tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post1839788288338737250..comments2024-03-18T05:56:29.009-04:00Comments on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report: "Shame!" Crowd outside museum shouts "Ratner's bad for Brooklyn"Norman Oderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07618087999719667586noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-26668038199655075452008-04-05T01:07:00.000-04:002008-04-05T01:07:00.000-04:00Regarding this “Charles Manson” “reductio ad Hitle...Regarding this “Charles Manson” “reductio ad Hitlerum” debate that is going on in these comments: David Cay Johnston in his interviews typically makes the point that the critical problems we are facing are not what is done that “is illegal” but what is legal that absolutely shouldn’t be and that has been obtained through abuse of influence. (Along these lines, One of his books is even titled “Perfectly Legal.”) My letter points out that what Ratner has done in the way of collecting no-bid subsides through influence makes it very hard to distinguish his actions from other situations where people do get sent to prison. To the extent that a legal difference might have been created it has been done in the name of very bad urban planning practices and egregious governance. And that doesn’t mean that the activities are not antisocial. This is not to say that I am giving Ratner a pass on legality. I don’t think we know enough about what has been done in terms of influence since it was covert.<BR/><BR/>I remember that money has been rejected from Arab Sheiks though they have not “broken any laws.” The question here is not whether money should be accepted (some would not) but whether an honor should be awarded. It is also a question of timing. Ten years ago, before Atlantic Yards, maybe someone could have honored Ratner for something BAM related notwithstanding the poor quality of some of his development or his over-reliance on subsidy. That was then. This is now. Atlantic Yards is poised to do incredible harm to Brooklyn. That harm is intrinsically related Ratner’s abuse of process including the gratuitous abuse eminent domain for greater windfall. The use of what this site has referred to as his “shadowy foundation” for promotion of these practices is a serious problem and the public is thereby harmed. Accordingly, the activities of the protestors, myself included, are proportionate to the ills Mr. Ratner is visiting upon the community.<BR/><BR/>I know I have repeated myself in these remarks. That is for the sake of those for whom what I said in my letter has not yet registered.MDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-58540226690427072172008-04-04T20:37:00.000-04:002008-04-04T20:37:00.000-04:00Ratner is not Charles Manson. He is has been the c...Ratner is not Charles Manson. He is has been the chair of BAM for over ten years, clearly a laudable institution. My logic may be flawed but you comparison is insulting and probably intentionally so. So my statement that this is part of the no hold- no prisoner attacks is probably quite apt.<BR/><BR/>I assume if Charles Manson made such a donation it would be rejected.<BR/>You may disagree with Ratner but so far as I know he has violated any criminal law, except to the extent that he has had the state set aside the New York City zoning laws with the City's approval.the woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05665556178718196059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-89498491866320115772008-04-04T12:43:00.000-04:002008-04-04T12:43:00.000-04:00I want to share with people the “quotes through th...I want to share with people the “quotes through the ages about `honor’" I was reading last night- . . . <BR/>. . . .It seems to me that when “honors” are handed out at grand events the use of time-tested quotes is a tradition worth observing.<BR/><BR/>I hope the quotes below are choicely apt (they were also on placards at the event) :<BR/><BR/> "Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong"<BR/> Thomas Jefferson<BR/><BR/> "Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in deserving them."<BR/> Aristotle<BR/><BR/> "Those who give, hoping to be rewarded with honor, are not giving, they are bargaining"<BR/> Philo Judaeus<BR/><BR/> "Fail to honor people, they fail to honor you"<BR/> Lao Tzu<BR/><BR/> "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud."<BR/> Sophocles<BR/><BR/> "The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be."<BR/> Socrates<BR/><BR/> "The most tragic thing in the world is a man of genius who is not a man of honor"<BR/> George Bernard Shaw<BR/><BR/> "He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so."<BR/> Walter Lippman<BR/><BR/> "Honor sinks where commerce long prevails."<BR/> Oliver Goldsmith<BR/><BR/> "One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them"<BR/> Thomas Sowell<BR/><BR/> "The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons." <BR/> Ralph Waldo Emerson<BR/><BR/>I’d also like to note that I think the Brooklyn Museum still has a debt to pay to the community over this event so I do not view the matter as entirely at rest.<BR/><BR/>I refer people to my open letter to the Museum. It was not designed as a “petition” (it is personal, and it isn’t short or written in vague consensus-generating bromides) but it is something that people are signing on to endorse. Though it’s only been publicly available a few days it has over a hundred endorsements so far. I think there is value to continue collecting endorsements just as I think there would be value for there to be days when we are again outside the Museum to collect signatures and acquaint and educate Museum attendees about the rectification I believe the Museum now owes to the community with respect to this matter.<BR/><BR/>The letter, for those who want to sign on as endorsers or to it or pass it along to others is at:<BR/><BR/> http://www.dddb.net/php/reading/MuseumLetter.phpMDDWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16693635186364315879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-38720211598753062622008-04-04T12:39:00.000-04:002008-04-04T12:39:00.000-04:00Full coverage of what happened INSIDE is on The Br...Full coverage of what happened INSIDE is on The Brooklyn Paper website at http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/14/31_14_gehry_to_brooklyn_paper.htmlThe Brooklyn Paperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05957706089175533946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-30539609956519819642008-04-04T08:51:00.000-04:002008-04-04T08:51:00.000-04:00Sid Meyer's logic is deeply flawed, and his ignora...Sid Meyer's logic is deeply flawed, and his ignorance really speaks to the reason this protest was direly needed.<BR/><BR/>The gala in Ratner's name was basically a non-monetary honorarium, which would be all well and good if the honoree weren't completely corrupt. I would want to ask Meyer the simple question: if Charles Manson were wealthy enough to make several $100K donations to the Museum, should the Museum likewise honor him?<BR/><BR/>Though a reductio ad Hitlerum, this line of rhetorical probing gets to the heart of the issue.<BR/><BR/>The Brooklyn Museum made a fundamentally bad decision in honoring an amoral, opportunistic slime like Ratner, someone who is anything but positive for the communities of Brooklyn.Richard Nickel, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/15777516635980832695noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20743459.post-21037757504079031612008-04-04T08:14:00.000-04:002008-04-04T08:14:00.000-04:00Yep that was me expressing my opinion. Sid MeyerYep that was me expressing my opinion. <BR/><BR/>Sid MeyerUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10690307785844012406noreply@blogger.com