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.
