First off, the character of the historic buildings that Ratner intends to destroy to make way for parking, make absolutely no sense whatsoever. I grew up in Brooklyn and now live in Manhattan. As stated above "New York has a come a long way since the days of urban renewal and the wholesale clearance of existing neighborhoods. Striking a balance between new development and preservation has worked for neighborhoods across the city and it would work for the Atlantic Yards site." Tearing down history and the cultural fabric of a historic neighborhood for sporting venues and parking will be the end of society. I LOVE sports. But is not the reason why you even contemplate moving a sporting areana into an urban area is to take advantage of public transportation and to encourage people to use mass public transportation, rather than adding to existing congestion. Historic preservation should not be conditioned upon a present owner's signature because ownership rights must also not conflict with the common good. Some day when the NETS, one of the least historic franchises, are a second rate ballclub and we have a parking lot instead of historical buildings whatwill that say about what we did wrong as a society?