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★ ★ ★ ★ 063'6--$06/$*-13*."3:$07&3"(&45"3540/1"(&★ ★ ★ ★ Yo u r Neighborhood — Yo u r News® BrooklynPaper.com s (718) 260–2500 s Brooklyn, NY s ©2009 DOWNTOWN, PARK SLOPE & BAY RIDGE EDITIONS AWP/14 pages s Vol. 32, No. 36s Friday, September 11, 2009 s FREE "/&8#"--(".& Arena re-design is not a ‘hangar’ By Gersh Kuntzman The Brooklyn Paper From “The Hangar” to … “The Waffle 48*4) Iron”? Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner un- veiled stunning new designs for the proposed basketball arena at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues on Wednesday, renderings that strive to silence the outrage created in May when Ratner dumped Frank Gehry in favor of a Midwest architecture firm whose first effort, a hangar-like design, fell flat. The new renderings of the $800-million arena are a collaboration between that firm, Ellerbe Becket, and a new partner, the New York–based boutique firm SHoP Architects. Short Mike “The Barclays Center will quickly become an iconic part of the Brooklyn landscape,” Ratner said in a statement issued on www. barclayscenter.com a Web site with the fresh renderings. “The design is elegant and inti- mate and also a bold architectural statement The Brooklyn Paper / that will nicely complement the surrounding SHoP ArchitectsSHoP buildings and neighborhoods.” Of course, not everyone cheered the lat- 'D§RFNSKDFR SHoP TALK: The latest de- est incarnation of the basketball arena. De- signs for Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards velop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the principal basketball arena at the in- George Williams hugs his mom, Danielle Midgette, before start- a money pit? opposition group to the full Atlantic Yards ing his first day of kindergarten at PS 32 in Carroll Gardens on tersection of Flatbush and mega-project, described the design as a “big 3&+&$5&% New study says so. See more: Atlantic avenues (above) are eye ball at Atlantic and Flatbush.” Wednesday, one day after a timely new report revealed that child- decidedly bolder than the BrooklynPaper.com The group also pointed out that the arena care costs are going through the roof. See page 5. first post–Frank Gehry ren- renderings did not include any of the proposed derings that the developer 16 skyscrapers that splay out from the arena put out earlier this summer to Vanderbilt Avenue — though only two of (right). That design, by the those buildings, containing a small fraction of Midwestern firm of Ellerbe the promised 2,250 units of below-market-rate Becket, has been spruced up housing — are currently being developed. thanks to a partnership with “The arena design is irrelevant,” the group Bullets over the Manhattan firm, SHoP said in a statement. “All Ratner is able to show, Architects. Gehry’s “Urban six years since unveiling his mega-project pro- Room” is gone. Becket Ellerbe See ARENA on page 11 SWEPT AWAY! ‘Broadway’ Cyclones crash & burn in Ohio field City sued over Triangle By Gersh Kuntzman The suit, filed in Supreme Court, By Zeke Faux League’s McNamara Division for most of The offense was so weak, Brook- clincher, Brandon Moore, who threw The Brooklyn Paper argues that a politically corrupt pro- for The Brooklyn Paper the season, the Mini Amazin’s slumped lyn practically needed no-hitters from a no-hitter on Aug. 23, gave up three A coalition of 40 North Brooklyn cess cut out dozens of community The Cyclones’ quest to bring a cham- into the post-season as the wild card its starters, but it got a pair of less- runs and only lasted five innings. community groups sued the city on groups from participating in plans pionship to Brooklyn ended in igno- — and looked as flat and frustrated as than-perfect performances. Righty On the other side of the field, Scrap- Wednesday, contending that the pro- to convert 31 acres of former indus- miny with a two-game sweep in the the big league Mets in the best-of-three fireballer Mark Cohoon — 9–2 with per pitchers kept throwing zeroes. posed Broadway Triangle rezoning trial land in East Williamsburg into a first round of the playoffs by the Ma- playoff series against the league-lead- a 2.15 ERA in the regular season — “You have to give them credit,” plan violated federal law because of mixed-income community with large honing Valley Scrappers. ing Scrappers, mustering only seven hits gave up three runs over seven innings said Lopez. “You’re facing the best “the racially and religiously discrim- portions reserved for below-market- After leading the New York–Penn and making four errors. to lose the first game. And in the series See CLONES on page 11 inatory impacts of the proposed re- rate housing. zoning.” United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and Ridgewood