Battle for Brooklyn

This fascinating documentary film shows how a major real estate developer, with the collusion of government officials, was able to use eminent domain to gain control of a large parcel of land in downtown Brooklyn in order to construct a basketball arena and 16 skyscrapers. Emphasis is placed on how those who lived in the site and residents of neighboring communities attempted to get the massive project reduced to a more human scale. Their efforts were thwarted at every turn.

One of the leaders of the opposition, who spent years fighting the project, receives much of the film's attention. During that time, his engagement ended, he met and married another opponent of the project, they had a child and they became the last family on the site to be forced to vacate their home.

This movie is highly recommended.

Battle For Brooklyn is a sweeping chronicle of the highly divisive Atlantic Yards plan and one man's unyielding refusal to conform under insurmountable pressure. Filmmakers Galinsky and Hawley chronicle the narrative spanning nearly a decade, as the strife over what's best for the community unfurls. Complete with desirous politicians focused on exploiting the neighborhood's potential to become a basketball court for the Nets, resident Daniel Goldstein's interminable endeavor to protect the land, and the manifold positions assumed by residents and reformers alike, the film emerges like a Greek tragedy. Although this particular story is set in Brooklyn, NY, the central theme is germane to everyone, everywhere: when large amounts of money are on the table anything can be bought, including your home right out from under you. Goldstein is indefatigable as he grapples with both the dubious techniques invented to diminish the relevancy and even existence of the community and his neighbors who may have been lured in with assurances of a better world to come. As the ground is excavated around him, posited to become a basketball-mall supercenter, he and his family hold out for an equitable outcome while his neighbors slip out of sight and celebrities surface to champion both sides of the dispute. Notably, those who live in the area are opposed to the project, while those who reside far away rally for the demolition. Also pertinent is the story of the media and its undemanding adoption of the prefabricated packages handed to them by developers, while the local voice went largely unheard and/or unpublished. Battle For Brooklyn is as enthralling a film as it is an imperative message which merits ninety-three minutes of the viewers time. Goldstein's plight speaks an exemplar lesson in the preservation of community and the valor of both truth and follow through.