SMH:Is The Brooklyn Nets Project Corrupt?
June 9, 2010 Leave a comment
by R. Asmerom
Every good story needs a well rendered setting. For the narrative charting his rise, the one Jay-Z’s been burnishing since his 1996 debut, this is Brooklyn. He may have deserted it for Manhattan, a place more suited to his appetite for luxury and glamour, but the frequency with which he continues to invoke the culture, lessons and aesthetics of the borough, portray a man unwilling to relinquish his status as its chief emissary.
So it made sense that when real estate tycoon and then-majority owner of the New Jersey Nets Bruce Ratner was drumming up support for Atlantic Yards, a $4.9 billion development project (to include the Barclay’s sports center) in the heart of Brooklyn, he had a sit-down with Mr. Carter.
The opportunity to not only be part of bringing professional sports back to
Brooklyn, but also cement his place in its textbook history, proved too tantalizing an offer to turn down. With an estimated stake of 1-1.5%, Jay-Z does not enjoy decision-making power, but the bragging rights are unparalleled, especially when Lebron James may potentially enter the equation.
On March 11, 2010 Atlantic Yards held its groundbreaking ceremony. Along with a fist pump, Jay-Z brought his comments to a close by saying “We did it again Brooklyn, shout out to B.I.G.” For many residents, however, his power move is anything but pro-Brooklyn. To make room for Barclay’s Center, the arena that would be home to the Nets, as well as the other commercial and residential space, Brooklynites have already been displaced.
“The number one concern about the project is that it is a corrupt, undemocratic project,” said Daniel Goldstein, the founder and former spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. Goldstein spoke to The Atlanta Post the week before he reached an agreement with Bruce Ratner’s development company, Forest City Ratner, to sell his condominium (seized under eminent domain) and step down as spokesman for the anti-Atlantic Yards group. “It is the largest project in the history of Brooklyn that never underwent a single vote by a single elected official,” he said, referring to the fact that the majority of the 49 officeholders representing Brooklyn oppose the project.
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