How big is Bruce Ratner’s proposed Atlantic Yards development?

Well, it took a half-hour for a professional baton dancer to twirl the perimeter of it during a festive protest of the $3.5-billion project on Sunday.

Twirla, the burlesque performer, joined more than 350 Brooklynites — including White Men Can’t Jump star Rosie Perez — at a walk-a-thon hosted by Develop — Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, a Ratner opponent.

“On a basic level, I am here the same as everyone else,” Perez told The Brooklyn Papers. “I could have lived anywhere in the nation but I chose to live here, in Brooklyn.”

Perez returned to her native borough after eight months living in a distant part of the city called the Upper West Side.

Now she fears the project’s 17-skyscrapers and 19,000-seat basketball arena will bring too much density to Brooklyn’s low-rise blocks, spoiling the home she loves.

“When I lived in Manhattan, I knew the crackhead on my corner better than my neighbors,” she said. “That could happen here, if we don’t stop this project.”

Develop — Don’t Destroy said the protest raised about $60,000, which will fund an ongoing legal battle against Ratner’s project.

While Perez kept a low profile in dark sunglasses, a low newsboy cap and a simple blue jacket, others stopped traffic with spangles, face paint, hand-written signs and tight, bright Develop — Don’t Destroy tank tops.

The walk began at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Pacific Street, on a sidewalk facing the eight-acre rail yards where the proposed 19,000-seat arena would sit. The entire project would be built on a 24-acre footprint.

Just a few yards from Ratner’s Atlantic Terminal shopping mall, a marching band played and children with basketballs bowled down cardboard-model skyscrapers in a game called Boondoggle Buildings.

“I like playing ball, but I don’t need to watch it here, not if here if they are going to take people’s homes,” said 10-year old Prospect Heights resident Chelsea Ettlinger.

As the walk-a-thon hit Vanderbilt Avenue, motorists stopped and cheered.

©2005 Community Newspaper Group