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tel/fax:
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Brooklyn, New York 11217
About DDDB
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there are 51 community organizations formally
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retained attorneys.
We are funded entirely by individual donations from the community at large
and through various fundraising events we and supporters have organized.
We have the financial support of well over 3,500 individual
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Abuse of Reality by Daily News Editorial Board
From Atlantic Yards Report:
Daily
News's "Abuse of process" editorial an abuse of facts
An editorial in today's Daily News about Atlantic Yards, headlined
Abuse
of process, deserves a close look because of the numerous errors.
Norman Oder goes on to actually discuss claims made in the legal briefs rather
than claims made in Forest City Ratner press releases. Continue
reading...
The Daily
News
has an editorial today which is so ironic, starting with its headline, and
so rife with fabrications, exaggerations, and nonsense that we have to respond
here (there is at least one example per paragraph). Note that the editorial, as
editorials are, is unfortunately an anonymous voice, so our response is to the
whole board-- though there is a question we have for the paper's publisher, developer
Mort Zuckerman: How many legal suits have you filed in your lifetime?
Here is our paragraph-by-paragraph response to the "News's"
editorial:
Editorial:
Abuse of Process
DDDB: Okay, that is a hysterical headline, as it is in reference to opponents
of Atlantic Yards. We are the ones "abusing the process." Apparently
the Daily News is the only entity out there unwilling to admit that,
say what you will about the Atlantic Yards project, its abusive process is something
everyone can agree upon. Since the community opposed to Atlantic Yards has no
control over any process, it is impossible for that community to "abuse"
process.
Opponents of the Atlantic Yards project - developer Bruce Ratner's
$4 billion plan to build housing and a pro basketball arena on 22 blighted acres
in Brooklyn - have had their days in court. And they have lost over and over
again.
DDDB: Opponents have had one
day in court in the case in question and are seeking a second on appeal, while
property owners and tenants defending their Constitutional rights and homes have
had two days in court, and are seeking
a third. In our democracy and legal system, that is how the process works.
On Friday, a federal appeals court summarily tossed a wacko attempt
to block the state from using eminent domain to buy a handful of privately owned
properties on the site. The opponents argued that Ratner had co-opted or corrupted
every official who likes the idea of building 2,250 units of affordable housing
there, along with a ton of market-rate housing and a home for the Nets.
DDDB: "Wacko??" So according to the Daily News editorial
board, challenging misuses of the Constitution is "wacko." We wonder
how we got all those Constitutional amendments, must have been some wackos. Never
mind that it's not a "handful of owners," or that plaintiffs did not
argue that anyone who likes Atlantic Yards is corrupted or co-opted. As Norman
Oder writes on his Atlantic Yards Report, "Wacko? Well, U.S. Magistrate
Judge Robert M. Levy a year
ago wrote that the case raised "serious and difficult questions regarding
the exercise of eminent domain under emerging Supreme Court jurisprudence."
Such is the nonsense that the opposition, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, has peddled for four years. As Ratner reached generous settlements with scores who lived or owned property in the development zone, the group charged that he had ensnared Mayor Bloomberg and Govs. Pataki and Spitzer into fabulously and unjustifiably enriching him.
DDDB: The Daily News understands little. Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn has
not "peddled" anything. DDDB has taken on the leadership of massive
community opposition and presented sound reasons for that opposition, and made
sound arguments in court. What the News doesn't get is that DDDB is not
some fringe organization; we have the financial support of over 3,500 individual
donors, over 800 volunteers and over 7,000 subscribers to our newsletter. By contrast,
there is no groundswell of support for the Ratner plan. "The group"
has not charged anything. The charge that the Mayor and Governor allowed impermissible
favoritism for Ratner's benefit was a charge brought by owners and tenants protecting
their homes and businesses.
The federal judges rejected the claim out of hand, just as a Manhattan Supreme Court justice two weeks ago threw out a suit by the group alleging state officials did a faulty environmental review in order to, you guessed it, make Ratner wealthy.
DDDB: Of course the suit challenging the state's environmental review didn't
argue that the faulty review was to "make Ratner wealthy." That
would have been "wacko," and to twist reality that way is...."wacko!"
The suit actually brought 11 causes
of action; none had to do with making "Ratner wealthy."
Now, the opponents are getting set to appeal again - and appear determined to wait the maximum of nine months before filing papers. This is the height of cynicism. The group is dragging its feet for one reason: to try to delay Atlantic Yards to death.
DDDB: Project opponents (in the case of the environmental lawsuit, 26 community
groups not all of whom are opposed to Atlantic Yards) have never said we would
wait nine months. Had the News bothered to read a legal brief, they would
have found out that though by law we have nine months to file our appeal, our
Attorney Jeff Baker actually said in his brief that we
anticipate filing our appeal in 3-4 months.
Every month costs Ratner $12 million, and financing has become increasingly difficult in the subprime mortgage credit crunch. The developer has asked the Appellate Division to force Develop Don't Destroy to make its case on an expedited basis.
DDDB: $12 million? See the affidavits
filed by Forest City Ratner and see this Atlantic
Yards Report article from yesterday. Is Ratner trying to get
a "subprime mortgage"? Laws and regulations shouldn't change because
Forest City Ratner decided to speculate on a real estate deal.
That must happen. The opponents are engaged in an abuse of process that threatens great public harm. The court should order them to proceed forthwith so the matter can be decided on the merits once and for all.
DDDB: An abuse of process would be if Ratner were granted an expedited appeal.
They have no right to one. The foundational offense of the Atlantic Yards project
is its abuses of democratic and legal process by Forest City Ratner and its enablers
at the Empire State Development Corporation, in City Hall and in Albany.
The abuse was perpetrated throughout by Ratner, starting with his block-busting
technique, drawing up his preferred "blight" zone and threatening eminent
domain property seizures before any government official even started considering
such drastic behavior.
When the political fix is in from day one, defending our rights vigorously in
court--at the state and federal levels--is the process.
Ratner's actions are the abuse.
NoLandGrab comments:
There're too many inaccuracies and half-truths in the News's editorial
to go through them all, but suffice it to say, the lawsuits are worth the cost
just for their ability to get under the paper's skin. But here are a couple
we're compelled to point out.
"Wacko?" Since when is it "wacko" to try to save one's home or business from
being seized by the only means available? If Ratner really is now losing $12
million a month, maybe he should've waited to knock down those buildings so
they could have generated a little income on the side. And "abuse of process?"
Has any one at the Daily News bothered to take a look at the alleged
public process that brought us Atlantic Yards in the first place?
Posted: 2.05.08
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