Did Atlantic Yards "effectively wipe out the Flatbush section of Brooklyn"? No.

Columnist Phil Reisman, of the suburban Journal News in Westchester, totes up concerns about Forest City Ratner, mostly about a new project in New Rochelle, under the headline Reisman: Caution is wise when dealing with Forest City.

He writes:

I contemplated the question [of whether dealing with FCR is selling your soul] after talking to former Yonkers City Councilman John Murtagh about Forest City Ratner Companies, the super-sized developer of literally millions of square feet of real estate in the metropolitan region — including the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, Ridge Hill in Yonkers and the Echo Bay project in New Rochelle.

Atlantic Yards is a colossus of a project that effectively wipes out the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. It has spawned many lawsuits and protests from residents and merchants who regard Forest City Ratner to be evil incarnate.

The comment I tried to post:

For the record, whatever you think of Atlantic Yards, it cannot "effectively wipes out the Flatbush section of Brooklyn," because it's not *in* the Flatbush neighborhood. That's more than a mile away. The project is located in the northwest edge of Prospect Heights, and has a significant impact there, including a stretch of adjacent Flatbush Avenue.

I'd add that merchants are likely divided, with some of them, especially purveyors of food and drink, pretty darn happy. And that a closer look at Atlantic Yards suggests that the developer, as with Ridge Hill, plays hardball when it counts.