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P5 The Brooklyn Papers 2006 SUMMER CAMP GUIDE Chinese fest P12 NEW CENTERSPREAD Sunset Park for New Year’s treats BROOKLYN’S REAL NEWSPAPERS Including The Brooklyn Heights Paper, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Paper, DUMBO Paper and the Downtown News Published every Saturday — online all the time — by Brooklyn Paper Publications Inc, 55 Washington St, Suite 624, Brooklyn NY 11201. Phone 718-834-9350 • www.BrooklynPapers.com • © 2006 Brooklyn Paper Publications • 18 pages •Vol.29, No. 3 BWN • Saturday, January 21, 2006 • FREE STOP & GO Ratner demolition goes to court as ‘Park’ plan gets green light YARD’S FOES SUE IRE OVER HOUSING By Ariella Cohen By Gersh Kuntzman The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn Papers The fight to stop the Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-devel- The state’s economic development agency this week approved the opment has moved to the courts. controversial plan for a housing, hotel and recreation development On Wednesday, a coalition of Brooklyn block associations and landowners along the Brooklyn waterfront known as Brooklyn Bridge Park. sued the developer and the state Economic Development Corporation, alleg- The $130-million plan approved Wednesday by the Empire State Develop- ing that the state had no right to allow Ratner to demolish six buildings with- ment Corporation would be built on Piers 1-6, stretching 1.3 miles from in the project’s footprint while his plans are still under environmental review DUMBO to the foot of Atlantic Avenue. — essentially, beginning work on the 24-acre development before officials But the manner in which the the project’s green space component would approved it. be maintained is its most-controversial feature. The green space would be / Gersh Kuntzman “We believe that the demolition of the buildings before the completion of subsidized by 1,240 units of housing, most of it luxury; a 225-room hotel; the [environmental review] process is a violation of the law,” said Jeff Baker, nearly 400,000 square feet of retail establishments; 95,000 square feet of of- attorney for the plaintiffs. fices; and 1,183 parking spaces. Baker said the demolition work will promote and predetermine the out- Calls for a waterfront park began decades ago, as the Port Authority of New come of the environmental review. York and New Jersey’s maritime use of the piers declined. But the latest incarna- The Brooklyn Papers The Brooklyn ESDC, the project’s lead agency, greased up Ratner’s wrecking ball after tion was set into motion with a deal between the city and state in March, 2002. the developer argued that the six buildings were on the verge of collapse — a At one point, the plans included a 30-story tower, and another building that position supported by LZA Engineers, a firm hired by Ratner. threatened to block views of the Brooklyn Bridge from the famous promenade The state approved the demolition on the grounds that such work is legal in Brooklyn Heights. Now the largest buildings are 20 stories, planners said. Bathroom break if the buildings present an imminent threat to public safety. That still didn’t satisfy critics. But the plaintiffs charge that said buildings are not a hazard, and that “The amount of development in the park that was approved [Wednesday] Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Borough Park) cozies up to new Council Speaker Christine Quinn ESDC broke the law by relying solely on the LZA report. is still too much,” said Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn Heights). “I at his swearing-in ceremony Wednesday night in Borough Hall. A few days earlier, Felder closet- In addition, the suit claims that ESDC’s approval of the demolition was support the proposal, but I believe the development should be reduced.” ed himself in the council’s men’s room rather than cast a vote for the openly gay Quinn, whose can- compromised by the fact that the lawyer who approved the razing of the ESDC officials said that “revenue-generating uses” would take up just 10 didacy he had publicly supported but whose homosexuality was problematic for some mem- buildings had previously worked for Ratner. percent of the 85-acre footprint and that development will be confined to only bers of Felder’s Orthodox Jewish political base. See Brooklyn Briefs on page 16. See RATNER SUED on page 15 See ‘PARK’ IS A GO on page 15 Allstate dumps B’klyn over hurricane threat By Susan Crosier ance policy holders — renter, than undertake the ardous Insurance Information Center. uated and Hartwig points out faces a hurricane threat, much The Brooklyn Papers co-op and condo policies — process of getting the state In- “It’s not like going to the gro- that on Cape Cod, very few of Brooklyn only has a slight will not be affected, she said. companies offer homeowners’ risk of being affected by surges Brooklyn homeowners Queens surance Department to ap- cery store or the gas pump.” Several major