Roots musician John Pinamonti once sang , "It makes me sad/yeah it's such a pity/they're trying to rename Brooklyn/Forest City." Well, in one extension of that, executives at the developer have been racking up awards. Not just the controversial Jacqueline Onassis Medal last year to Chairman Bruce Ratner and CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin. Not just honorary degrees ( Long Island University , Medgar Evers College ) to Ratner. Nor the Brooklyn Museum award to Ratner. Honoring Forest City's Berliner Now comes the Celebrate Brooklyn Opening Night Gala & Concert, coming this Wednesday, 6/3/15, featuring a performance by Chaka Khan and honoring Forest City Ratner Chief Operating Officer David Berliner. (The Gala is sold out; the concert itself is free--donation expected--and open to the public.) Berliner is in certain ways a worthy honoree--he has brought art to public places, including the Barclays Center. But surely the honor is associated with the recogn...
This watchdog blog, by journalist Norman Oder, concerns the $6B project to build the Barclays Center arena & 15-16 towers at a crucial site in Brooklyn. Dubbed Atlantic Yards by developer Forest City Ratner in 2003, it was rebranded Pacific Park Brooklyn in 2014 after the Chinese government-owned Greenland USA bought a 70% stake going forward. In 2018, once the arena & four towers were built, Greenland bought out most of Forest City's stake, then sold three leases to other companies.