change is all the rage (part 2)

Sitting between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene in Brooklyn, New York, lay the Atlantic Avenue rail yards. Bruce Ratner of Forest City has proposed a plan for 16 to 20 skyscrapers and an 20,000 seat arena that will cost taxpayers nearly 2 billion dollars. This project would fill seven large blocks, from Flatbush to Vanderbilt Avenues, and from Atlantic Avenue to Dean Street. That's almost 1.5 times the size of the entire World Trade Center site. Any local business in the path of this project will be removed and replaced with name brand chain stores.

The biggest development ever proposed in Brooklyn has had no input from the local community and will have no input or oversight from our city council, community boards, or the state legislature. The city will condemn homes and businesses, tie up tax dollars for the billionaire developer, but refuse the input of the people. An unaccountable state public corporation, the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), will oversee the project and override ALL local zoning.

For more info download this PDF and check out Develop don't destroy Brooklyn.