Despite their best efforts, a coalition of homeless people and community activists failed to arrest Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner. Though the man behind the $4.9 billion plan to move one of the worst teams in NBA history to Brooklyn isn't facing an indictment and there are no warrants out for his arrest, the demonstrators planned to lock him up over allegations of bribery at a widely publicized rally they held in front of his Downtown Brooklyn building.
According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, things got interesting when a Ratner representative told the protesters that the developer wouldn't be turning himself in. "He told me that Mr. Ratner is not in the building. I informed him that Mr. Ratner is being a coward," said Steve de Seve, who along with the other protesters is furious about the use of eminent domain to obtain a homeless shelter and other buildings on the site of the proposed basketball arena and high rises. "I'd rather someone face us than duck us."
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Yards Report details a city move that will give Ratner an additional $31 million upfront that he can use for land purchases in the project footprint.
