Tenant.net reports: "While co-op owners are being given substantial buy-out offers from Ratner, tenants are finding themselves left out in the cold. Tenants’ legal rights are less than homeowners’ rights and do not attract the same ‘Abuse of Eminent Domain’ argument. It’s still displacement, but not a property taking for the tenants …"

"…Tenants in the surrounding areas are likely to be as impacted as those on the arena site itself …For every Ratner tower that goes up, there will be pressures from other developers to tear down nearby tenements or brownstones, replacing those tenants with others who have little connection to the community and/or who can afford expensive apartments. Similarly, even in existing tenements, landlords will try to force out existing tenants and jack-up rents to levels never before seen in that area."

"For those who doubt this scenario, all one needs to look at is the secondary displacement now happening in various areas of Manhattan: Clinton, Chelsea, Lower East Side/East Village and Harlem."

"Despite the near unanimous rejection of Ratner’s plans by the people who live and work there … " Continued.

Via Develop Don’t Destroy: Celebrate Brooklyn Communities Block Party and Rally Against the Ratner/Nets Arena and High Rise Development

When: Saturday, June 19th, 2pm
Where: Pacific Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues - Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
Cost: FREE!

As developer Bruce Ratner’s plan to build a new arena and high rise
buildings in Brooklyn continues apace, the affected communities are
coming together to draw the public’s attention to exactly what is at
stake. On June 19, 2004 in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, a consortium of
activist groups will be hosting the Celebrate Our Communities Block
Party, an event celebrating our Brooklyn communities, while affirming
the right of individuals everywhere to have a say in development
projects that affect them.  READ MORE.