Tuesday Links
Mirror in the Garden, Red Hook. Photo by not a dreeme Tree-lined Block – So Misleading [Brooklynian] DDDB Walkathon Raises $100,000+ [AY Report] Walk Don’t Destroy Slideshow [Gowanus Lounge on Flickr] Broken Angel: My Opinion [Clinton Hill Blog] Shrinking and No Longer Dutch [Curbed] Housebarge Price Cut to $199,000 [Craigslist] Sunset Park Plant Sells for…
Mirror in the Garden, Red Hook. Photo by not a dreeme
Tree-lined Block – So Misleading [Brooklynian]
DDDB Walkathon Raises $100,000+ [AY Report]
Walk Don’t Destroy Slideshow [Gowanus Lounge on Flickr]
Broken Angel: My Opinion [Clinton Hill Blog]
Shrinking and No Longer Dutch [Curbed]
Housebarge Price Cut to $199,000 [Craigslist]
Sunset Park Plant Sells for $15 Million [Globe Street]
History of Prospect Park South [Living in Vic Flatbush]
Grave Matters [Dope on the Slope]
Deny, deny, deny!
“I think DDDB needs to do a direct mail campaign to counter-act the lies spewed by FRC in its mailings.”
I agree with babs on this front. I live in Boerum Hill on a block where at least half of the homeowners are African American and Hispanic, and all are against or deeply concerned about the impact AY will have on our neighborhood. The fact they were unable to attend the AY rallies has a lot to do with available time and lack of information from the opposition. Also, lets face it, significant portion of those who have time to attend rallies generally fall into the catogories of (a) the young, (b) those without young childen or other family obligations that limit ones freedom of movement, and (c) those who have social, geographic or material advantages (or think they do) and thus are able to soften the limitations of not falling into any of the above two categories.
I agree — it was disappointing how there was mostly white participation in the walkathon. This is directly due to FRC’s obfuscation of the truth with its claims of affordable housing, basketball, and jobs — all of which have been shown to be much less than they’re seemingly promised. A greater effort must be made by DDDB and others to reach out to those areas not directly contiguous to the AY footprint, because all they’re hearing about the project right now comes from lying, race-baiting FRC PR junk mail like the incredibly offensive crap I got several weeks ago implying that this project would provide lots of affordable housing and that only non-white people were poor — not hardly, on both counts! That and what they read in the Daily News and the Post, frightening sources both, for news of anything.
Additionally, being able to participate in the walkathon implied 1) a certain degree of familiarity with the internet and access thereto (registration, asking for donations) and 2) the werewhithal to give up part of a Saturday — I myself took off from work, knowing I was giving up potential income, not because I could afford to, but because I couldn’t afford not to. However, people who don’t have the luxury of being able to take time off for whatever reason, or who have inescapable family responsibilities, couldn’t.
So what’s the solution? I think DDDB needs to do a direct mail campaign to counter-act the lies spewed by FRC in its mailings — unfortunately, the financial resources aren’t the same here. But as more attention is focused on the issue opposition is growing, and it will continue to do so.
It’s funny how Ratner opponents always claim diversity in their ranks, but this slideshow shows that 95% of the attendees were white.