December 23, 2006: Vol. 29, No. 50

Resignation — a little bitter, but mostly cynical — swept through Freddy’s Bar in Prospect Heights, the drinking hole of choice for anti-Atlantic Yards activists, who saw their last, best hopes dashed by Wednesday’s Public Authorities Control Board approval of the mega-project.

One of the bar’s two televisions, normally dedicated to video art, was tuned to New York 1, the only indication that something was not right with the world.

The TV screen broadcast a barrage of file images of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Gov. Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, the state’s so-called “three men in a room” who approved Atlantic Yards and, in doing so, signed the death certificate for the popular bar, which sits within the footprint of Ratner’s proposed Nets arena and would be condemned via the state’s power of eminent domain.

“We came tonight for some companionship,” said Adrienne Dunbar, a member of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and an eight-year Prospect Heights resident.

Two barstools down sat Ross Bonadonna, who has lived in the neighborhood for 31 years.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome,” he said. “But I’m not so naïve as to be surprised. This was an undercover, shady deal.”

But there was little rancor among the bar patrons. One man was reading the satirical paper, the Onion. Another man sat at the bar eating a spinach pie. After a little while, the TV was flipped to ESPN.

A few Ratner opponents held out hope that the project could still be sunk in the courts, through which at least two lawsuits are moving.

“My heart is heavy,” said Matthew Kuhn, who has been bartending at Freddy’s for five years. “I fell in love with this bar the first time I came here. I’d say we have a year left until we close.”

©2006 The Brooklyn Paper