The Brooklyn Paper: SNA Newspaper of the Year, 2007

The current issue
By Neighborhood
Not Just Nets
GO Brooklyn
Perspective
Parenting
Brooklyn Cyclones
The Brooklyn Bride
Brooklyn Boom
Classifieds
About The Paper
RSS Feeds
Hall Street Storage

Atlantic Yards

The balance of power?

Editorial: Our editorial board shares its disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear an Atlantic Yards appeal. Comments (18).

June 21, 2008

Supremes sing the blues to Yards foes

Atlantic Yards: The Supreme Court will not hear a case brought by property owners who are slated to lose their land to make room for Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project — but the property owners say they will take their case through New York State’s court system, which has traditionally not been sympathetic to property owners in eminent domain cases. Comments (4).

Pols want more Yards scrutiny

Atlantic Yards: State legislators want to take oversight of Atlantic Yards away from a state development agency controlled by the governor’s appointees and give it to … a new agency controlled only slightly less by the governor’s appointees. Comments (3).

June 14, 2008

A High Stakes loss near Yards

Atlantic Yards: Has Bruce Ratner’s failure to build Atlantic Yards claimed its first victim? High Stakes Cheese Steaks has closed. Comments (2).

Nets still tanking

Atlantic Yards: The New Jersey Nets are losing even more money — adding yet another wrinkle in the team’s plans to relocate to Brooklyn. Comment.

June 7, 2008

Ratner’s false choice

Editorial: Why the pro–Atlantic Yards rally on Thursday at Borough Hall was a sham. Comments (19).

All drawn out

Atlantic Yards: Our artist’s weekly take on the issues of the day. Comment.

May 31, 2008

Ratner hosts rally to support…himself!

Atlantic Yards: Construction work in booming Downtown will come to a complete halt so that union members can attend a rally in support of the Atlantic Yards project on Thursday at Borough Hall. Comment.

May 10, 2008

Tale of two renderings

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner and his foes presented starkly different visions for the mega-project this week — one, a scaled-back, Frank Gehry wonderland, the other, a collection of bulky buildings and a basketball arena surrounded for decades by parking lots. Comment.

Tale of two rallies

Atlantic Yards: Union hardhats faced off against with stroller moms — and a half-dozen local elected officials — at rival protests in the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards project on Saturday. Comments (6).

Tale of the tape: Cory vs. Marty

Atlantic Yards: The mayor of Newark and the Beep of Brooklyn take their fight to win the Nets to the basketball court. Comments (1).

Ratner backer once a pimp

Atlantic Yards: One of Bruce Ratner’s boosters at the pro-Atlantic Yards rally on Saturday was a former strip club manager who testified that he arranged for dancers to have sex with NBA stars. Comments (11).

May 3, 2008

Nets to stay in Jersey?

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner and his executives have met with New Jersey investors and officials about a plan that would keep the developer’s Brooklyn-bound Nets in the Garden State, the Newark Star-Ledger reported this week. Comment.

City lets Ratner off the hook

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner downsized Atlantic Yards — and it turns out that the city gave him the green light to do so. Comments (1).

Tax dollars paid for this mess

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner was called generous when he bought out tenants in the footprint of his proposed basketball arena in 2004 — but he could afford to be because he was paying with taxpayer money. Comments (3).

The new ‘Miss Brooklyn’

Atlantic Yards: “Miss Brooklyn” is dead — but Bruce Ratner has released new renderings of the 511-foot tower that he hopes will take her place. Comments (2).

April 26, 2008

Mega-rally to stop mega-project

Atlantic Yards: Three local groups that haven’t agreed on how to fight the Atlantic Yards development will put aside their differences to demand a halt in demolition work on the project at a mega-rally next Saturday. Comments (1).

April 19, 2008

Pols: Stop Bruce now

Atlantic Yards: The construction of Atlantic Yards project must be halted immediately until developer Bruce Ratner commits — in writing — to building the full state-approved project, three councilmembers demanded this week. Comment.

April 12, 2008

Ratner seeks … more tax dollars!

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is poised to ask city and state officials for more public subsidies to keep afloat his faltering mega-project — but at least two councilmen are just as ready to stop the money grab. Comments (10).

Protesters call Bruce’s honor a ‘dung deal’

Atlantic Yards: Dozens of opponents of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-development rallied outside the Brooklyn Museum’s gala last Thursday in protest to the art institute’s decision to give the controversial developer its highest honor. Comments (2).

Jamie is queen of swag

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner got the award, but Borough President Markowitz’s wife got the goods. Comment.