catastrophic prove a rate hike. Other coastal areas are also insurance. created from a major storm. have just become the latest storms in the past two years, “Rates cannot be raised [to affected by insurance company “In New York, Allstate is the Some swaths of Brooklyn victims of Hurricane Katr- has taught Allstate “an awful compensate for predicted loss- changes. Conte says that other first to take action, but as you would be under water in most ina. lot,” said Brian Pozzi, the es],” said Bob Hartwig, chief metropolitan coastal areas cov- move down the coast, many in- moderate to severe hurricanes, Allstate, which dominates company’s regional counsel in economist for the Hurricane ered by Allstate are being eval- surers have decided not to write according to the New York the New York area with a 25- New York. new policies and not renew ex- City Office of Emergency percent share of the homeown- He said the company paid isting policies,” Hartwig said. Management [see map]. ers’ insurance market, has an- out $4.5 billion in claims from Brooklyn Other insurance companies Since 1821, five hurricanes nounced that it is no longer hurricanes Katrina and Rita Would be flooded in a strong Category 1 told The Brooklyn Papers that have severely damaged New writing new policies for alone — and now doesn’t or weak Category 2 hurricane. they will continue to offer poli- York. Brooklyn residents — and the want to be holding that bag in cies for Brooklyn residents. In the next hurricane season, company is blaming Katrina, New York should a major Would be flooded in a strong Category 2 “State Farm is not going to which begins in the summer, which devastated a city half a storm hit. or weak Category 3 hurricane pull out of New York,” said Cliff experts are predicting 17 named continent away. AIR Worldwide, a risk Wheeler, a broker in Brooklyn. storms that could strengthen to The decision, effective on modeling and technology firm, Would be flooded in a strong Category 3 Allstate’s move allows com- hurricanes. Hartwig says that al- Jan. 1, is an attempt to “man- estimates that insurance com- or weak Category 4 hurricane panies that are willing to contin- though New York and New age exposure” — which is in- panies would face $50 billion ue offering new homeowners’ England do not see hurricane surance-industry jargon for in payouts if a major hurricane Map assumes hurricane hits at high tide and policies an opportunity to grab a activity as frequently as some cutting one’s losses, said hit the Big Apple. makes landfall just north of Atlantic City, worst- larger share of the market in other states, it is difficult to find Krista Conte, an Allstate re- For now, Allstate is the only case scenarios for New York City. New York — and, of course, a any state along the coast that gional manager in New York. insurance Goliath to eliminate larger share of the risk. has not been affected by the re- Current homeowners’ insur- new policies in the area rather Source: New York City Office of Emergency Management Although New York always cent storms. Jay station hit City, state gonzo for by men in black Gov. Island gondola By Ariella Cohen is transforming the former Army and Coast By Lilo H. Stainton ly pushed onto the subway tracks. The Brooklyn Papers Guard base across Buttermilk Channel from The Brooklyn Papers The first incident was on Jan. 9, A plan to connect Brooklyn and lower Red Hook into a 92-acre public space. when a 23-year-old woman was at- Manhattan to a proposed tourist Mecca A quarter-mile of water separates Gover- A succession of thieves dressed nors Island from Brooklyn. Currently, the tacked while riding the F train, police on Governors Island via an aerial cable in black attacked three straphang- said. As the Brooklyn-bound train only way to reach the island — unless you ers at the Jay Street subway station pulled into Jay Street, at 8:10 pm, a car earned a nod of approval from city want to crawl through a 14-inch sewer in a string of brutal and bizarre rob- stranger came up to the victim and spit and state planners Tuesday, but the vote main — is by ferry from Lower Manhattan. beries over three consecutive days on her. When she left the train, the spit- didn’t come without hard questions on The gondolas are a small piece of the re- last week, according to police. ter followed her across the platform in- the pie-in-the-sky proposition. development plan — but the tram’s poten- The thugs employed saliva, fists sisting, “I’m going to f—k you up.” “What it will cost to build [a gondola] that tial to bring Brooklyn residents to the is- and possibly a gun during the three He eventually caught up to his vic- can withstand the elements and accommo- land could become an essential lure for unrelated heists, which netted the tim and grabbed her neck, strangling date maritime needs of the harbor?” asked investors in the project, planners said this criminals a combined bounty of $83, her as he pushed her ever closer to the James Gill, chairman of the Battery Park week.