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Gehry: Ratner Has Big Mouth. Ratner: Museum Award for His "Socially Responsible" Developments
The Brooklyn Paper just posted
an exclusive story on its website. It's a pretty funny interview at the Brooklyn
Museum's gala with Bruce Ratner's architect Frank Gehry, and a round up of the
protest against the Museum's celebration and honor of Bruce Ratner. Gehry says
that the reports of the death of "Miss Brooklyn" (his "ego
trip" which would require eminent domain and the demapping of one block
of 5th Avenue) are premature. But he does give this wonderfully unscripted, unmessaged
classic quote in the following excerpt (a backhanded defense of his client Bruce):
...Gehry suggested that he was disappointed by Ratner’s comments
to the Times two weeks ago, in which the developer admitted that he cannot build
the bulk of Atlantic Yards because of the current economic downturn.
“He really does want to build it [all]” Gehry said. “But he
can’t get the financing. I don’t know why he would tell the papers
that, but it is true.”...
Another interesting
excerpt from the article is from Bruce Ratner's speech accepting the Augustus
Graham Medal, a Brooklyn Museum award which annually honors one Museum patron.
It's the Museum's highest honor and its named the Museum's
founder.
In defending itself against public
rebuke and criticism of its decision
to bestow this honor on Atlantic Yards proposer Bruce Ratner while the community
fight against his planned project is ongoing. The Museum's spokeswoman Sally
Williams explained
things a few weeks ago to The Brooklyn Paper:
Museum spokeswoman Sally Williams said the honor stemmed from
Ratner’s “contribution to arts and culture in Brooklyn and to the
museum” and his “generous support of various activities
of the Brooklyn Museum.”
Williams declined to provide specific numbers and said the museum’s selection
of Ratner did not indicate its support for Atlantic Yards, the 16-skyscraper
mega-development that has divided Brooklyn along class, race and socio-economic
lines for more than four years.
She added that the museum’s selection of Ratner did not indicate its support
(or lack thereof) for Atlantic Yards...
“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” she said.
Last week she
told The Brooklyn Paper:
“Bruce C. Ratner is being honored … in recognition of his longstanding
support of this museum."
But, according to The Brooklyn Paper, at last night's gala when Bruce
Ratner accepted his award, he seemed to think he was being honored for
his work as a developer, which would include being the eminent domain abusing,
proposer of the Atlantic Yards—a national poster child for bad planning
and bad process:
...In his acceptance speech hours later, Ratner did not mention Atlantic
Yards, but merely said that he was honored to accept an award that “represents
the essence” of what he does as a developer, namely, building with “a
social purpose and responsibility.”
Full
article (Emphasis added throughout.)
Posted: 4.04.08
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