The Atlantic Yards project’s most-outspoken opponent is now officially the last holdout.
Daniel Goldstein, who lives in a Pacific Street condo that’s been condemned by the state and will be torn down by developer Bruce Ratner to make way for his $1-billion Barclays Center arena, earned that status after the developer inked deals this week with seven other residents of the project footprint, who have accepted a relocation deal.
“We have successfully worked to find comparable or better housing for every family in the footprint except one,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, the Forest City Ratner executive in charge of Atlantic Yards. Gilmartin’s statement did not mention Goldstein by name.
The statement claimed that the seven rental tenants who settled with Ratner are being offered apartments in “the first new residential building at Atlantic Yards” and that Ratner would cover the different in their rents during the interim.
“For those who wish to relocate on their own,” the statement added, “[the developer] is paying on average $80,000 … and $5,000 to assist with relocation.”
Freddy’s Bar signed just such a deal earlier in the week, as we reported.
The Empire State Development Corporation remains committed to evicting Goldstein, and his official heave-ho could come as early as a court hearing today. Goldstein told us that his lawyer will fight the condemnation — or “get fair market value and just compensation” for the condo, which he purchased for $590,000 in 2003.
In November, the state offered him $510,000 for the three-bedroom unit, which would be worth far more if Atlantic Yards was not on the table. Goldstein lives there with his wife and young child.
“I’m pissed off that the state is the low-balling me,” Goldstein said at the time.
The state is required to pay fair market value to landowners in condemnation proceedings, but those units are subject to negotiations and appraisals. The state also attempted to relocate Goldstein to a new place, but he said that the offered two-bedroom apartment near Crown Heights was much smaller than his current abode.
“This proves that what they’re offering [isn’t fair market value because it] can’t get me something similar in this neighborhood,” Goldstein said.
On Tuesday night, Goldstein and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the opposition group that he fronts, hosted a “discussion about the future of DDDB and the status of the Atlantic Yards project” at the Belarusian Church on Atlantic Avenue. Though heavily promoted on the group’s Web site, the event was closed to the press.
Goldstein said that he wanted an “open dialogue that’s not on the record.”