BREAKING NEWS: Post reports Ratner’s Yards subsidies at $2.1 billion!

Atlantic Yards: Monday’s New York Post reported a story that is quite familiar to Brooklyn Paper readers: That Bruce Ratner’s $4-billion Atlantic Yards project is floating on more than $2.1 billion in taxpayer subsidies. Comments (1).

Cut Ratner off

Editorial: He’s already getting $2 billion in public subsidies — and now Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner “wants more”? The Paper’s Editorial Board offers a handy place to put that request. Comments (2).

April 5, 2008

EXCLUSIVE: Gehry to Brooklyn Paper: Miss Brooklyn ain’t dead — in fact, she’s hotter than ever

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards architect Frank Gehry told The Brooklyn Paper Thursday night that his “Miss Brooklyn” tower at Atlantic Yards is not dead. In an exclusive interview, he told The Paper that not only will it be built, but it will “look better than anyone imagines.” Comments (3).

Yards foes to sing to Supremes

Atlantic Yards: The Atlantic Yards project is heading to the Supreme Court — if the Court will have it, that is. Comments (1).

Protesting Ratner’s honor

Editorial: The Brooklyn Museum has every right to give Bruce Ratner an award. But the institution should not be shocked when its neighbors get angry about it. Comments (3).

All drawn out

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner will lose $200 million in public money if all lawsuits are not concluded by the end of 2009. Our artist’s take! Comment.

March 29, 2008

Atlantic Yards dead

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards project — which envisioned 16 skyscrapers, eight acres of open space, more than 2,250 units of below-market-rate housing, new top-of-the-line office space and a publicly financed basketball arena — now consists of little more than the arena and two scaled-back residential buildings, the developer told the New York Times last week. Comments (7).

For years, The Brooklyn Paper has untangled Bruce’s web of lies

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner has finally admitted that he can’t build Atlantic Yards in its current incarnation as a 16 skyscraper, hotel, residential and basketball arena project, a stunning admission that contradicts years of assurances from the developer. Of course, any reader of The Brooklyn Paper could have seen that Ratner’s project has been in trouble for years. Here’s a look back: Comments (1).

Take back the rail yards!

Editorial: Atlantic Yards is officially dead. Now, the state must grab the corpse from Bruce Ratner and save the project. Comments (1).

State: Ratner has no deadline for construction.

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner has not been given a deadline to complete the bulk of the Atlantic Yards project — including the 11 buildings that contain the vast majority of the promised 2,250 units of affordable housing and seven acres of open space, newly released documents show, prompting critics of the controversial project to blast it as a “bait and switch.” Comments (1).

Is arena facing all new review?

Atlantic Yards: Opponents of Atlantic Yards say the ballooning costs of the Frank Gehry-designed basketball arena will require state officials to re-approve the project — but state officials said no. Comment.

March 22, 2008

Ratner kills Miss Brooklyn, most of Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards project — which envisioned 16 skyscrapers, eight acres of open space, more than 2,250 units of below-market-rate housing, new top-of-the-line office space and a publicly financed basketball arena at the center — now consists of little more than the arena and two scaled-back residential buildings, the developer told the New York Times today. Comments (5).

Yards foes to picket Ratner

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards opponents — some of them Brooklyn Museum members — will picket the Museum’s April 3 gala in protest of the institution’s decision to honor controversial developer Bruce Ratner. Comment.

March 15, 2008

Brooklyn Museum honors Ratner

Atlantic Yards: Controversial Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner has bought himself the Brooklyn Museum’s highest honor, nabbing the institution’s illustrious Augustus Graham Award thanks to his financial contributions to the arts, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comments (3).

Another Ratner lie! Gehry was not ‘born in Brooklyn’

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner has been caught in another lie: His star architect Frank Gehry was not born in Brooklyn, as Ratner has long claimed. Comments (2).

March 8, 2008

Update: CUNY gives Ratner failing grade

Atlantic Yards: The City University of New York bailed on a plan to hire Bruce Ratner to build a new lab, classroom and residential skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn because the Atlantic Yards developer would be too expensive, too slow and too controversial, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comments (1).

Delay that order! Court pushes back Yards case

Atlantic Yards: Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-project is suddenly on even shakier ground, thanks to an inexplicable court ruling last week delaying until at least September a final judgment on one of the last legal barriers to the $4-billion development. Comments (5).

March 1, 2008

Fed cash crunch threatens ‘affordable’ A’Yards homes

Atlantic Yards: Thousands of affordable housing units — including some of the 2,250 rentals promised by Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner — will not be built due to a huge shortfall in federal subsidies available for low-cost housing development, The Brooklyn Paper has learned. Comments (3).

