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Read your local stoop inside. Read them all at BrooklynPaper.com Brooklyn’s Real Newspaper BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 834–9350 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2007 ALL EDITIONS AWP/18 pages • Vol. 30, No. 6 • Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007 • FREE INCLUDING EVERYTHING Barclays to Brooklyn: No ‘blood money’ here Brooklyn’s Real Newspaper BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 834–9350 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2007 BROOKLYN HEIGHTS–DOWNTOWN EDITION AWP/14 pages • Vol. 30, No. 3 • Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007 • FREE INCLUDING DUMBO Claims no link to slave trade ‘Domain’ BLOOD MONEY By Dana Rubinstein never a partner, employee or agent of the bank and the Ratner pockets hundreds of millions from ‘David Barclay’ referred to in this book also had no British bank tied to slave trade, apartheid The Brooklyn Paper MORE INSIDE foes have just tools used by Ratner to get this project connection with our bank,” read Truell’s letter. Councilwoman says passed,” said Councilwoman Letitia James (D- Prospect Heights), an Atlantic Yards opponent deal ‘insults’ blacks who is black. A British bank that is under fire from black lead- “Now that the project has been approved, they By Gersh Kuntzman don’t serve his purpose anymore. Now, he can in- / Tom Callan / Tom But historians disagree. and Dana Rubinstein sult them by signing an agreement with a bank •Read Barclays’ letter: p.5 The Brooklyn Paper that financed the slave trade and supported the apartheid system. He’ll take money from anyone.” ers for profiting from the slave trade centuries ago The future home for the Brooklyn Nets will Barclays is a London-based bank — one of the be emblazoned with the corporate logo of a world’s biggest — with holdings around the The Brooklyn Paper The Brooklyn “I’m very sure that the David Barclay in [‘Capitalism British bank that was founded on the slave globe, but whose history is inextricably linked to trade, collaborated with the Nazis and did busi- some of mankind’s lowest moments: ness with South Africa’s apartheid government. • Slavery: The bank itself was founded by photo illustration fought back last week, claiming the allegation “is •Our editor’s response: p.5 Smackdown! Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner an- the Barclay family in 1756 on profits made in The record shows he took the blows:Our photographer, nounced his mega-deal with Barclays Bank on the African slave trade. and Slavery’] is also the David Barclay that was a princi- Tom Callan, gets smacked by this man as he takes a pic- Thursday — but critics slammed the developer The company’s senior archivist, Jessie Camp- their day ture outside of Monty-Q’s, a Montague Street restaurant for plastering the controversial bank’s name atop bell, defended the bank’s link to slavery in a letter that had just been closed by the Health Department. The the arena after having courted African-American to the London paper, the Guardian, as something Paper The Brooklyn simply not true” — but a prominent historian, and man attacked Callan, demanding to know what our shoot- support for his mega-development. that must “be understood in the context of the Here’s our artist’s rendering of how the Frank Gehry-designed glass-walled “Barclays •Anti-Ratner laugh-in: p.13 er was doing. Read story on page 6 to find out. “[Black] supporters of Atlantic Yards were See BLOOD MONEY on page 6 Center” might look with its patron’s name emblazoned on top. pal founder of the bank,” said Christopher Leslie Brown, yet another high-powered black elected official, •It’s not just slavery (letter): p.6 a historian of the British empire at Rutgers University. came forward this week to dispute the bank’s rosy Brown also challenged Truell’s contention that “it view of its own history. is simply not true [that] Barclays was founded on the in court That article was followed by stories in the New York In letters sent last week to several journalists — in- proceeds of [the] slave trade.” cluding those at The Brooklyn Paper — Barclays Daily News; the New York Times; the New York Sun; “David Barclay did business with slave holders on By Ariella Cohen spokesman Peter Truell asked that the newspapers the Independent, a British newspaper; TMZ, the celebri- a regular basis and profited handsomely from that The Brooklyn Paper “immediately retract” stories that relied on what Tru- ty online magazine; and the Atlantic Yards Report, a A familiar cast of characters ell called “simply untrue” and “misleading” evidence Web site. trade,” Brown said. of the bank’s slavery links. (The letter, pictured at left, The Daily News responded to the letter with an edi- “Much of his wealth derived in trade of metals and clashed in the first courtroom battle can be read on page 5.) torial calling discussion of Barclays’ slavery link