When Mayor Michael Bloomberg addressed a Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, he talked about Bruce Ratner’s Nets arena plan as a done deal and said concerns from the local community about the Downtown Brooklyn Plan had been resolved.

But City Council members Letitia James and David Yassky disagree.

After Bloomberg made his comments, James, an ardent opponent of the $2.5 billion arena and office tower plan in Prospect Heights, which Ratner calls Atlantic Yards, said the mayor “made a lot of assumptions.”

Addressing more than 500 attendees at the annual event, hosted at the New York Marriott Brooklyn on June 3, Bloomberg said, “We‘ve addressed a lot of [James and Yassky’s] concerns in terms of rezoning Downtown Brooklyn. I think the concept is going to go through and it will end up with City Council approval,” the mayor said.

But James and Yassky said they still have several concerns.

“I do believe development in Downtown Brooklyn is good for the city, I just want to make sure that we’re working toward a package,” said Yassky, who is pushing for traffic mitigation and is seeking pilot permit parking program for residents as part of the plan.

The Downtown Brooklyn Plan would allow for the construction of at least 6.7 million square feet of office space, 1 million square feet of retail, 1,000 units of housing and 2,500 parking spaces. The comprehensive rezoning of 60 blocks — much of which would be classified as urban renewal — would pave the way for office, residential and academic towers.

City and borough officials say the plan, which also requires condemning at least seven acres of private property — including 130 residential units and 100 businesses — will turn the area into a bustling, 24-7 hub.

James, whose district includes Prospect Heights and Fort Greene, is seeking height limits on the towers along Flatbush Avenue — a portion of the plan that is in her district.

She is also working with community members along Duffield Street whose homes and businesses would likely be taken under the city’s power of eminent domain to make way for office towers.

Some of those residents claim the Underground Railroad ran beneath their property and should therefore be preserved.

Bloomberg also praised Ratner’s $2.5 billion Atlantic Yards residential and commercial plan, which is centered around a basketball arena to house the New Jersey Nets.

“[Borough President] Marty [Markowitz] mentioned the New Jersey Nets, and, yes, they’ll come and Brooklyn is a great sports borough,” said Bloomberg.

“It’s an assumption, and you know what they say about assumptions,” James quipped after the luncheon.

Ratner still needs to secure air rights to build over the Long Island Rail Road yards at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. As part of the plan, Ratner seeks to either buy-out or have the state condemn 11 acres of privately owned land.

James wants an open bidding process for the yards site and has raised questions about the amount of public funds needed for the project, for which neither the city nor Ratner have provided a clear answer.

©2004 Community Newspaper Group