"You're Blighted"

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Blight"…the latest skirmish began on Nov. 29 at a community meeting. James
Stuckey, an executive vice president at Mr. Ratner’s firm, Forest City
Ratner, was explaining the process of eminent domain…"

"… asking the state to obtain
property for them as a last resort … Mr. Stuckey said, would involve declaring properties in
the proposed arena footprint "blighted." The word drew jeers from
members of the audience, the newspaper reported, including one woman
who yelled back, ‘You’re blighted!’"

"’I don’t know if one is allowed to make a counter-blight argument,’ she
said, ‘but it could be made for everything that Ratner has built around
here thus far.’"

Categories: Ratner and the Nets Stadium, Real Estate

Ratner Applies Full-Court Press on the Downtown Arena

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Brian J. Carreira writes, "Develop Don’t Destroy’s Robert Puca characterizes the CBA discussions
as a ‘dinner party where everyone at the table agrees with the host…’"

"With so many being shut out of the discussion so early in the game,
those who find comfort in being ‘at the table’ should be wary when it
comes time to pay the check."

More …

Categories: Ratner and the Nets Stadium

DOT Reconstructs Grand Army Plaza Traffic Island

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"…DOT is continuing its efforts to improve safety in the Grand Army Plaza section of Brooklyn by improving a crucial traffic island next to the Brooklyn Public Library."

"Last week, DOT enlarged a triangular island that was initially built last year. This raised island provides extended refuge space for pedestrians who cross half of Flatbush Avenue and then await the rest of the crossing. DOT installed bollards along the entire perimeter of the traffic island to provide even greater protection for pedestrians."

WEINSHALL: "We received favorable comments when we installed this raised island last year – the bollards and the increase in space shall provide even more protection."

"A total of 39 bollards now surround the island – and DOT installed an additional 1,600 square feet of sidewalk. DOT worked in conjunction with the Prospect Heights Parents Association, who requested bollards as a means of further protection."

Categories: Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Heights Parents Association

PICCED: Prospect Heights Neighborhood Survey Summary Report

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The Pratt Institute Center for Community Environmental Development (PICCED) has released the PHeights report. Here is the Executive Summary (PDF) and Appendix (PDF).

"Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, has been the focus of significant media
attention after the unveiling of the proposed redevelopment of the
Brooklyn Atlantic Yards Project by Forest City Ratner Companies. The
multi-billion dollar plan includes a 19,000-seat Arena and basketball
sports complex, commercial space for office and retail and market-rate
housing. The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council (PHNDC),
a local community advocacy group, commissioned PICCED to design an
extensive survey of people who live and work in Prospect Heights about
existing conditions, as well as their concerns and vision for future
development of the neighborhood."

Categories: Uncategorized

Donation Page | Dailyheights.com

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Prospects for Prospect Heights Unclear

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ImagesHow will Ratner’s stadium and 4,500 new housing units impact Downtown Brooklyn?

"Prospect Heights sits inside, and adjacent to, the Nets development in
Brooklyn, known as Atlantic Yards. No other neighborhood will be potentially helped
more, or hurt, by the barrage of construction. Altogether, there would be
4,500 housing units, 2.1 million square feet of office space, 300,000 square feet
of retail space, 3,000 parking spots and six acres of public open space. The
stadium, at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues, will sit atop
the Long Island Rail Road rail yard."

Categories: Real Estate

Brooklyn to Protest Ratner Arena/Towers

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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.

Categories: Ratner and the Nets Stadium