DailyHeights

Did anybody go to the Al Sharpton pep rally (going on right now, actually) at Underhill & Sterling? I was just there 5 minutes ago. Got there just in time to hear him introduce the Honorable William C. Thompson (New York City Comptroller). The program I have here says that Sharpton follows Thompson, so maybe if you hurry, you can catch his keynote remarks.

The audience is about 90% black, maybe 5% Hispanic. Most of the Caucasians in attendance looked like they were media (not exaggerating). The crowd is pretty thin… It is definitely NOT standing room only… Duryea Presbyterian is a small church and there’s still enough room to fit double the crowd.

I also got another copy of The Brooklyn Standard thrust at me.

NoLandGrab has posted a PDF of the "friends of the court" brief filed in the Supreme Court case of Kelo vs. New London.
Develop Don’t Destroy has this analysis: "While the brief begins by extolling the parties’ strong support for Ratner’s Atlantic Yards proposal, it quickly goes on to claim that the matters under consideration in the Kelo case have no bearing on Ratner’s plan. Why? Well, because the Atlantic Yards project will be built on a ‘blighted site – now largely occupied by railyards, vacant and industrial property…"

In case you never made it past the jump in that Brooklyn Papers article …

Forest City Ratner executive positively gushes: “We like working with
ACORN. They have that radical feeling, they really fight for what they believe
in. We just love their history, how they started, and feel it really
represents what we’re working to do here." [PR tip-of-the-day: don’t say “trying to do.” Say “working to
do.” It makes you sound like a go-getter!]

“Forest City Ratner has been working in conjunction with the
New York City chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform
Now (ACORN), to establish an affordable housing scheme for Atlantic Yards.”

“Talk is cheap,’” [ACORN’s] Lewis said of the Ratner
executive’s announcement …" Read the whole thing… (DIAL-UP WARNING:
3.24MB PDF of the entire paper)