Bruce Ratner's "Atlantic Yards" proposal
in Prospect Heights, in the heart of historic Brownstone Brooklyn envisions
a 22 acre
footprint-1.3 times that of the World Trade Center site-and
includes:
- a 20,000-seat arena
- 16 skyscrapers ranging in height from 20 to 55 stories
- 6,430 housing units
- 340,000 square feet of office space
- 247,000 square feet of retail space
The plan is the largest single-source development plan ever
proposed in New York City. It would be the densest residential community
in the United States (more than twice as dense as Battery Park City or Stuyvesant
Town), and if it were a census tract it would be the country's densest.
We support real economic development, truly affordable housing construction,
and job creation, and those goals are to be encouraged to be sure-though
that is not what's been offered, rather we have been offered inflated, false
claims-but not on the terms forced upon us by Forest City
Ratner's proposal.
Below is the Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn position statement.
(Click to Download this
position statement in pdf format) |
MARCH, 2004
Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn Position Statement
People in Brooklyn may want the Nets, but...
NO ONE wants a destructive, secret, taxpayer-subsidized
sweetheart deal forced on the community. We want a development plan that
maximizes its benefits for Brooklyn, rather than for a development company.
We believe that Brooklyn and New York City deserve much better than what
Forest City Ratner has proposed-a proposal which repeats the urban
renewal mistakes of the past which cannot be allowed to happen.
DEVELOP DON'T DESTROY BROOKLYN leads a broad-based
community coalition fighting for development that unites our communities
instead of dividing and destroying them.
WE OPPOSE the anti-democratic process that Forest
City Ratner has used, and continues to use, to push its arena and
skyscraper development plan on the people of Brooklyn without our
input or consent.
WE SUPPORT community-based proposals and a fair, public,
democratic, and transparent development process. We support proposals that
allow our communities, the people who live, work and run small businesses
in Brooklyn, to shape our futures. This is best accomplished through the
City's ULURP process.
(The UNITY Community Development Plan for the Vanderbilt Yards can be found
at: www.unityplan.org)
WE SUPPORT local hiring, local businesses, sustainable
jobs, job training, career development, union labor and affordable housing.
WE SUPPORT utilizing the Brooklyn model of horizontal
density found in the communities surrounding the proposed site, as
well as development that has the least possible negative environmental
impact on our communities.
WE SUPPORT an RFP (Request for Proposals), open-bidding
for multiple developers, and an independent appraisal for the MTA-owned
rail yards.
WE OPPOSE the use of eminent domain for Mr. Ratner's
private development; its use for this proposal is inappropriate, abusive,
and appears to be unconstitutional.
WE OPPOSE the use of taxpayer subsidies for a private arena.
We oppose the use of taxpayer subsidies for a high-rise, private, for-profit
and predominately luxury housing development in low-rise Brooklyn neighborhoods.
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