and their families. Stop the arena. People before kickbacks.
fuck you new york it's not our falt that the knicks suck . You have to come to new jersey to get a good team fuck you if you take the nets from us then we get the gaints jets and the mets cause you spoiled sons of bitches have three teams for each sports and thats wat the nets are worth. you fucker come here to take away our team and then all we ahve is the nj devils i supose that when you assholes get tired of the ranger and the islander your gonna come to take the devils fuck you new york city fuck you
I lived for years on Pacific Street, just off of Court, and really loved the neighborhood. As a native of Manhattan, Brooklyn was everything that "The City" was not.
To read about this new, monsterous project really hit me in the gut. I feel sorry for the neighboorhoods that are due to be impacted and for NYC in general.
Forget about "public benefits". Not a single resident in the borough can put that in a pot and boil it! On the other hand, the "private benefit" accruing to Ratner and his supporters is quite tangible. As a result, you can bet that the pro-arena forces will be impeccible organized and prepared to counter every argument against their project. Additionally, these guys will be financed to the nines and, as a result, will have the staying power to fight for their "vision" for a very long time.
Political organization and some stroke up in Albany balances the scales a bit. I hope that the community organizers, pastors, shop owners, and residents put up a good fight. In fact, I'm sure they will...because Brooklyn means something to every immigrant who has ever passed through it...every kid who remembers playing stoop ball and skelzies out front...and to every bus driver, mailman, city employee and cook who could never afford to live in Manhattan.
The Brooklyn we all remember and love is worth the fight. Now...GET AT IT!
It's interesting how the 16 or so giant office buildings that are part of the "development" are hidden behind the stadium. Clearly the stadium is the trojan horse inside of which the rest of this "development" is being carried. Surely, no one (perhaps not even mayor Marty) would swallow a huge corporate office complex right in the heart of brooklyn, if it were not attached to the nostalgia-inducing stadium (with its alien titanium panels).
No one can say whether in fifty years from now, this will be a good or bad thing. Nonetheless, this is a tragedy in the present tense. The tragedy of this process is the complete lack of democracy involved in the transformation of a major public space. Like many things going in our country right now, this development is being pushed through by yet another special interest.
Who, in their right mind, wants to stop progress? Remember that is has been progessive thinking and land development that has made the city of New York the greatest city in the world and now we want to try to stop this project as to "keep Brooklyn the same". Why can't Brooklyn evolve and change to meet the demands for the future?
I hear all of the aguments about keeping the neighborhood in tact, or the potential traffic increase, or even the fact that people will have to find a new place to dwell.
First things first. I whole heartedly believe that the nieghborhood would be that much greater with a draw to get more money from surrounding areas into the hands and pocets of the local buisness owners. The store, the restaurants, the bars.
Second, a traffic increase? Are you kidding me? You are worried about traffic in New York? If this is a concern to you, may I offer a solution to your problems. I am from Memphis where nothing ever gets done and if, by some miracle, something does happen, it's not done right. It is a lazy city with no traffic problems to go along with it. If traffic is a concern, I offer you Memphis TN. Please move there if you don't like the big city.
As for the latter, I don't like to move either, but it has to happen sometimes. Dry you eyes, put up your tissues, and start packing. It is irresponsible as people to hault progress because you're "comfortable" in your little apartment. I promise that in the New York Metro Area, you will find a place that is comparable to your current living situation. All that it takes is a little effort.
I plead to everyone to get behind this project and bring the Nets to Brooklyn. Let's face it, it might be a very long time before the Knicks get it together and personally, I just can't be a fan of the Knicks. Go Nets!
Newsday seems to have taken down their link. Newspapers are always deleting things and moving URLs around (whine)
www.forgotten-ny.com