Atlantic Yards opponent accepts settlement

From the NY Times:

The last man standing in front of the Atlantic Yards bulldozer has stepped aside.

Daniel Goldstein — founder of the anti-Atlantic Yards group Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and plaintiff in numerous unsuccessful suits against the $4.9 billion project — has reached an agreement with the project’s developer, Forest City Ratner, to move out of his condo on Pacific Street in Prospect Heights.

Mr. Goldstein confirmed that he would receive $3 million from Forest City. He bought his condo in 2003 for $590,000, but the state seized title to it under eminent domain last month, leaving Mr. Goldstein facing eviction. Mr. Goldstein said he would move by May 7.

Michael Galinsky, a filmmaker who has been making a documentary about Mr. Goldstein and Atlantic Yards called “Battle of Brooklyn,” said that “to not have made some kind of agreement at this point would have been irresponsible.”

He added: “It was either move out in two weeks, or move out in two months and take what the state offered.”

Here is a statement from Daniel Goldstein about exactly what transpired.

So who the hell is the winner here?

- Daniel and his family lost their home as well as 7 years of their lives fighting against this project. Sure they have money, but after paying the lawyer, paying taxes, and finding a comparable home, there really won't be much profit made.

- Forest City Ratner has lost many millions of dollars and their project has been drastically downsized.

- ACORN pretty much has lost everything.

- The MTA is in dire financial straits in part because they accepted a low ball offer from Ratner for the right to build above their train yard.

- The City (meaning us) is left with a boondoggle project that we will be forced to pay for one way or another over the next few decades. There is more likely to be acres of parking lots than affordable housing and the best case scenario gives us a shitty basketball team, a bunch of permanent but part time minimum wage jobs, and a huge traffic headache in return for allowing the destruction of a neighborhood that was actually doing fine without intervention.

- Worst of all, we still have the country's worst eminent domain laws on the books, which will continue to be used on the little guy by corrupt developers and politicians. Hopefully, awareness of the work done by Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and other groups fighting this abuse will lead to an eventual change in the law.

This is one of the few issues where the far left and the far right agree yet the jokers we have put in power won't do anything about it. That's a real problem.