Bonds bombshell killing projects

The Explainer: A shortage of federal money designed to spur the development of affordable housing may endanger up to 3,000 lower-rent apartments in Downtown Brooklyn. But what exactly is going on? Let The Explainer explain. Comments (1).

Ratner’s shell game

Editorial: It is becoming clearer and clearer that Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner will not be able to build much of the below-market-rate housing at his mega-development. Comments (2).

February 16, 2008

Payback time

Atlantic Yards: Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, who said he stopped making political contributions because they created an appearance of impropriety, abandoned that policy last month with a large donation to a “slush fund” controlled by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Comments (3).

February 9, 2008

It’s true! Ratner a big liar!

Atlantic Yards: In a court document, an Atlantic Yards lawyer admits lying about the project potential benefit to the city and state. Comments (1).

James, Yassky: Ax Yards funds

Atlantic Yards: Two Brooklyn councilmembers want the state to take away tax benefits for Atlantic Yards Comments (1).

Ratner Foes eye Supreme Court

Atlantic Yards: After losing an eminent domain case in a federal appeals, Atlantic Yards opponents may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Comment.

Pols must hit Ratner in wallet

Editorial: It’s time for legislatures to open their eyes and put an end to Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards subsidies. Comment.

February 2, 2008

Rejected again! Ratner wins yet another big court case

Atlantic Yards: Opponents of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-project vowed to take their fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court hours after a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the developer on Friday morning. Comments (1).

Bid to cut Ratner’s public subsidies fails

Atlantic Yards: The City Council quashed a bid on Wednesday by two Brooklyn politicians to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in city and state subsidies from the Atlantic Yards mega-development. Comments (1).

January 19, 2008

Ratner wins big: Ruling brings Atlantic Yards closer to reality

Atlantic Yards: Opponents of the Atlantic Yards mega-development suffered a serious setback last Friday when a Manhattan Supreme Court judge dismissed a suit challenging the validity of the project’s environmental review. Comment.

A weak court ruling

Editorial: Before Bruce Ratner follows up his victory in state Supreme Court by bringing in construction cranes, it’s worth one more attempt to make some sanity of the ongoing misinformation campaign that state officials continue to conduct at Atlantic Yards. Comments (1).

There goes the judge: Quits Yards case citing Ratner’s promo flier

Atlantic Yards: A Brooklyn federal judge recused himself from a panel that will determine the fate of the most significant legal challenge to the Atlantic Yards development, citing his early support for the 16-skyscraper-and-arena project — and now the plaintiffs want to re-argue the case in front of the replacement judge. Comment.

Update: No new arguments in Yards case

Atlantic Yards: The three-judge federal appeals court overseeing the last remaining legal challenge to Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project will not hear new oral arguments in the wake of the recent recusal by one of the judges. Comment.

Another win for A’Yards

Atlantic Yards: A state Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an attempt by 13 of Bruce Ratner’s rent-stabilized tenants to bring their lawsuit against the Atlantic Yards developer to the Court of Appeals — but the tenants’ lawyer promised at least another year’s worth of litigation. Comment.

All drawn out

Atlantic Yards: Our artist’s take on the issues of the day! Comment.

January 12, 2008

Pols: Pull Ratner off the trough

Atlantic Yards: A City Council effort to reign in a tax break enjoyed by Madison Square Garden should bring about a cutback on the massive public subsidies lavished on Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner, two councilmembers demanded this week. Comments (1).

Public sees new face of Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards: The state’s newly appointed Atlantic Yards ombudsman met with the public for the first time — and here’s what he said. Comment.

Paper to be quizzed on Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards: The Brooklyn Paper will put its Atlantic Yards expertise where its mouth is this Thursday for the first-ever “Quiz Don’t Destroy” game show at Rocky Sullivan’s Bar in Red Hook. Comments (2).

January 5, 2008

Scribes attempt to write a wrong

Atlantic Yards: Twenty Brooklyn scribblers and opponents of the Atlantic Yards 16-skyscraper-and-arena development are putting their money where their pens are, not only contributing to a collection of essays and short stories about life in Brooklyn — but allowing the proceeds to benefit the mega-development’s biggest opponent. Comment.

The year in Yards!

Atlantic Yards: The tortuously drawn out development of the Atlantic Yards project never fails to offend, amuse and plain old befuddle onlookers. This year was no exception for the 16-skyscraper-and-arena mini-city slated for Prospect Heights. Comments (1).
Rico
Water Street Restaurant
Perelandra
La Bagel Delight