Please see the Develop Don’t Destroy newsletter below, and please support their efforts to save Brooklyn from over-development, continued gentrification, and more displacement:
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn Newsletter
June 10, 2008
Atlantic Yards in Jeopardy as DDDB Launches Its Summer Fundraising Drive
Your ongoing support is more important than ever. With your continued help, we will all win this historic fight…
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Arena Financing and Atlantic Yards Are in Jeopardy as Lawsuits Proceed…
Forest City Ratner’s project is currently stalled and in jeopardy.
Why? Because the credit market is in crisis, construction costs have skyrocketed, the real estate market is crashing, and the project was a financial house of cards to being with. With the economy faltering, Forest City Ratner is having difficulty financing the arena, the “affordable” housing and the rest of the project, while the appeals of our lawsuits are still pending. According to a New York Times article “Goldman Sachs–the lead manager of the arena financing–cannot wrap up deals without the cessation of legal hostilities.”
Given these financial problems, combined with our lawsuits, how much longer can Forest City Ratner and their co-investors continue to lose $40 million a year on a basketball team? And how much longer will our elected officials allow this floundering project to stumble forward while Forest City Ratner continues to seek more subsidies (and the use of eminent domain) without providing any timeline whatsoever for the bulk of the “affordable” housing–the promise that was used to gain political support?
We believe…not much longer.
Recall the Newark Star Ledger article about talks amongst Forest City Ratner, the owner of the New Jersey Devils, a group of New Jersey investors and Newark’s mayor Cory Booker about the possibility of selling the Nets and moving them to Newark.
What is the status of our lawsuits?
To protect the community and our neighbors, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn has organized the following lawsuits; they are funded entirely by your contributions.
Goldstein et al. v. Pataki et al. — 11 Owners and Renters Challenging NY State’s Use of Eminent Domain for Atlantic Yards:
The arena and skyscraper super-blocks cannot be built unless eminent domain is used to seize the plaintiffs’ properties. The United States Supreme Court will soon make a decision whether or not to consider the plaintiffs’ case alleging that the use of eminent domain for Atlantic Yards violates the US Constitution. If the Court takes the case, we are quite confident they would rule that the lawsuit should proceed to trial in the lower federal district court–a process that would take years. If the Supreme Court decides not to take the case, the plaintiffs intend to protect their homes and businesses by challenging the use eminent domain under New York State law in State Court–most likely in August. If that occurs, it will take substantial time to resolve.
DDDB et al. v. ESDC et al. — DDDB and 26 Co-plaintiffs Challenging NY State’s Environmental Review and Approval of Atlantic Yards:
We will be filing appeal briefs in New York State Appellate Court on July 7th. The appeal will be argued in September. We do not expect a decision until December or January.
New Litigation
If we can raise the funds, we are also considering new litigation, since the project that was approved in 2006 has changed substantially–in form and cost–and we believe it requires a new review and vote by the Public Authorities Control Board (the PACB consists of Governor Paterson, Speaker Silver and Majority Leader Bruno).
We’re dependent on your ongoing and repeated support to sustain these lawsuits.
Have you already contributed to finance these lawsuits?
To date we’ve filed (or are in the process of filing) papers for eight hearings for the two lawsuits, and through the end of last year, have already paid nearly $600,000 in legal bills.
Every time we file a lawsuit or appeal, we rely on your renewed support to pay the new set of legal bills. We are dependent on your continued and sustained generosity to continue with the legal cases so we can all be victorious in this historic fight.
As we launch our Summer fundraising drive, please consider helping finance the July and potential August legal filings, or to mount the eminent domain challenge in the US Supreme Court: each hour of legal time costs $320.
Thank you for your continued generosity over the past four years–every level of support counts: whether you can contribute $25 or $2,500 every contribution means the world to us and the ability to continue the fight against Atlantic Yards.
And remember, your contribution is tax-deductible.
You can donate online at: http://www.dddb.net/php/donate.php
Or you can mail your contribution to:
Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn
121 5th Avenue, PMB #150
Brooklyn, New York 11217