Caving to the forces of eminent domain, Atlantic Yards holdout and outspoken protestor Freddy’s Bar, currently located in the footprint of Bruce Ratner’s planned Barclays Center at Dean Street and Sixth Avenue, is moving. The owners told Curbed that they’re in talks with a landlord at Fourth Avenue and Union Street, where they are hoping to reopen in two to three months’ time. In their words, they are “looking forward to moving out from under this sword of Damocles” but are taking with them the infamous “Chains of Justice,” with which protestors had previously shackled themselves to the bar to show their opposition to the project. [Curbed] 

Bruce Ratner said he is planning to break ground next week on his new Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards, after a New York State Supreme Court yesterday tossed out a suit challenging the state’s right to use eminent domain in seizing the properties currently in his way. Ratner said a ground-breaking ceremony will be held March 11. Occupants of the properties in the footprint of the planned Nets basketball arena, including outspoken opponents like condo owner Daniel Goldstein and Freddy’s Bar, are to be evicted in the new few months, according to state officials, but construction activity on the corner of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues could begin as soon as this week, even before the official ground-breaking. “Our state government … has bent over backwards to give Bruce Ratner whatever he wants, including my home, and the homes of other citizens,” Goldstein said.
Meanwhile, regulars at Freddy’s Bar have threatened to chain themselves to the storefront in protest. [NYDN]

From left: Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner Companies and Atlantic Yards project opponent and homeowner Daniel Goldstein

Eminent domain has prevailed once again for Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in a New York State Supreme Court ruling today that clears the way for construction to begin on the Nets’ new Barclays Center arena. According to the ruling, by Judge Abraham Gerges, the state can seize properties in the way of the project because the 14 claims brought forth by opponents of the plan had no “merit.” Among the claims: that the state has not explicitly said the land slated for condemnation will be used for the public and that the project plan had been illegally modified. The ruling means that properties including the Dean Street building that houses Freddy’s Bar and the home of outspoken project opponent Daniel Goldstein, will be condemned. Ratner has said he needs those properties immediately in order to proceed with construction. Gerges’ ruling upholds a decision by the state’s highest court last fall to allow the state to utilize eminent domain in seizing the land for Atlantic Yards. “Brooklyn’s shovels are, and have been, ready,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, in response to today’s ruling. “So, let’s pick them up and get to work!” [Brooklyn Paper]

A homeless shelter serving a predominantly African-American population at 603 Dean Street in Downtown Brooklyn, within the planned Atlantic Yards development area, was shut down yesterday, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, through the use of eminent domain, sparking outrage in the community. Local officials, including City Council member Letitia James and State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, joined neighborhood advocates and Freddy’s Bar, whose outlandish protests of the Atlantic Yards eminent domain seizure have drawn local exposure, in protesting the closure of the Pacific Dean Shelter. The vigil, which began at midnight yesterday outside the recently-closed facility, came on the heels of a weekend-long protest of the shuttering. “I will put myself on the ground in front of the bulldozers,” Montgomery said during the protest Saturday. “I will do anything I can to stop this.” The video above contains footage of the protest. [more]

Although their establishment is set to be seized by eminent domain to make way for the Atlantic Yards development, supporters of Freddy’s Bar aren’t going down without a fight. In fact, Steve De Seve, a bar patron and founder of protest group “Fightin’ Freddy’s,” and bar manager Don O’Finn have emerged as some of the most vocal opponents of the Bruce Ratner project, recently staging a video protest outside the bar at 485 Dean Street in Downtown Brooklyn, and then appearing on Fox News to make their case. The pair said they plan to stage a sit-in at the bar, during which time they and others will handcuff themselves to the building, should city officials try to forcibly remove them. “What the neighborhood has done here is absolutely astounding,” O’Finn said of the support his bar has received. [more]

Atlantic Yards project opponent Freddy’s Bar, located at 485 Dean Street on the corner of Sixth Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, has taken to the airwaves with a video (see above) of its protest.

The bar is one of many homes and businesses that would be displaced if the
development is allowed to go through — and the owners of the establishment
aren’t taking this lightly. At a ceremony in front of the bar, manager Donald O’Finn said that Freddy’s plans
to fight back against Atlantic Yards. “We urge all bars to join us in saying
‘no’ to the banks and their eminent domain property seizings,” O’Finn said.
O’Finn’s compatriots then used a beer can-guillotine to behead a faceless body with the words “eminent domain theft.” O’Finn said that Freddy’s plans to collect donations to help its cause.
[more]