One question that comes to mind with the opening of the Barclays Center: whatever happened to Daniel Goldstein? The anti-Atlantic Yards agitator and holdout accepted a $3 million buyout to leave his apartment in the Atlantic Yards footprint, after a protracted battle about whether the state had offered him fair market value for the place. These days, Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner almost fondly calls Daniel Goldstein "a special kind of person?.I don't think I could have done what he did," Ratner tells New York Magazine as part of a nostalgic look at the changing Brooklyn, "staying in that building alone all the time." Grudging respect: how sweet! And it's more love than Goldstein's been getting from his new neighbors in South Park Slope, the Times explains. Why their animosity? They don't really like Goldstein's plans to, uh, expand his property.
Goldstein and his family spent $812,000 on the house last year, and now they're adding "a deck, a hot tub and a horizontal extension," according to the Times. Hey, they do have $2.188 million to burn?and they've gotten used to not having neighbors. But in the words of one neighbor?who also told Goldstein's architect she wished his house would burn down?"This is like if you have a peaceful piece of property on a lake, and a Jet Ski comes through." Or perhaps it's like if you have an apartment in the middle of Brooklyn, and a bulldozer, a Russian oligarch, and a professional sports team come through.
There have been more than six complaints made to the Department of Buildings about Goldstein's expansion, but no fines have been issued, he points out. Of course, as Goldstein well knows, DOB complaints aren't the only way to protest: the neighbor to the east side of Goldstein sold her home earlier this year, and his neighbor on the other side sold her property Wednesday. And, in a way, Goldstein maintains holdout status once again.
· Comparing the New Barclays Center Brooklyn to the Old Brooklyn [NYM]
· For Former Opponent of Atlantic Yards, a Smaller-Scale Battle [NYT]
· Daniel Goldstein coverage [Curbed]
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