“Broken Promises” in Brooklyn
By Brie Burge
An Update on the Atlantic Yards Development Saga
In our first season we visited Brooklyn, where the borough’s largest development project, Atlantic Yards, was getting underway. If you missed the episode, here’s a quick rundown of the story: Atlantic Yards is a 5-billion dollar, 22-acre project that will make it the densest residential community in the country. The promise of new jobs, housing and entertainment sounded like a positive change for the community, but in order to create this new community, another had to be destroyed. In the episode, Al spoke with residents who described how their lives have been altered by having their neighborhood ripped from their hands by way of ‘eminent domain’, and others who felt that the project was the perfect way to reinvigorate their neighborhood. Both groups loved the community they lived in, but disagreed on the best way to make it all it could be.
Listen to the story here:
Atlantic Yards Segment
One of the promises made by the project’s developer, Forest City Ratner, was the creation of construction jobs for residents of Brooklyn. But at a recent meeting, Ratner said that of the 500 workers currently employed at Atlantic yards, 60 were from Brooklyn and only 38 from neighborhoods surrounding the project.
Photo Courtesy of Fort Greene-Clinton Hill Patch
So today, dozens of Brooklyn residents gathered to protest at the worksite. Among them, community activists who were once supportive of the Atlantic Yards project, now say they feel like “suckers” because they put their support behind the development.
You can watch a video and read more about today’s protest in the Fort Green-Clinton Hill Patch.
Listen to the whole “Brooklyn – Change Happens” episode, and see videos, pictures and letters by visiting the Brooklyn page of our website.
We want to hear from you. Let us know what you think of the Atlantic Yards development in the comment section below.
Tags: atlantic yards, atlantic yards brooklyn, community protests, forest city rasner
