Atlantic Yards Update: Land Grab Delayed. Keep on Calling and Writing thru Monday.

New York State's planned seizure of the property slated for the Atlantic Yards was put on hold at yesterday's condemnation hearing. Go to The Atlantic Yards Report and No Land Grab for detailed information.

I also received a missive from Fightin' Freddy stating that the call-a-thon and letter writing campaign has gotten to Judge Gerges and will continue thru Monday.

Info at the bottom on where to send and where to call.

Excerpts from the latest press release:

Subject: Surprisingly Great Day In Court Today! To WIN we need YOUR DIRECT ACTION: CALLS AND LETTER WRITING


"Today Judge Gerges DID NOT bang the gavel and give everything to Ratner. He read about the homeless shelter closing in the papers, he showed 85 letters to the court. These things are having an effect. The other side will write letters, too, and we need to have way more than them if we are going to save the Family Shelter, Freddy's Bar, and the neighborhood. so . . . . .

Calls: Ratner provided evidence used in an indictment by the feds that he bribed a city councilmember in Yonkers through a conspiracy. THE COUNCIL MEMBER HAS BEEN CHARGED AND IS STANDING TRIAL YET RATNER HAS NOT YET BEEN INDICTED. We need to make it clear to the Attorney General, the Westchester D.A. and the US Court that the delay in indictment is going to have an adverse affect on the NY State Supreme Court Eminent Domain Case that will tear down the Pacific Dean Family Homeless Shelter and much of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood. Call Today, and Monday. But start Today. We WILL save the shelter!

CALLS - Go here and here for info on writing a letter.

Homeless Advocates Attempt to Arrest Bruce Ratner this Wednesday at Noon

Singer Crystal Waters, Councilmember Letitia James, Develop Don't Destroy founder Daniel Goldstein and Senator Velmanette Montgomery at Freddy's last week. (Click here for FIB's coverage on that.)

The fight continues to keep the Pacific Dean family shelter (located in the footprint of the Atlantic Yards) open with a community groups, homeless advocates and political leaders going directly to Bruce Ratner's office on Wednesday at noon.

All are welcome to participate.

Excerpts from the official press release.

Subject: Homeless Family Advocates to Arrest Atlantic Yards/Barclays Center Developer Bruce Ratner. Will Bring Ratner to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Office for Indictment on Bribery Charges, Coumo Will Also Be Asked to Return All Campaign Contributions From Ratner and Indict By Friday, January 29th.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What: Homeless Family Advocates to Arrest Atlantic Yards/Barclays Center Developer Bruce Ratner. Will Bring Ratner to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Office for Indictment on Bribery Charges, Coumo Will Also Be Asked to Return All Campaign Contributions From Ratner and Indict By Friday, January 29th.

When: Wednesday, January 27th 12:00 Noon, 2nd location at 1PM Where: Forest City Ratner Headquarters, 1 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY

Who: Homeless Family Advocates as detailed in copy

"A number of community groups, homeless advocates and political leaders will go to Bruce Ratner's office on Wednesday, January 27th at high noon to perform a citizen's arrest of Mr. Ratner. While we would rather arrest Ratner for the moral crime of closing a desperately needed family homeless shelter on Martin Luther King's birthday, and during Haiti relief efforts, we will instead be arresting him to stand charges of bribing a public official in the State of New York, where such activity is against the law. Our aim is to get the Pacific Dean Family Homeless Shelter re-opened until Spring. To this end we intend to see Ratner charged before this coming Friday's hearing that could give Ratner control of the facility, which he plans to tear down to make a parking lot for the Barclays Center stadium. This is possible because of a loophole created in New York State's eminent domain law by the Supreme Court's Kelo Case that allows states to take property from one person and give it to another. 43 states have changed their laws to prevent person-to-person transfer by the state, which is a type of eminent domain employed by the Soviet Union and wartime Germany, and which was illegal in the U.S. until 2005. We believe it is important that Judge Gerges, the man who will make the decision whether or not Ratner gets the shelter and the neighborhood, know what kind of heartless and shady person he is dealing with. The lack of an indictment by Attorney General Cuomo will have a clear influence on Friday's hearing, and it must be corrected. Nobody is going to physically abduct Mr. Ratner. We are informing him that we expect him to surrender to a police officer, in our presence, and go with us to be charged by Attorney General Cuomo. We will also be asking the Attorney General, who is now running for Governor, to give back the campaign contributions he has received from Ratner so that there is no appearance of impropriety associated with the delay in bringing an indictment. Should Ratner elude us we will request that a warrant be issued immediately for his arrest, and that he be extradited from any place in the world that he may choose to run to. "