(November 29, 2007) The Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods held a press conference on Thursday, November 29th on the steps of City Hall to renew demands for an independent security study of the planned Atlantic Yards project. In light of recent revelations that portions of the glass-walled basketball arena, glass-walled “Urban Room,” and adjacent glass-walled high-rise buildings would lie a mere 20 feet from busy Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues, CBN demand to know why Brooklyn is different than Newark, where that city’s police officials recently ordered the closing streets that are more than 20 feet from the new Prudential Center before, during and after events.

Forest City Ratner, the Empire State Development Corporation and the NYPD have refused to say why they consider the 20-foot setbacks planned for Brooklyn safer than the approximately 25-foot setbacks in Newark. If security officials were to order the closing of even a single lane of Atlantic or Flatbush Avenues, the result could be catastrophic.

CBN has been calling for more than two years for a detailed study of issues pertaining to security and terrorism, which the ESDC has called “not a reasonable worst-case scenario.”

Click here to see complete video of the press conference on YouTube

Click here to read CBN’s press release.

Click here to read the Brooklyn Downtown Star’s editorial on the issue of security

Click here to read AtlanticYardsReport.com’s coverage of the press conference

Click here to read the Brooklyn Daily Eagle’s report on the issue