On Thursday April 29 at Freddy’s Bar, small magnetic LCD lights ascended rapidly from the hands of patrons, fixing themselves to the historic tin ceiling – a glowing, colorful metaphor for how this 70 year old establishment might soon be moving on.
Bruce Ratner, the mastermind behind the Atlantic Yards Project and part-owner of the New Jersey Nets signed a $200 million deal today to give Russion oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov an 80% stake in the basketball team. Mr. Prokhorov wrote on his LiveJournal blog (translated from Russian by Google) that “participation in [this deal] was made possible by the world crisis (never in the history of foreigners owned NBA).”
A tipster sends in an email, with pictures, regarding the 35th City Council district race, where incumbent Letitia James is being challenged by Delia Hunley-Adossa. Ms. Hunley Adossa is in favor of the Atlantic Yards project and it’s been speculated that her campaign is funded by developers who want to challenge Ms. James’ opposition to the controversial project. The full email after the jump.
The Empire State Development Corporation recently held a public hearing on the Atlantic Yards project in a New York City College of Technology auditorium on Jay Street Downtown. Both supporters and opponents of the program made strong showings, although the pro-Yards contingent — a varied collection of Union workers along with members of ACORN or BUILD — vastly outnumbered opponents of the plan, including many members of Develop, Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. After six long years of public hearings and court fights, both camps had plenty to say about each other: supporters of the project tarring opponents as effete elites and opponents claiming supporters were either paid for their participation or naïve. Hear from both sides after the jump.
Apparently it’s quite controversial to discuss the experience of living in Brooklyn when it comes to the topic of race. A few weeks back, I dared to talk about it and received a lot of flack. But in my hood, Prospect Heights, and anywhere really, race, class and gentrification are heavy topics, and I’m not going to shy away from them.
