Saturday, September 13, 2014

Atlantic Avenue Project: how a united community is successfully challenging politicians and developers to deliver on their promises

This is an instructive and encouraging case study illustrating what can be achieved when the community unites to pressure politicians and developers to follow through on their promises to provide affordable housing:



"... advocates, attorneys and community members explain how the 25-year build out agreed by the State of New York in 2009 for Atlantic Yards' affordable apartments would have had a disparate impact on African American residents eligible for preference in the lotteries through which those apartments are to be awarded—and why a coalition was ready to fight to hold the project accountable to its original commitments. BrooklynSpeaks organizers talk about what was achieved through the recent settlement with the Empire State Development Corporation and Forest City Ratner, and what to expect next."