Brooklyn's Transformer has arrived. It is here to stay. There is nothing to stop it. Still, to the protect the public's best interest, there is an urgent call for Governor Cuomo's oversight.
In September, the new Brooklyn Nets Arena -- Barclays Center -- will open with a spectacular concert, featuring Brooklyn-born rapper, Jay-Z. Despite eight years of protests, community-developer wrangling, legal challenges and the displacement of residents and small businesses, proponents and fans of the massive real estate development will finally see the project come to life.
Still, for many, all is not fair, or right, in this high-stakes game of real estate and economic development versus public and community interests.
According to residents and community stakeholders who live in central Brooklyn, failed oversight and accountability of the Nets Arena project -- also referred to as the Atlantic Yards Project (AYP) -- has left many behind and ignored. In anticipation of and amidst heavy marketing surrounding the new Nets Arena opening, not much has been covered in media about the other side: the community that does not benefit from arena.
In a candid letter addressed to Andrew Cuomo, a group of Brooklyn's clergy outline the impact of failed promises to the community and ask the governor to step in and provide accountability and oversight in the Atlantic Yards Project. (The centerpiece of the AYP is the Nets Arena-Barclays Center).
Read the letter from Brooklyn's influential clergy here and more about the impact this Arena has had on central Brooklyn.