One-day boycott to protest Atlantic Yards Proposal

embers of the Downtown Brooklyn Leadership Coalition, comprised of clergy, community activists, elected officials, and concerned residents, held an all-day boycott of the Atlantic Terminal Mall. They chose the day after Thanksgiving, the largest shopping day of the year, to hold a press conference and to hand out information outside the mall to help draw attention to their unease about its owner, Forest City Ratner Companies, and its Atlantic Yards proposal.

This proposed complex in downtown Brooklyn would cover a whopping 24 acres of land. Among the things it would include is a 20,000 seat sports arena for the New Jersey Nets; 17 skyscrapers, some soaring higher than any other buildings in Brooklyn; 5,500 residential units; and 300,000 feet of retail space. It is also supposed to have 6 acres of open space for all Brooklynites to enjoy, and quality-of-life facilities such as inter-generational, youth and health centers.

According to the project’s critics, regardless of its good points, this massive complex would effectively split the small brownstone communities of Forest Green and Clinton Hill while casting a huge shadow over both. It would displace Black, Latino and other long-time residents as well as have a devastating effect on the Black- and Latino-owned mom and pop businesses that are the backbone of the area. Many of them would ultimately be forced out of business by the complex’s new mega stores.

There is also great concern because this enormous project is not subject to the Uniform Land Review Procedure, which means, as Council Member Letitia James explained, that Community Boards, City Planning Board and the City Council have no oversight over it. "There would not be one elected official representing this district who would have any say on this project," she declared. "This is going to be approved by an authority created by Governor Pataki, who is very good friends with Forests City Ratner Companies."

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery pointed out that the 5,500 new residential units would require the City and the State to finance major infrastructure improvements to support something the size of a new town or small city. "The requirement for additional schools, sanitation, police and fire protection have yet to be mentioned by Mr. Ratner as part of this plan," she stated.

Another bone of contention has been the way the land would be acquired. People who oppose it consider it an abuse of eminent domain, which is the right of a government to seize private property for public use, usually with compensation to the owner. This project would set an extremely dangerous precedent in that the government would appropriate 13 acres of private property, but rather than using it for public works, it would be turned over for the private profit of Ratner’s corporation.

Rev. Clinton Miller, Pastor of the Brown Memorial Baptist Church, said that they are also "outraged and disappointed" that the MTA would give the rest of the land to the developer at bargain basement prices just when the MTA is in a budget crunch and people will soon have to shoulder the burden of yet another fare hike.

At the same time these protesters were picketing and addressing the press, community activists with an opposing view were also handing out material and making their voices heard. One of the main reasons some people in the community support the project is because they believe it will create badly needed jobs. Ratner has promised, for instance, that his project will create 15,000 construction jobs and enhance neighborhood-based and minority- and women-owned business opportunities.

However, as was evident by the lack of any vitriol shown towards their fellow community activists who disagreed with them about this project, the Downtown Brooklyn Leadership Coalition’s argument isn’t with them but with Forest City Ratner Companies itself. DBLC members simply don’t trust Ratner to come through with the goods. As the organization's chairman, Rev. Dennis Dillon, stated, "We are concerned that promises have been made in the past, time and time again, but those promises were not kept. We reflect on Ratner’s MetroTech Center. Over 1,000 jobs were promised to the community, but less than 200 were actually delivered." And Council Member James added that regardless of what Ratner may promise, this construction project is a union job, and the unions have yet to agree that they’re going to share the jobs with the local community.

Even though it can look like the Atlantic Yards project is a done deal, those who oppose it may receive help from an unexpected source. Next year the Supreme Court will hear a case regarding New London, Connecticut’s use of eminent domain for private purposes. If the court rules against it, it will likely mean curtains for the Atlantic Yards project as well.