Barclays ground-breaking set for March 11

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]