Long-time readers of GBK know that I don’t talk much about the project because I really can’t even stand to think about it — never mind the scorn I have already heaped on the hideous Miss Brooklyn.

But an email from Gersh at The Brooklyn Paper clues me in to the mega-Bombshell that just dropped today in the NYT.

The first few graphs of Gersh’s article set off lightning bolts in my head:

Bruce Ratner’s controversial Atlantic Yards project — which envisioned 16 skyscrapers, eight acres of open space, more than 2,250 units of below-market-rate housing, new top-of-the-line office space and a publicly financed basketball arena at the center — now consists of little more than the arena and two scaled-back residential buildings, the developer told the New York Times today.

In the bombshell story, Ratner blamed the downturn in the economy for killing virtually all of his $4-billion mega-development.

But the Times front-page article also included these shocking developments:

• The cost of the publicly financed arena, whose original pricetag was $435 million, but increased to $637 million last year, has now ballooned to $950 million.

Read the whole story and the NYT story. To say this is great news is a huge understatement. AY was $435M, now $950M. Uh huh. It went from being the story of the year in 2007 and maybe again in 2008 to being just a stadium minus all the horrific baggage. Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, c/o The Brooklyn Paper article, sums it up:

“The opening paragraphs of [the] article show that the Atlantic Yards project is shaping up to be the sham we have always said it would be.”

Indeed. In fact, go get the full skinny over at DDDB. Congrats and thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to oppose what would be a disaster for so many Brooklynites.

Category: Community Action, General / Editorial

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