DNA: Dissed by City Council
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Disenchanted and Disenfranchised by our elected officials!
On June 10, 2009, the New York City Council, signed the deed allowing the sale of one of the most identifiable national landmarks and one of the most striking man-made structures in the history of the Unites States of America, the Brooklyn Bridge.
Those who have fought hard to oppose the Dock Street development are disenchanted and disenfranchised by our elected officials, who after wide-spread opposition to this zoning change, which included 25,000+ signatures and postcards, 8 neighborhood organizations, the National Trust, the Municipal Art Society, the Historic Districts Council, Society for the Architecture of the City, the Roebling Society – Chapter for Industrial Archeology, the American History Museum of the Smithsonian, Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough, cinematographer Ken Burns, the Roebling Family and more, the “will of the people” was disregarded. Community and civic mobilization, always promoted by elected officials as a way for communities to be heard, was completely ignored.
It is now clear that ‘the fix’ was indeed in long before the ULURP process began, an insult to all law abiding, tax paying, community promoting citizens of not only our city, but our country. The pay-to-play politics, conflicts of interest and special interests infiltrating our halls of local government are the reasons behind the public’s disinterest and apathy towards our politicians and government. Moreover, the apparent collusion and corruption with the developer of city agencies, sworn to protect the interests of the tax paying public, are nothing but favor dolling machines with very little public integrity.
Mr. McCullough, in describing the Brooklyn Bridge, has poetically stated, ‘None of us had a hand in building it. None of us contributed a thing to its architectural grandeur or its pioneering technology. None of us were injured in the effort, or suffered from the bends for our labors beneath the river, or died in accidents. They did all that, those men and women of that vanished time. And they built superbly. They set an example of how things can be done right.’ Today let it be told, the New York City Council did everything but set an example on how things can be done right. We’d like to commend council members Avella, Barron, di Blasio, Gentile, Gerson, Gioia, Liu, Vallone and Yassky for taking a stand and showing the rest of council what doing the right thing is all about.
To our members, neighbors and admirers of the Brooklyn Bridge, far and wide, we assure you that our fight against Dock Street does not end here. As stewards of the Brooklyn Bridge, we are exploring various legal and governmental investigatory actions to counter the assault committed by Two Trees Management, aided and abetted by City Council, on our cultural heritage and history.
We need all the help we can get as we gear-up for the next steps in this battle to save the Brooklyn Bridge and our historic neighborhood. We ask that you make a donation, any amount, to DNA via our web-site, www.dumbo-dna.org or via mail to: DNA, 45 Washington St., Box 123, Brooklyn NY, 11021. Your contributions are 100% tax deductible as we are 501c3 organization. We will keep you informed on future developments.
Thank you for your continued support!