Group To Demand New Affordable Housing Promise From Ratner

The Barclays Center, always a lightning rod for controversy, is at the center of what local leaders see as another broken promise on the site, and this week they're going to try and do something about it. 

Unhappy with the as-yet-unbuilt affordable housing units that were supposed to come with the construction of the Barclays Center, a group of Brooklyn elected officials will come together Friday to call for a new promise on local affordable housing. 

On Friday at 1 p.m., a group of elected officials including Hakeem Jefferies, Walter Mosely, Letitia James and others will be in attendance. They want the Empire State Development Corporation to guarantee an accelerated construction schedule for affordable housing units in the neighborhood. 

So far, the developer, Forest City Ratner, has yet to deliver on its pledge to build more than 2,000 units of affordable housing near the Barclays Center site, which was part of the agreement that got the arena built in the first place.

Currently, the developer is seeking to sell a majority stake in the site, and some in Brooklyn are balking at the change, saying Forest City Ratner shouldn't profit until the community sees its promised benefits — namely housing.  

The event is being organized by Brooklyn Speaks, a watchdog group working to ensure that the Atlantic Yards Project, as originally conceived, does as little damage as possible to Brooklyn community cohesion.