If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

One of the biggest construction projects in Brooklyn, New Yorks history is the development by Forest City Ratner called Atlantic Yards. Like most huge projects, it has its proponents  and detractors. What is interesting is that both sides are  using weblogs to get their story out. And it is working as the New York Times reports.

About a dozen blogs follow Atlantic Yards closely. The authors are usually Brooklynites, some of them experts in fields like urban development. But even the amateurs among them have boned up on arcane zoning provisions and planning-law quirks that can induce headaches among the less devoted.
The result is an unusual ferment of community advocacy and opinion journalism, featuring everything from manipulated caricatures of Forest City Ratner executives to technical discussions of traffic flow.
There is also comedy: Last week, the Web site leathertomato.com posted Atlantic Yards-themed versions of traditional Passover songs. (”Why is it that Brownstone Brooklyn consists of unleavened low-rise buildings, but at Atlantic Yards Bruce Ratner wants to build 17 high-rise buildings?” asks a reworked “The Four Questions.”)
“We definitely follow the opposition Web pages,” said Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Forest City Ratner and an occasional target of the bloggers’ gibes. “They provide great access to clips and some of them are pretty well written. There is, however, a sense of self-importance and anger that often pops out.” In November, Mr. DePlasco was the subject of a 4,200-word blog item plumbing “the dark genius of Ratner flack Joe DePlasco.”  via New York Times.

Related posts:

1. One Brooklyn Bridge Sign of New York City Real Estate Woes
2. “Shot Down In Burning Flames” - Another Eminent Domain Story
3. Clooney Rolls Craps In Vegas Development Project
4. Brooklyn’s Flatbush Avenue Is Booming
5. Tastykake Moving to Economic Development Zone - Less Taxes, Lower Borrowing, and Layoffs