"Battle for Brooklyn" is having quite a good reception this summer. Info below comes from the community group Develop Don't Destroy Brookyn (DDDB):
Documentary filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore has chosen BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN for his Traverse City Film Festival in his home state of Michigan. The film will screen at the festival on July 27th & 29th.
"We are extremely happy and honored to have Battle for Brooklyn playing with all of the other amazing films at the Traverse City Film Festival," said co-director Suki Hawley, "Michael Moore's stamp of approval is very appreciated, and it sends the message that this is a story that’s relevant far beyond Brooklyn and stirring to audiences from all across the map."
The film will make its West Coast premiere when it opens a theatrical engagement at the Laemmle Music Hall in Los Angeles on August 19th. "Battle" has also just been selected as the opening night film at the DocuWest Film Festival held in Golden, Boulder and Denver, Colorado on September 7th.
After a successful three week engagement at Cinema Village in Manhattan the film began a one-week run on July 6th Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema. That engagement has been so successful that the film will screen once each week—Wednesdays at 7:15pm—for the rest of the summer.
Controversy continues on Atlantic Yards. NY1 reports on a recent presentation by transportation engineer/planner Sam Schwartz focusing on transit & traffic concerns from the project. View the article & video here.
Lastly, an excerpt of a recent press release:
Local Groups Victorious as Judge Slams Empire State Development Corporation; Court Orders New Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Reconsideration of MGPP
Today, New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman ruled that the NY State Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) acted illegally in 2009 when it approved changes to the Atlantic Yards project that increased from 10 to 25 years the amount of time allowed to developer Forest City Ratner Companies to complete the project without first studying the impacts of prolonged construction to the surrounding communities.
The BrooklynSpeaks sponsors had argued that decades of extended construction, including the use of large portions of the site for an 1,100-car surface parking lot, would have a blighting impact on the surrounding communities. “Two years after Atlantic Yards’ revised plan was adopted by ESDC, the project has yet to deliver any significant jobs for the people of Brooklyn, and its affordable housing is literally nowhere in sight,” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. “FCRC has moved forward with paving land where working families used to live. Now, there is an opportunity to make Atlantic Yards accountable to the public and ensure that the promised benefits of jobs for local residents, affordable housing and open space are delivered without further tax payer subsidy or delay.”