A selection of dubious Ratner-related products, courtesy of Ads by Google.
Ratner Tries Really, Really, Really Hard to Like Basketball
New York Times: Ratner "was not an especially knowledgeable fan when he bought the Nets
last year and was painted by critics as a developer who dipped into
basketball only to … make a big real estate score."
Not so fast! stop painting! "To elevate his knowledge of basketball, Ratner plays the NBA Live video
game on his computer; trolls the Internet for news and statistics; and
bought the league’s pay-per-view games on the N.B.A.’s League Pass
subscription service."
"Norman
Siegel, a lawyer for Develop Don’t Destroy, said that Ratner had not
provided enough information to neighborhoods about the project … But Bruce Bender (Forest City Ratner) said: "We’ve gone
above and beyond to meet with the community … To say we haven’t is wrong, deceitful and outrageous."
Internet Land Grab?
Guess what www.forestcityratner.com redirects to: "Brooklyn Papers publisher Ed Weintrob — finding the (URL) unclaimed — rented if for a year beginning August 5, and set it up to
automatically forward visitors to a brooklynpapers.com page with
articles such as "Earth to Bruce: Facts show he owns less land" and
"Members: Ratner owns community boards.""
Hey, wait. Isn’t this just an Internet land grab? Shame on you, Ed Weintrob.
Shaya and Bruce: Unhappy Together?
It took Develop Don’t Destroy (go figure) to point out that the New York Times profile of developer Shaya Boymelgreen highlights several of his current Brooklyn ventures, but somehow leaves out a very important one: "The Times managed to completely ignore the fact that Shaya owns property in the Nets Arena Complex footprint (Newswalk) and has vowed that he’ll never sell…"
[Unity Plan] Alternative to Ratner Plan "Not Feasible"
Julie Satow writes in the The
New York Sun: “Community groups opposing Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic
Yards development in Brooklyn are advancing an alternative proposal to develop
the site. The "unity plan" calls for the development of the 11-acre
rail yard but does not include a new home for the New Jersey Nets.”
MARSHALL BROWN: “It is about stitching communities together by
creating new street connections and public parks … rather than act as a wall,
as in the Forest City Ratner plan."
DePLASCO (Forest City Ratner): “Not feasible …
They have no way to pay for it.”
HENRY WEINSTEIN (owns 120,000 sq ft of property in the Ratner footprint): "The
unity plan … is a good alternative and is definitely
feasible."
LETITIA JAMES: "The community is not antidevelopment,
it just opposes eminent domain.”
Brooklyn Arena for Nets? “No”
Patti Hagan and Jezra Kaye of the Prospect Heights Action Coalition
wrote in the Daily News: “…This project would sit on two kinds of land: a $500
million parcel now used as a … (railroad) storage yard and 10 acres of
private property, now home to 864 people and 437 jobs in 71 buildings.”
“Laws allow New York State to take private property ‘for
public use.’ But this project will not be public – Ratner and his partners will
own the arena, the team, the skyscrapers and the profits they make … Ratner has asked that $28 million of sales and income
taxes from the development be redirected back to him each year for years to
come … Another concern is how the neighborhood could accommodate
the residents of 4,500 new apartments. Public School 9 on Underhill Ave. is
already too crowded."
MTA to Ratner: YOU'RE BENCHED
NorthJersey.com (free registration required) is reporting that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) "has told the New Jersey Nets to take a seat on the bench … The MTA is too busy trying to work out a complicated deal with the New York Jets for a football stadium atop its rail yards in Manhattan to deal with the basketball team."
PETER KALIKOW (MTA Chairman), speaking at a public
hearing about the Jets stadium late last week: "The Nets deal is absolutely on hold until this finishes." KATHERINE LAPP (MTA Executive Director): "We’ve had no discussions directly with (Bruce Ratner/Forest City Ratner) about the value [of the air rights], what they would purchase, etc."
The article says that "The air-rights value determined for the Jets’ site may serve as a model for the Nets’ project, known as Atlantic Yards."
DDD: Ratner Arena "Stalled Plan That Can Be Stopped"
Develop Don’t Destroy sent around an e-mail with a rather grim assessment of FRC’s Atlantic Yards Project, calling it "stalled" because "18 months after he planned to
break ground, Ratner still doesn’t have the LAND, the FUNDING or the
public SUPPORT to make this plan work. He’s tied to it New York City’s
laughable 2012 Olympics bid. And this June, the Supreme Court may well
rule that for states to take private property for ‘economic
development’ (as Ratner wants New York State to do for him) is illegal."
NASCAR Brand Tomatoes
Who convinced NASCAR to put their name on a box of grape tomatoes? Quite possibly, the former NASCAR guy who now wants to sell the last-place New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn. Tomatoes, NASCAR–You know, it’s "that whole Southern thing." This could be the perfect endorsement opportunity for John Kerry. After all, who among us doesn’t love NASCAR Brand Grape Tomatoes?
And what store in Brooklyn stocks NASCAR Brand Grape Tomatoes, anyway? These were a donation to a Park Slope soup kitchen. There is a good chance they may have come from the Food Coop. Food Coopers, confirm or deny.
UNITY PLAN: Go see Ratner alternative Wednesday, Feb. 16 at the YWCA in Boerum Hill
Jo Anne Simon (BHA): "We support smart growth — development that makes sense and that is
consistent with the needs and sensibilities of the host communities." Forest City Ratner Corporation has also been
invited to make a presentation … Full details in the dailyheights forums.