Atlantic Yards Film to Play at Brooklyn Heights Cinema

By on May 29, 2011 10:07 pm in Brooklyn Heights

The NY Daily News reports on Suki Hawley and Michael Galinski’s Atlantic Yards film Battle for Brooklyn which will be shown this Friday at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema.

NY Daily News: In the film, as a coalition comes together to fight against the demolition, directors Suki Hawley and Michael Galinski focus on Daniel Goldstein, whose just-purchased apartment was in one of three condos that Ratner’s firm, Forest City Ratner, planned to demolish.

“We knew the site and lived in the area, and when I saw the stories about it, I thought, ‘There’s something weird here,’ ” says Galinski, who lives with Hawley in Clinton Hill.

“I saw posters saying ‘Stop the Atlantic Yards Project.’ Then I met Patti Hagan, a neighborhood activist, who said people were taking buyouts. But she said, ‘You should meet this guy Dan, he may stick it out.’ That was the way into the story. Dan was a person saying, ‘This is wrong, and I can’t let this happen.’ “

Are you planning to see the film?

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  • JAFO

    Yes!!

  • Livingston

    I hope they mention the part about Mr. Goldstein receiving $3 million for his apartment (purchased for $590K). Apparently “sticking it out” can be quite profitable.

  • David on Middagh

    Is the film going to be there a while, or is it just there as part of the Film Festival’s opening night package?

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Also the part where Brooklyn could have had a stadium designed by Gehry but was shelved due to the delays caused by litigation should be mentioned.

    By the way, if you guys get some free time, make an appointment to check out 8 Spruce on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. It is the tallest residential building in Manhattan and was designed by Mr. Gehry. To some an eye sore to me, magnificent architecture. The view from the 30th floor facing Brooklyn Bridge was a sight to behold. Never saw anything like it. For $3000 a studio, that is 500 square feet, ( a walkin closet) it almost justifies the high price tag.

    http://www.newyorkbygehry.com/

  • frenchbull

    Dear Livingston-I imagine you would have not taken the $3 mill

  • JM

    Yeah, the litigation is why Ratner’s bulls**** “plans” never materialized! It’s been well documented how he lied, presented false studies regarding job impact, traffic impact etc, couples with and the real estate/ bank speculation that exploded and nearly took down this country (some would say it actually has) had nothing to do with the Gehry plans not being executed. That’s one powerful individual that Mr Goldstein!
    PS. the guy fought to save his neighborhood for YEARS, spending resources on court filings, organization, etc, and finally gave in when he couldn’t win anymore and got what seems to be a not excessive price for his valiant efforts. Should he have insisted on Ratner paying him his original purchase price? Would you have?
    After taxes, and expenses, he’ll probably end up being able to afford comparable digs to what he had originally.
    Come on people….

  • Jeffrey j Smith

    The Atlantic Yards is an illdesigned, Illthought out, major disruption
    to the basic structure of that part of the downtown area and has very questionable overall effect for the whole of the downtown area. Certainly some kind of regeneration would be beneficial
    in an area which had seen very clear decline from its heyday.
    But the site is at a basic prime juncture, for trade and economics
    not to mention traffic.

    But there is another far more basic reason why people should
    consider this entire enterprise questionable.

    Think what this basically is:

    This is someone named Ratner building a huge complex
    RIGHT NEXT TO….HAMMAS land…….Well, want to know the
    THOUSANDS of hours of FBI manhours expended watching
    events a HALF BLOCK from Mr. Ratner’s project…..

    Hmmm….the next time certain parts of the middle east
    heats up……guess what could happen?

    Everyone should use thier powers of basic judgement
    Does this serve the interests of this city to create
    a potential for an (major) incident such as this….?!!!

  • Daniel Goldstein

    “Is the film going to be there a while, or is it just there as part of the Film Festival’s opening night package?”

    Not there, but will open at Cinema Village in Manhattan on June 17.

  • C.

    @ Karl:

    The original Gehry design of the stadium was much better than the George Foreman grill they’re building now, but that 8 Spruce street building is so ugly. It looks like something you would see in Tokyo more than Manhattan.

  • Winstion Smith

    Karl, are you saying; if nobody challenged Ratner in court we would have had a better looking ill-conceived stadium?

  • Livingston

    Completely agree w/ Karl. Brooklyn could have been well on it’s way to having some world-class architecture, instead the litigation dragged everything out, during which the economy (and real estate market) tanked. We are now left with a development project that is considerably less stellar, but will have to suffice.

    Kind of similar to what is going on at the Tobacco Warehouse/ St. Ann’s project at the moment, IMHO.

  • Clampdown

    Ah, Ratner’s little lap dogs, Marty and Karl.

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Ruff, Ruff.

    Yes I admit I love Marty.

    Reasonable people can disagree on the stadium and its location. Personally, I think this area will take off and already I can businesses rushing to get in on the action in an area that was perfectly dreadful IMHO. I walked around there many times on my way from the Heights to Park Slope and it was the worst part of my stroll. Railroad tracks, dirt etc. Now we have a Russian billionaire willing to invest a small fortune in downtown Brooklyn. Fantastic. Also, kind of neat having Deron Williams and maybe Dwight Howard playing down the road. Wow.

  • Jeffrey j Smith

    And this is still Mr Ratner’s development RIGHT NEXT TO HAMMAS LAND….

    What happen if there is another “incident” in New York….
    I was there kids and any more “security incidents”
    and you might as well turn out the lights….

    Yes, a reasonable ballanced development of the AREA
    is strongly indicated. But to be reasonable, it HAS to
    include both in function and financial rewards the people
    already in the area. And that does NOT mean only the
    people directly displaced by the developmentthere and
    it HAS to include the interests and, yes….it HAS to abso-
    lutely include the interests and sensibilities of our Middle
    eastern neighbors. EVERYONE involved should get thier
    fair share of any development project.

    THAT’S the way you get sane development and harmony
    in any community

    JeffreyJSmith.NewYork@usa.com..

  • David on Middagh

    RIGHT NEXT TO HAMMAS LAND AREA HAS NOT HAS HAS EVERYONE THAT’S

    [But where are the CAFR’s? They’re not there this time. That’s gotta mean something. I’m gonna git the code. One of these days, I’m gonna decode it… ]

  • carol

    Karl
    The Gehry Stadium was not abandoned because of any delay – it was too expensive. The cynics would say it was a planned bait and switch – a way to garner support from the elites and the hip – for a flawed plan. I’d like to think that Ratner was hoping to build the Gehry Stadium but, in the end, didn’t want to put too much of his own money toward it.

  • Regina

    Karl said “Yes I admit I love Marty” I guess Buffoons of a feather…

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    Ouch.