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tel/fax:
718.362.4784
Please note our new postal address when sending
contributions to the legal fund:
121 5th Avenue, PMB #150
Brooklyn, New York 11217
About DDDB
Our coalition consists of 21 community organizations and
there are 51 community organizations formally
aligned in opposition to the Ratner plan.
DDDB is a volunteer-run organization. We have over 5,000
subscribers to our email newsletter, and 7,000 petition
signers. Over 800 volunteers have registered with DDDB
to form our various teams, task-forces and committees
and we have over 150 block captains. We have a 20 person
volunteer legal team of local lawyers supplementing our
retained attorneys.
We are funded entirely by individual donations from the community at large
and through various fundraising events we and supporters have organized.
We have the financial support of well over 3,500 individual
donors.
More about
DDDB...
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For Immediate Release: April 23, 2007
Brooklynites
Call for Mayor and Governor to Halt
Forest City Ratner's Premature "Atlantic Yards" Demolitions
Project Cannot Move Forward Due to Lawsuits
BROOKLYN, New York – Around one hundred Brooklyn residents protested, early this morning, against developer Forest City Ratner's commencement of demolitions for its "Atlantic Yards" project. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB) organized the protest against Ratner's premature demolitions.
In the next two months Forest City Ratner plans to demolish 15 buildings within the proposed project site. Demolition of four of those buildings began today.
In front of the buildings along Flatbush Avenue, the protestors displayed signs with slogans such as: "Gov. Spitzer and Mayor Bloomberg: Stop Creating Blight," "Gov. Spitzer: Albany Reform Begins With Atlantic Yards", and "These Demolitions Are Premature."
Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer are allowing these demolitions to proceed
well before the 8 million square foot, $4 billion project has been shown to be
legal and financially
viable.
"Though some demolitions may start, 13 property owners and renters are in
federal court alleging that the use of eminent domain for "Atlantic Yards" violates
the United States Constitution," said Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn (DDDB)
spokeswoman Candace Carponter. "If that lawsuit succeeds, it will make it
impossible to build the arena, or the skyscraper-laden superblocks planned by
the developer." (see ownership
map)
There is also a lawsuit in State Supreme Court
that could require the project to undergo a new environmental review by the Spitzer
administration's Empire State Development Corporation and a new vote by the Public
Authorities Control Board, where Governor Spitzer has replaced Governor Pataki
as one of the three votes on that board. A hearing on that suit, filed by 26 community
and civic organizations, is scheduled for May 3rd at 3:30 in Manhattan State Supreme
Court.
"Ratner's demolitions are premature and an attempt to intimidate residents,
and realize facts on the ground, creating blight–where none existed–by demolition.
This is a classic tactic, used by developers abusing eminent domain, which reached
a predictable outcome
recently in Norwood, Ohio: a whole neighborhood was demolished, and when residents
challenging eminent domain finally won their lawsuit, three houses remained in
a field of devastation by demolition, with no ‘Plan B' from the developer or government,"
DDDB spokesman Daniel Goldstein said. "Today's protest is a call to our
political leaders to avoid that irresponsible, undesirable and dangerous scenario."
"These demolitions are occurring on Mayor Bloomberg's and Governor Spitzer's watch. They need to act now to protect the community from repeating the ‘urban renewal' mistakes of the past, and stop these demolitions–they have the power to do so," Carponter said.
Posted: 4.23.07
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