Bush- wick Senior Citizen Council — two non-profit groups tied to Assembly- man Vito Lopez (D–Bushwick) — were given no-bid contracts by the city to develop housing in the Trian- 'FETOBC#BZ3JEHF¤T£#FSOJF.BEPGG¤ gle. City officials have defended that arrangement because both groups submitted proper applications for site control. But the suit argues that But a victim of alleged Ponzi schemer forgives him! the city intentionally excluded other groups. By Gersh Kuntzman at some point, I just decided that I with Madoff’s fund, some clients Campbell, the federal prosecutor The suit is the culmination of years The Brooklyn Paper can’t let anger consume the rest of made a profit, though the vast ma- for the district that includes Brook- of hostility between the largely His- The feds say that Bay Ridge had my life.” jority lost their investments, pros- lyn. “In reality, the defendant’s in- panic community and the expand- its own Bernie Madoff — though Like Madoff, Barry’s alleged ecutors said. vestment fund was nothing more ing Hasidic neighborhood nearby. one of his biggest victims says she crimes came to light only when “He convinced hundreds of in- than a classic Ponzi scheme.” Many of the court papers are pep- has already forgiven him. the economic downturn bank- dividuals to hand over their sav- Barry and his unregistered com- pered with references to how the “Wil- One day after federal prosecutors rupted him last year. And just as ings,” said U.S. Attorney Benton panies, Leverage Group and North liamsburg Hasidic community” has arrested Philip Barry and charged American Financial Services, is- been “the beneficiary of racial quo- him with running a 31-year-long sued fraudulent statements that tas” and “other forms of heavy ille- Ponzi scheme that bilked hundreds showed he was investing in stock gal discrimination.” of clients out of at least $20 million, options and earning his neighbor- The suit also contends that “al- 68-year-old victim Barbara Grebin hood clients solid returns. most 50 percent” of the 2,000 units told The Brooklyn Paper that she But court papers say that he of public housing in the area are oc- stopped making any investments not only lost hundreds of thousands Short Mike cupied by Hasidic Jews, “despite fed- of dollars to Barry, but she had also in 1999 and was using the $40 eral court orders requiring the end lost her anger. million that he had “conned” out of discriminatory practices and de- “I can’t spend the rest of my life of his clients since 1978 to spec- spite the fact that the waiting list for being angry,” she said, showing off Callan Tom ulate on real estate and on an un- such housing has remained at over 90 the fake statements that Barry had related mail-order porn business, percent Latino and African Ameri- sent her promising large returns, hiding the scheme under boasts of The Brooklyn Paper / can for more than 30 years.” even as he allegedly scammed her hefty profits. Barbara Grebin lost hundreds of thousands of dollars But after years of aligning himself out of close to $400,000 over 28 “These purportedly guaranteed that she invested with alleged shyster Philip Barry, who with those groups, Lopez “switched years. “Sure, I was depressed, but The Brooklyn Paper / See PONZI on page 11 worked out of this shabby 82nd Street office (left). See TRIANGLE on page 6 ‘SOUTHERN’ HOSPITALITY Band finds no ‘Comfort’ in cease-and-desist order By Gersh Kuntzman Comfort brand and its prod- you will not get a ticket even The Brooklyn Paper ucts with music,” lawyer Jill if the other drivers do not.” Ooo-ooh, this smells! Jacobs said in a Sept. 2 letter Courts have upheld the Bay Ridge’s beloved South- to the band’s guitarist, Eddie rights of copyright owners in ern Comfort — a rock band Sarkis. “Your band members’ cases when other businesses’ best known for its versions use of ‘Southern Comfort’ in use of the same name con- of Southern-fried classics by your band’s name … is likely fuses the public, so Jacobs’s Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman to cause the public to mistak- legal argument is fairly rou- Brothers, and the Outlaws — enly believe that you are asso- tine. Condo offer: Move has been ordered to shelve its ciated with, authorized by, or Indeed, a few years back, monicker by the makers of a sponsored by Southern Com- the owners of F Line Bagel re- frat-house booze that owns fort Properties when they are ceived just such a cease-and- the copyright. not.” desist letter from lawyers for innie, get an Audi Lawyers for Southern Com- Sarkis said he felt like he’d the Metropolitan Transporta- fort Properties — who make been attacked in a barroom tion Authority, who argued By Ben Muessig Alongside the 2009 A4, the deal, which the world-renowned Southern after reading the letter.