textiles with slaveholding colonies from North America over the fate of Atlantic Yards — The Brooklyn Paper responded to Truell’s letter “grossly unfair, if not flat out wrong” — even though and probably also from the Caribbean,” Brown said. with opponents saying the project with a news story and a signed editorial on the news- its own reporter, Michael O’Keeffe, linked the bank to “Was he a major slave trader? Probably not. Did he abuses state condemnation powers paper’s Web site on Friday afternoon (an updated ver- slavery in his articles in the newspaper’s sports section. profit from the slave economy? He indisputably did.” and a state lawyer retorting that sion of that “Editor’s note” is on page 5). Truell’s letter contends that the basis for the claim When The Brooklyn Paper asked Truell to comment plaintiffs are “naive” to the ways of The Paper’s coverage of Barclays’ $400-million that Barclays was founded on slave-trade profits — first on Brown’s assertions, the spokesman actually quoted the world. naming-rights deal with Atlantic Yards developer Bruce published in Eric Williams’s seminal 1944 book, “Capi- from Brown’s newest book, “Moral Capital: the The state is allowed to seize private Ratner (“Blood Money,” Jan. 20) said that the British talism and Slavery” — is “unsupported and mistaken.” Foundations of British Abolitionism.” property, but only if it can demonstrate financial behemoth was “inexorably linked” to slavery. “Our research shows that Alexander Barclay was See BARCLAYS on page 5 that it is doing so for public benefit. Lawyers for a handful of tenants and building owners in Atlantic Yards’ 22- acre footprint questioned that public benefit. “If [Bruce] Ratner makes billions of Congresswoman: End Barclays deal now dollars from the development and the city makes [less], then how is his ben- By Dana Rubinstein very questionable circumstances,” added hailed Clarke’s move as an acknowl- efit not the primary motive [of con- demnation]?” asked Matthew Brinck- The Brooklyn Paper Clarke, who largely sat on the sidelines of edgement that “this is not just a local Brooklyn’s Real Newspaper erhoff, lawyer for Daniel Goldstein, ( ) BROOKLYN HEIGHTS–DOWNTOWN EDITION AWP/18 pages • Vol. 30, No. 4 • Saturday, Jan. 27, 2007 • FREE the Atlantic Yards debate during her issue.” BrooklynPaper.com • 718 834–9350 • Brooklyn, NY • ©2007 INCLUDING DUMBO Rep. Yvette Clarke, a powerful tenure in the City Council, but now “Brooklyn needs to make sure that whose apartment building is near cen- Black leaders rip Ratner’s supporter of the Atlantic Yards proj- raised the possibility of “congressional [Barclays] invests in the community if ter court inside Ratner’s proposed bas- ect, denounced developer Bruce Rat- hearings on the impact of the Atlantic they want to benefit from the American ketball arena. $400M Barclays arena deal ner’s $400-million deal with Barclays Yards development on my constituents.” market,” said Rev. Clinton Miller, the Empire State Development Corpo- ration lawyer Douglas Kraus scoffed Atlantic Yards supporter says Bruce is taking ‘blood money’ that would brand the Nets arena — By issuing her condemnation, leader of Brown Baptist Memorial of slaves at Nets site; another ally is demanding reparations the centerpiece of Ratner’s 16-sky- Clarke joined a growing group of black Church in Fort Greene and an Atlantic at the plaintiff’s case against the $4- By Ariella Cohen “All options should be on the table, including The Brooklyn Paper payment for past wrongs and termination of the MORE INSIDE billion, 16-tower residential, office, agreement,” Jeffries said. scraper project — with the name of Two black supporters of Atlantic Yards have joined a growing chorus saying that developer Green, a strong supporter of Atlantic Yards, •Editorial and Letters: p. 6 leaders — many of them Ratner sup- Yards opponent. Bruce Ratner betrayed his black allies when he moved last week to distance himself from the nam- •Ratner socks it to locals: p.15 sold the naming rights to his proposed Nets arena ing-rights deal. He called on Barclays to pay repa- rations to American blacks for its role in slavery. •Anti-Ratner movie debuts: p.15 arena and retail mega-project, calling to Barclays, a global banking firm that was found- ed by slave traders and did business with South “Barclays must step up and respond to our com- •Locals slam Barclays deal: p.15 an institution that profited from the Africa’s apartheid government. munity the way they responded to Nelson Mandela” •Lawsuit’s new angle: p.15 porters — demanding that the develop- “Barclays needs to come off its high over the issue of apartheid in South Africa, he said. Both Roger Green — a former state Assembly- As part of the $400-million naming-rights deal, •Ratner foes dial for $: p.15 man — and his successor Hakeem Jeffries came out Barclays has said it will pay $2.5 million to repair this week against the Barclays deal.

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