Brooklyn: Dazed and Confused

2008 Brooklyn Day!, originally uploaded by threecee.

Today was "Brooklyn Day!" in front of Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn.  I think this photo pretty much sums up the vibe of the crowd.

This "rally" was organized and sponsored by the Atlantic Yards developer, Forest City Ratner, to "support Atlantic Yards and The Nets moving to Brooklyn!"

To me it seemed desperate, sad and pathetic.  Bruce Ratner didn't even show up.  I guess he knew how lame it was going to be.

If Forest City Ratner hadn't given away food and t-shirts, hadn't had the unions "ask" their members to take the day off and attend, hadn't had "supporters" bussed to the event, hadn't "invited" former and current ball players to stand on the steps behind the podium, and hadn't delegated his underlings to organize and coordinate the "celebration", the only ones who would have shown up were the people who happened to be going to one of the many government offices in the area, those heading to the green market (unrelated to the "rally"), and the media recording the charade for posterity.

See more of my photos here and Adrian Kinloch's photos here.  Read more about the "rally" on Norman Oder's Atlantic Yards Report,  Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn and The Brooklyn Paper.  Read the developer's "spin" of the rally here [pdf].

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic Yards site "footprint"...