First phase of the project to be constructed will be the Barclays Center, an 18,000-seat arena that will eventually house the Nets basketball franchise. Site preparation has been under way for the past six months; Thursday's ceremony marked the start of heavy construction. It is scheduled to open in 2012.

FCRC hopes to begin work on the first residential tower in the spring of 2011; the second tower, six to nine months later; and the third one, six to nine months after that. In a statement, Ratner says FCRC "will work closely with the community to ensure that construction progresses efficiently and with minimum impact on the surrounding communities."

Before the Barclays Center groundbreaking, two street corners full of protestors chanted "Shame on you!" while officials entered the ceremony. They were there to voice their concerns about a lack of affordable housing attached to the development and the eminent domain of residences and businesses in the area.

Prior to that, in front of nearby Freddy's Bar and Back Room, a mock funeral was held "to bury the soul of Brooklyn." Protestors held up large signs with bobble-headed photographs of Bloomberg, Gov. David Paterson, Ratner and others involved in the project.

On the eve of the groundbreaking, project opponents received a disappointment in the form of a Manhattan State Supreme Court judge's ruling that the Empire State Development Corp. was in compliance with the law in signing off on a Modified General Project Plan. Although Justice Marcy Freedman wrote that the ESDC's adherence to a 10-year timeframe for building out the project was supported "only minimally," she found that the state agency acted rationally in determining that the MGPP did not require a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

In a statement, Candace Carponter, legal director for the group Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, calls it "a very sad day for this country, and especially New Yorkers, when a court recognizes that a government agency can make a decision that is completely bereft of transparency, defies the facts, is devoid of common sense and ignores the will of the people; and yet the court claims it is powerless to do anything about it. When the courts, the legislature and the governor won't hold unelected bureaucrats accountable for acting without reason or transparency, there is literally nowhere for citizens to turn." DDB says it's considering an appeal, along with its 19 community group co-plaintfifs.

Wednesday's ruling followed a decision last week that ruled in favor of the ESDC's use of eminent domain. That ruling, by Justice Abraham Gerges of Brooklyn State Supreme Court, found "no merit" in any of the 14 motions brought by local businesses and homeowner Daniel Goldstein, one of DDDB's organizers. In his decision, Gerges observed, "The Atlantic Yards project has had a long and torturous history, including numerous court challenges in several forums."

Instant Insights /

Amid Protests, Atlantic Yards Breaks Ground

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