Development

LETTERS:

By Brooklyn Paper Posted on February 14, 2004

To the editor:

I loved your editorial on Brooklyn’s identity [“Brooklyn’s
identity safe without the ‘Jersey Nets,” Jan. 31]. I love
Brooklyn for what it is and what it’s not (i.e. Manhattan). I don’t
want to see it become Midtown Manhattan — filled with cars, pollution,
and high-rises buildings. At the same time, I realize the need to improve
some parts of Brooklyn. The questions is, ‘Who gets to decide what
is best for Brooklyn?’

Does Bruce Ratner really want to make Brooklyn better, or does he just
want to make money? Does he think that his mall on Atlantic was an improvement?
I don’t think so and I think most feel the same way.
Do you believe anything can be done to stop this or do you think that
Brooklyn will become, as you put it, “a half-baked version of Manhattan”?

—Ian Crowley, Park Slope