BrooklynSpeaks, Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, Brown Memorial Baptist Church, the Brown Community Development Corporation, and “Occupy” groups invite you to join with us in organizing a demonstration at the Barclays Center opening to protest the failure of Atlantic Yards to live up to its promises of public benefits, and the refusal of State and City administrations to take effective action.
The inaguraul meeting will take place Tuesday, June 19, 7 p.m., at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church, 484 Washington Ave., Brooklyn.
The Park Slope Civic Council is one of the founding sponsors of the community wide BrooklynSpeaks coalition.
Per the announcement from BrooklynSpeaks: “Jay-Z may be playing Barclays Center on September 28, but an arena alone nets nothing for Brooklyn. More than five years after Atlantic Yards’ approval, New Yorkers still aren’t close to getting what we were promised.
- The Atlantic Yards project caused the loss of 171 affordable apartments. Although the project has claimed it will provide 2,250 affordable units, none have yet been delivered. The first residential building is now two years behind schedule, and its current plans call for only eight affordable apartments suitable for families.
- The project promised 15,000 construction jobs, and 10,000 permanent jobs. But construction has only created 837 jobs, and of those, just 186 are from Brooklyn. More than 90% of the 2,100 arena jobs that have been announced are only part time.
- And the State is still fighting a court order to revisit the plan it renegotiated in 2009 that extended Atlantic Yards’ construction from 10 to 25 years.
Brooklyn hasn’t forgotten how much has been sacrificed for a project that has become a symbol of crony capitalism. When the arena opens, we’re going to remind the press, the legislature, the Governor and the Mayor. Your help will make it a day to remember.”