Yet another chapter in the Atlantic Yards saga

 

In China they're known as "nail houses": Homes owned by people who hold out like stubborn nails against developers -- or state officials -- who want their property. An extreme example of the type can be seen here.

For several years in Brooklyn, Daniel Goldstein owned what might be called a "nail condo," a three-bedroom condominium within the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards megadevelopment. He also operated as a classic gadfly, organizing opposition to Atlantic Yards and its developer, Forest City Ratner, as co-founder of the group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn.

And so the news that Goldstein had agreed to sell that condo -- for the astounding price of $3 million, no less -- reverberated strongly Wednesday across the blogosphere and among journalists who have been following the Atlantic Yards saga. Goldstein paid $590,000 for the condo in 2003; last year, he was offered what he considered the lowball offer of $510,000 by state officials.

There is lots of speculation that the difference between what Goldstein originally paid and the $3 million sum represents a kind of hush money. Goldstein acknowledges that he signed an agreement with Forest City pledging to step down as spokesman for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and to refrain from publicly opposing the development.

Not surprisingly, though, he maintains that the situation is much more complicated. You can read his full statement here.

Meanwhile, this latest news means that the Barclays Center basketball arena at the heart of the development -- designed originally, like all of the first version of Atlantic Yards, by Frank Gehry but later handed to the firms Ellerbe Becket and SHoP Architects -- is one step closer to being built. It is planned as the home of the NBA's Nets, a team that now plays in New Jersey.

-- Christopher Hawthorne

Credit: Rendering of proposed Barclays Center from SHoP Architects.

Comments

[D. Goldstein]

If you read my statement you'll see that I didn't "sell my condo." I did not have a condo to sell, NY State took ownership of my condo on March 1st. All that was left was how soon they'd evict me. They wanted me out sooner than later so they paid to do that. Why did they pay me so much? They needed Russian oligarch Mikhail Prokhorov to take ownership of the Nets.

[tracy collins]

Why is this story in the Arts section?

[Durg]

Wait, the LA Times is trying to say something? Please spare us, you could not point out Brooklyn on a map, and you write for a city that has less integrity than a flea. Spare us your commentary. Your article is what I would not call a nail biter.

[John Dingler]

Hi "D. Goldstein,"
By what legal authority did the state of New York confiscate your property and then give you a lucrative ultimatum?

Note to Editor: I had hoped to read something about art in this article as you promised. There is no art; It's about government and citizenship.

[Rachel Tomlinson]

hey durg - why did this article cause you to go off on LA, which I bet YOU couldn't find on a map? And how does a CITY have integrity anyway? And do FLEAS have the ability to have integrity? If they do - how would you know? Your comment is so weird - it just makes no sense whatsoever.