A LITTLE SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT...
WHO are these folk in such an uproar about the Atlantic Yards Project and not any other development?
WHAT makes folk think that they can move into the community for 6 months and only their opinions are valued?
WHEN are community average folk going to see that the Atlantic Yards Project is a great opportunity?
WHERE is the genuineness about safeguarding the “Community at Large” when the facts are that all other development(s) in progress do not have any community input, affordable housing, training opportunities or jobs?
WHY are they so eager to coerce the community average folk out of the community by denying them the following:
Opportunities
Affordable Housing
Training and Jobs
Most of all HOPE!
HOW can the "Community Average Folk" allow this to happen to them without demanding to be heard?
Just A Little Something Else To Think About?
Could it be that the truth is that they do not want affordable housing, training opportunities and jobs for the "Community Average Folk" because the new gentrified community should not include the “Community Average Folk” who have been living here for the past 10, 20, 30 or 40 years just because they want the re-gentrified community to themselves?
Well, if this is not the reason...What is the reason?
posted by Community Average Folk 101 @ 8:11 PM
5 Comments:
At 9:17 AM,
Anonymous said…
could it be that you are ridiculous?
could it be that people of all walks of life and time lived in Brookyn oppose Ratner's rapacious boondoggle?
could it be that people don't like being bulldozed?
could it be that people like democracy ESPECIALLY when their tax dollars are used for a private developer?
could it be that people prefer to minimize environmental degredation so we all can live healthily?
i could continue, but I'll finish with this.
Could it be that ALL people want new jobs and affordable housing but some want to do it in a destructive manner that profits and enhances a corporation, while others know that it can be done in an equitable manner that works for everyone?
yes, it could be.
At 2:13 PM,
Errol said…
Good questions, rarely asked.
"Brooklyn in the Balance" 1/6/04
http://daily.nysun.com/Repository/getmailfiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMail&Type=text/html&Path=NYS/2004/01/06&ID=Ar00900
"The Gulliver Gambit" 11/23/04
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/255330p-218648c.html
At 11:47 AM,
Dope on the Slope said…
WHO are these folk in such an uproar about the Atlantic Yards Project and not any other development?
I don't know. Most of the folks that I personally know that are opposed to this project have serious concerns about several other proposed developments throughout the city. WHO have you been talking to?
WHAT makes folk think that they can move into the community for 6 months and only their opinions are valued?
This is a ridiculous statement. Have you actually collected any data on the average time of residency of the opponents? I consider myself a newcomer to Brooklyn, but I've lived here over four years. Many of the members of DDDB have lived here for decades. Why don't you actually, you know, TALK to one of them sometime?
WHEN are community average folk going to see that the Atlantic Yards Project is a great opportunity?
If and when it gets changed so that it actually is an opportunity. Who are "community average folk" in your view?
WHERE is the genuineness about safeguarding the “Community at Large” when the facts are that all other development(s) in progress do not have any community input, affordable housing, training opportunities or jobs?
First, the reason the Ratner project gets the focus is because it's the BIGGEST single developer project in New York city history, it requires massive taxpayer subsidies without representation or oversight, and it uses eminent domain. There is certainly opposition to other projects, but you've got to focus on the most important and urgent issues first. Finally, many of the other development projects don't require subsidies or zoning variances. Neigbors of these projects may not like them, but it is a free market after all.
"WHY are they so eager to coerce the community average folk out of the community by denying them the following"
Ratner's project will displace several "community average folk" immediately. It is gentrification on the nuclear scale. South Brooklyn Legal services estimated that a significant portion of the poor that would be displaced by the project won't have enough income to qualify for the lowest tier of "affordable" housing. Also, even those that have been promised an eventual spot in the new development are only given assistance for three years to cover the differenc between their current rent and the rent they'll pay wherever they land after eviction. The construction of the affordable units may take significantly longer than three years. What happens when that big rent bill comes due in year four and these folks can't afford it? I'm sure the folks enjoying the Nets skyboxes and the private rooftop garden aren't going to invite them to let a room until the new apartments are built.
Why aren't the proponents concerned about these folks?
The promises from this developer are nothing but P.R.
The current "CBA" is not enforeceable.
Community Average Folk deserve better.
We should have a borough-wide strategy to address the housing problem rather than depend on table scraps from billion dollar development firms enjoying corporate welfare at our expense. Ratner's project won't address the problem of jobs and housing, but it gives so-called "leadership" a smokescreen to hide behind when the are asked by "community average folk" why they haven't done more to address these issues. Why have they cut funding for public housing? Why have they cut funding for education? Why is there no investment in programs to create living wage jobs?
Their answer will be "we are working with the PRIVATE SECTOR to help alleviate these issues."
Show me where that has ever worked in this city. We've had countless examples of so-called public/private "partnerships" in this city, but "community average folk" are still faced with the same problems. Private Profit and Public Risk may be a winning formula for developers, and it may look good on paper short-term for people who desperately need jobs and affordable housing - but talk to me again five years after this thing is built (if it gets built).
At 7:17 PM,
concerned citizen said…
To anonymous 9:17 AM? Could it be that you are ridiculous not recognizing that change is inevitable. Face it the developer has put out a plan to develop a property that they purchased, how would you feel if you were told you don't have the right to build what you want on a piece of land that you purchased. Are you forgetting that the as of right policies are used all over the place. Developers all over the place are using the subsides that are made available to them, however when the same considerations are suggested or requested by the developer for atlantic yard the opponents take issue. Be balance and stop being so cruel and judgemental. Each should be aloud to speak his or her concerns without all of the personal attacks.
At 1:02 AM,
Dope on the Slope said…
how would you feel if you were told you don't have the right to build what you want on a piece of land that you purchased. Are you forgetting that the as of right policies are used all over the place
How would you feel if the property you acquired "as of right" in ordert to build a home, or business, or raise a family were taken by the state and transferred to a wealthy developer who was building luxury condominiums?
As long as eminent domain is in the equation, all talk of the property "rights" of Ratner are pure hypocrisy.
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