They hurled insults. They told lies. They riled the crowd up to a frenzy so intense that some of us questioned our decision not to stand closer to a door for ease of exit. This is what happens when dialogue gets trashed for demagoguery. For all the talk of wanting to be heard, they've done no listening. And tonight the committee said what it had said 14 months ago. Let's get on with a study, and push for our agenda at every turn. Yes, let's work with the City and plan our future.
The vote was 9 in favor, 1 against, 1 abstention. The letter requesting a Planning Study goes to the full Board next week. Expect more nonsense, and a likely yay vote.
Who knows where it will go from here. Nowhere good, probably. Just more neighbor against neighbor shouting and name calling. Unless, by some miracle, Alicia decides to take the high road and talk rather than pretend she's fighting the battle for the right to vote. Actually, she could have taken some notes on civil disobedience from the King, because her tactics are definitely not civil and the way she behaves when arrested could damn well turn into a riot one day. Here's some footage, not for the weak of heart:
By the way, yes, that is a child that one protester brought to the proceedings and encouraged to watch the whole thing. A member of the Board asked her if she wouldn't rather take her outside for the arrest scuffle, but she adamantly refused. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but was that necessary? The little girl couldn't have been a month past three if that. She also gets to watch the below, where about ten seconds in a woman rushes at Ben Edwards and looks like she takes a swipe at him.
So what happened? Amidst the chaos, the Committee huddled to (barely) hear one another open the meeting, take the vote and adjourn. All that for that.
As I noted before, MTOPP's propaganda really paid off. She brought out significantly higher numbers than usual - maybe 30. But to highlight just how much horseshit she's been feeding people, I spoke with two woman who wanted to know why I was working for the greedy Developers. When I told them I was a 12 year resident who loved my neighborhood and my neighbors, they seemed aghast. But why was I fighting to put huge luxury high rises in the neighborhood? I said that was the very thing I was hoping to prevent, and to see that any new buildings had affordable set-asides. But why was I for buildings like 626 Flatbush? At which point, I just shook my head. It's all going to be okay I muttered, half of me not believing, and half just plain shell-shocked I guess.
There wasn't anything funny about tonight, or any of it. And I'm not the least bit happy that the right decision was made. I really think the anger on display tonight, of neighbor against neighbor, does not bode well for the next chapter, whatever that may be. And now, I fear, Alicia will claim the Board is responsible for the massive changes taking place in the neighborhood. If she's able to convince people of that, look out. Nobody's safe.
The vote was 9 in favor, 1 against, 1 abstention. The letter requesting a Planning Study goes to the full Board next week. Expect more nonsense, and a likely yay vote.
Who knows where it will go from here. Nowhere good, probably. Just more neighbor against neighbor shouting and name calling. Unless, by some miracle, Alicia decides to take the high road and talk rather than pretend she's fighting the battle for the right to vote. Actually, she could have taken some notes on civil disobedience from the King, because her tactics are definitely not civil and the way she behaves when arrested could damn well turn into a riot one day. Here's some footage, not for the weak of heart:
By the way, yes, that is a child that one protester brought to the proceedings and encouraged to watch the whole thing. A member of the Board asked her if she wouldn't rather take her outside for the arrest scuffle, but she adamantly refused. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but was that necessary? The little girl couldn't have been a month past three if that. She also gets to watch the below, where about ten seconds in a woman rushes at Ben Edwards and looks like she takes a swipe at him.
So what happened? Amidst the chaos, the Committee huddled to (barely) hear one another open the meeting, take the vote and adjourn. All that for that.
As I noted before, MTOPP's propaganda really paid off. She brought out significantly higher numbers than usual - maybe 30. But to highlight just how much horseshit she's been feeding people, I spoke with two woman who wanted to know why I was working for the greedy Developers. When I told them I was a 12 year resident who loved my neighborhood and my neighbors, they seemed aghast. But why was I fighting to put huge luxury high rises in the neighborhood? I said that was the very thing I was hoping to prevent, and to see that any new buildings had affordable set-asides. But why was I for buildings like 626 Flatbush? At which point, I just shook my head. It's all going to be okay I muttered, half of me not believing, and half just plain shell-shocked I guess.
There wasn't anything funny about tonight, or any of it. And I'm not the least bit happy that the right decision was made. I really think the anger on display tonight, of neighbor against neighbor, does not bode well for the next chapter, whatever that may be. And now, I fear, Alicia will claim the Board is responsible for the massive changes taking place in the neighborhood. If she's able to convince people of that, look out. Nobody's safe.