Pols to rally for Atlantic Yards halt

Several politicians will attend a Saturday rally that will call for halting Bruce Ratner’s massive Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn so that it can be re-examined. The rally’s sponsors, BrooklynSpeaks, the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods and Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, want Gov. David Paterson to call a “timeout” because they say the struggling project will demolish buildings and displace residents and businesses with no definite plans to build. Council Members Letitia James, Bill de Blasio, David Yassky and Tony Avella plan to attend, as well as state Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Assemblywoman Joan Millman. On Friday, The Real Deal reported that Ratner has been approached by New Jersey investors and public officials who want him to relocate the Nets, who are supposed to move from the Meadowlands to Atlantic Yards, to the new Prudential Center in downtown Newark instead. TRD